School Tours Update

Dear parents,

It is great that we are going back to having school trips after Covid. In light of this we have updated our guidelines in relation to parents helping out on school tours. This is in accordance with  guidance from circular (0031/2016) from the Department for Education and Skills which is available at the following link ; http://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0031_2016.pd

Any person who is helping on the school tour requires Garda Vetting. If you plan to help on the school tour please call to the office complete the attached Garda Vetting Form & Garda Vetting Invitation Form.

I would appeal to you to consider putting yourself forward for this as we really depend on our pool of vetted volunteers to help with school tours. There may be no specific reason right now to have been vetted, but, you may be happy to go on a school tour later in the year. The vetting process takes a few weeks so it would be best to have gone through it and so be ‘ready to go’.

Thank you

Margaret Hughes

Green Day – Wednesday 16th March 2022

Dear Parent/Carers
• The children can wear green next Wednesday 16th March in honour of St Patrick.
• There will be a half day that day to facilitate staff training.
• Junior and Senior Infants will go home at 11.45am First and Second class will go home at 12.00 pm
• There will also be a special walk called Sli na Sláinte on Wednesday 16th March.
• The children will parade around the yard and parents can join them for this
• Tea, coffee and snacks will be for parents on the school yard or the Parent’s room.
• Second class will start at 9.30am. Parents can come to the yard at that time
• First class start at 10.00am Parents can come to the yard at that time
• Senior Infants start at 10.30 am. Parents can come to the yard at that time
• Junior Infants and Rm 12 start at 11.00am . Parents can come to the yard at that time

We look forward to welcoming you all to the school for this very special occasion. School will reopen on Tuesday 22nd March.

Updated Guidance to Schools Following the mid-term break 2022

Updated Covid-19 Guidance to Schools following the mid-term break 2022

Dear parents/guardians,

I hope you and your family enjoyed the midterm break.

As you may be aware, the Government have reviewed some of the measures put in place in schools in response to Covid. While some measures are now optional, it is important to note for cases of Covid it is still required that your child remains at home if they display any symptoms or have a positive Antigen.

If members of staff or students wish to continue wearing face masks or coverings, they may do so.

Below is the updated guidance provided by the Department of Education.

Continued use of good infection prevention and control measures such as hand washing, respiratory hygiene, and ventilation is advised.

Critical components of the collective response in relation to COVID-19 continue to apply including self-isolation if symptomatic (even if fully vaccinated/boosted) or if having a positive COVID-19 test.

Staying at home if you have symptoms

The requirement to stay at home if you have symptoms remains – for students and staff alike. One of the key messages to manage the risks of COVID-19 is to do everything practical to avoid the introduction of COVID-19 into the school. If infection is not introduced it cannot be spread.

Hand Hygiene

Schools should continue to promote good hygiene. Hand hygiene can be achieved by hand washing or use of a hand sanitiser (when hands look clean). Funding will continue to issue to schools for the purchase of PPE, including hand sanitiser.

Face coverings/mask wearing

It is no longer a requirement for staff or pupils/students to wear a face covering/mask in school. Staff and student/pupils can continue to wear a face covering/mask if they wish to do so on a personal basis and the school will continue to make masks available on request as they are currently doing.

School transport and Face coverings/mask wearing

With effect from Monday 28 February the wearing of face coverings/masks on school transport will no longer be mandatory but will continue to be advised. All other measures relating to hygiene (including the provision of hand sanitiser and additional cleaning of services) and pre-assigned seating will remain in place subject to further review.

Antigen testing arrangements for children in primary schools and special classes.

As part of the transition arrangements the HSE will continue with the current processes to support the provision of antigen tests to primary schools, special schools and childcare settings.

The Antigen Free phone number is: 1800 110055 or parents may order antigen tests online via www.hse.ie/schooltest.

The call centre opening hours will be altered slightly and from next week onwards will be 8:45am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). The online portal will remain operational 24/7 and will shortly be available through Irish as well as English.

Participation in antigen testing a voluntary, therefore it is not necessary for parents to share information with the school about whether they have requested antigen tests and nor to confirm negative antigen tests

Children who are well should continue to come to school whether they participate in antigen testing or not.

Further information regarding changes will be provided in the next week.  Thank you most sincerely for your support and cooperation with the measures that have been in place up to now. Your understanding and engagement made a significant difference to our Staff, Pupils and myself in minimising risk and allowing us to continue to support and work with your children to the best of our ability.
 

Wishing you and your child an enjoyable, healthy and successful second half of term.

Yours faithfully,

Margaret Hughes

Principal

Covid 19 vaccine information for parents of children age 5-11

The Department has been asked by the HSE to disseminate the information below to schools for onward communication to parents/guardians.

COVID-19 vaccine information for parents of children aged 5-11

The HSE has published detailed information and guidance for parents about COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5-11. This aims to help parents and guardians of 5-11 year old children make an informed decision when it’s time for their child to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Registration for the vaccine will open shortly, with priority being placed on children who are more at risk from COVID-19 or children who have a high-risk person in the family. Parents and guardians can read this information on https://www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/covid-19-vaccine/get-the-vaccine/covid-19-vaccination-for-children/  or they can download these information booklets from HSE.ie.

Important information for parents and guardians about the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 (Comirnaty, Pfizer/BioNTech) (PDF, size 1.11 MB, 16 pages)

Important information for parents and guardians about the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 (Irish) (PDF, 1.7 MB, 16 pages)

Kind regards,

Info_COVID19

Anti-gen Testing

days, 22 hours ago, 26/11/2021 09:00
Antigen Testing- Department of Education Update

29th November 2021

Antigen Testing Update

Dear Parent, 

This is an update on plans to provide for the use of antigen testing in certain circumstances  in children who are asymptomatic and part of a classroom pod, where there is a confirmed  case of COVID-19. 

The most important way to protect against any onward spread of infection is that if  your child has any symptoms of COVID-19, including a new cough, shortness of  breath, high temperature, sore throat, they should self-isolate at home and you  should book a COVID-19 PCR test for them. PCR tests can be booked here:  https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/testing/get-tested/ 

Children who have symptoms should not use antigen tests, they should stay at  home and organise a PCR test for Covid-19. If a parent/guardian has any concerns  about their child they should contact their GP, as per normal.  

From 29 November 2021, if a parent or guardian receives a positive (detected) PCR  COVID-19 test result for their child, we are asking that they contact their child’s school  principal immediately to let them know.  

The principal will then tell this parent/guardian, that they will be contacting the parents of  the other children in their child’s pod, to give them details of how they can order free  antigen tests for their children using a Freephone number. The principal is requested not to  share any personal information relating to any other child with parents. 

Antigen tests are potentially an extra measure to help protect against transmission of  COVID-19 (coronavirus). You do the tests yourself at home. The test sample does not have  to go to a lab. You usually get your results in 15 minutes.  

If just one pod is involved, only the children in this pod will be offered antigen tests. If there  are two pods with separate confirmed cases of COVID-19, then parents or guardians of  children in the whole class will be contacted and provided with the information on how they  can request antigen tests.  

You will need to provide your child’s name and home address together with the school’s roll number (19611K), which will be provided by the school when contacting the Freephone number to  order the test.

These tests will be delivered free of charge directly to the parent or guardian at their home  address and the child’s parent can decide if they want to do the tests. The HSE has  prepared instructions and a video for parents. Full details will be in the antigen test pack.  

The HSE advises that parents/guardians should carry out the first antigen test for their child  on the day that they receive the test kit, they should do a second test 2 days later, and a  third test 2 days after that.  

The children in the pod of the confirmed COVID-19 case can continue to attend school as long as they have no symptoms and they do not have a positive COVID-19 test  result (antigen or PCR). If at any time, your child develops symptoms they should  isolate at home and you should book a COVID-19 PCR test for them. Do this even if  the antigen test has a negative (not detected) result. 

If an antigen test is positive, it is important that your child isolates at home and that you  book a COVID-19 PCR test online at the HSE test portal. 

A QR code will be provided to afford parents the opportunity to upload the result of a test  result to inform the HSE. This information is very important to understand the Covid-19  pandemic.  

School principals have been requested not to share any information with parents that might  identify the positive COVID-19 case.  

Participating in antigen testing is a voluntary programme, therefore it is not necessary for  parents to share information with the school about whether they have requested antigen  tests and undertaken negative tests. 

Children who are well should continue to come to school whether they participate in  antigen testing or not.  

The decision to do antigen testing with your child is completely up to parents and guardians  and will have no impact on your child’s education or experience in school. 

The voluntary programme of antigen testing is an additional measure and does not replace  the very important public health measures currently in your school.

We continue to ask that you remind your children of the importance of these measures to  stop spread of infection.  

Covid Update

Dear parents. Thanks for all your cooperation with Covid guidelines.
If your child is showing any symptoms they must remain at home. If your child is asymptomatic but you have been informed that there is a case in their class, I suggest carrying out an antigen test as a precaution (this has been the case for a number of positive cases and thank you to the parents involved for taking the precaution).

If your child has not been told by the HSE that they are a close contact, it is usually OK to send them to school or childcare if they:

1. do not have a high temperature (38 degrees Celsius or over)
2. are not taking any form of paracetamol or ibuprofen that could hide a high temperature
3. do not have a new cough
4. do not live with anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19
5. were told by a GP that it’s OK to go back to school or childcare after being unwell
6. got a negative COVID-19 test result and have not had any new symptoms for 48 hours
7. have not had diarrhoea for 48 hours
are tested regularly because they are in a vulnerable group

From Monday, November 29th:

Where two or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 occur in a class, within a seven-day period, outside of a single pod, antigen testing will be offered to the full class.

The tests will be sent to the children’s parents by the HSE.

Parents/guardians of a primary school child, who has been confirmed as having COVID-19 following a PCR test, are asked to inform the principal. The principal will then inform the parents of other children in the pod of a confirmed case. No personal details of the child will be shared. These parents will be provided with the option to receive free antigen tests for their child, which they will be able to order for delivery to their home.

There are many children and staff who are living with vulnerable family members. It is only if the whole school community work together and take precautions that we can keep each other safe. Please take every precaution available to you to keep your family and the school community safe.