Dear Parent / Guardian

I hope you and your families are keeping well.

As you are aware, our school has now been closed since 12^th March due to the COVID-19 situation.  We are now hoping to re-open our school safely, in line with current guidance and recommendations.

Re-opening the school safely will require the co-operation of all members of our School Community – BoM, School Leadership, Staff, Parents and Pupils. We will all be called on to play our part in ensuring that re-opening of the school is done in a safe manner which prevents the spread of the virus and allows the vital work of Teaching and Learning to proceed with as little disruption as possible.

The Department of Education and Skills (DES) recently published their COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of Primary and Special Schools on our school website.  We are our working on our School Response Plan based on the DES recommendations.  We will communicate this plan to you as soon as possible via the school website and Aladdin Connect.  The Response Plan will give details of

• Physical preparation, signage, hand sanitiser stations,
• Advice, procedures and training for the safe return to working in the school for all school staff and pupils
• General and specific advice on how all pupils, staff, parents and visitors will prevent the spread of the virus

We have published our COVID-19 Policy Statement on the school website. Our BoM will keep you informed as to the progress of our re-opening plans and provide you with the information required by you to play your part in safely re-opening the school.

The school has purchased individual boxes for all our pupils.  These lidded boxes will be used to store the children’s classroom books, copies, pencil case, etc. each day.  There is no need for pupils to bring a box to school this year.

We are really looking forward to welcoming our pupils back to school and will be doing all that we can to ensure that the return to school is a safe and enjoyable experience for the children. We will be in touch with you again shortly.

Best regards,

Diarmaid

Diarmaid Moore

(Principal)

The following websites provide further information on COVID-19 and on government advice and recommendations regarding the re-opening of schools: –

• https://www.education.ie/en/covid-19/
• https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/
• https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a128d-back-to-school/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/backtoschool/