Letter to Parents

Dear Parents,

I hope you and the children are keeping safe and well. At this time of year we would be looking forward to Sports Days, Football Competitions, School Trips and The Leavers Assembly. These are difficult and unprecedented times for you with home schooling and for the kids unable to socialise with their peers but we hope to get back to some sort of normality in the near future. 

Regarding arrangements for September a recent document indicated children would attend school twice per week, this has not been clarified. I spoke to CCMS regarding class size and the general health and safety of everyone, advice is to wait on guidance from the Government and EA.

I have spoken to ETI regarding the practical challenges of returning to school. 

 Schools should be considering/planning for:

• consolidating learning (rather than progressing into new areas)
• assessing children’s knowledge, skills and understanding, once they are settled into school, to enable planning
• pastoral/ socialisation work 
• All with a focus on what needs to be done in the immediate and then in the longer term. 

  We intend to have a blended approach of remote learning and in class learning come September, one that is suitable for all parents. Remote learning for younger children and S.E.N will typically need more involvement from parents whilst some older children maybe able to learn more independently. We are conscious that all households may not have the same access to resources, particularly internet connection and devices such as tablets and laptops. We will have a plan that considers the age and learning needs of the children and we will work with C2K and receive training in order to provide the best possible resources available.

Father McAleer has informed me that First Communion will be arranged after September with the school and Parish Priest but he is still awaiting guidance regarding Confirmation. Congratulations to our P7 children on been accepted to the school of your choice. I have contacted your new Principals and informed them of how talented and hard working you all are.

We all miss the children here at St.Olivers and are thinking of them. We the staff will continue to provide help and advice to you our parents. I will continue to keep everyone updated with any developments. Thank you for all your support.

Regards,

Colin Woods.