Back to School - Older Classes
PDF Version available HERE
31st August 2020
Back to School – September 1st 2020
1st to 6th Classes
Dear Parents,
We are looking forward to seeing all the children tomorrow as we begin our new school year. We have put some special arrangements in place for the morning routine.
Under DES guidelines, we are expected to have drop off areas for the children coming to school. For Infants, we are initially allowing parents to accompany the children down to the Infant yard where we will have a special ‘infant only’ drop off area. Parents will be able to stay a little longer in this area as we strive to get all the infant children back into school happily. However, all other classes will be dropped off at the school gate and parents are asked not to pass the drop off area.
On arriving at the school main gate, you will find a walkway coned off for Infants and Parents to progress down to the Infant yard. This will be well signed. There will also be an assigned route for the children from 1st to 6th classes to walk around to the back yard. I will be at the gate to help direct the traffic!
A few notes.
For organisational purposes we have allocated Room numbers to each class this year. This will help with lining up in the back yard. The room numbers for each class are as follows:
Room 4: Fourth Class Ms Dwan
Room 5: First Class Ms Cowhig
Room 6: Second Class Ms Rooney
Room 7: Third Class Ms O’Meara
Room 8: Fifth/Sixth Class Ms Casey
Room 9: Fifth Class Ms McGovern
Room 10: Sixth Class Ms Horan
The yard has lining up areas marked 1 to 10 (Rooms 1, 2 and 3 are assigned to Infants). Each class line has 36 dots, each 1m apart, in six colours which will correspond to the Class Pods. As a child arrives into the back yard, they progress to their class line and stand on one of the dots of their assigned colour. The colours are, from top of the yard to the bottom, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. (We have a rainbow yard at the moment!)
The class teachers will all be in the yard for the first morning to guide their classes to the right spot. When a child is in the right place, they will be assigned that exact spot for lining up going forward. This is the same spot they will use every morning and after each break.
It will take a day or two to get the children in tune with the new lining up arrangements but we are certain they will adapt to it very quickly.
There will be a teacher in the yard supervising each morning from 8.45 am. Therefore, it is important that children arriving at school do so after that time each morning. The only exception to this rule is for the early bus which arrives between 8.30 am and 8.40 am. I plan to be there to meet them each morning and will be monitoring that children arrive at the right time. With a little patience, we will get this new system running smoothly.
I will shortly send each class group a copy of the class pod groups.
See you all in the morning!
Yours sincerely,
Dermot Dunphy,
Principal.