08 December, 2020
Dear parents,
I'm just sending you some updates here on a few upcoming events as we head towards Christmas following our Parents Association online meeting last night.
Cash for Clobber Clothes Collection:
As you will be aware, we are having a collection of used clothes (in good condition) on this Friday, December 11th. Clean used clothes and shoes in pairs should be put in bags and can be dropped to school on Thursday and also on Friday morning. They will be collected during school on Friday. Bags will be weighed and the school will receive money from the company.
I am attaching here the leaflet about the collection again for your information.
If you are planning to send in some bags can we please ask that your child lets their teacher know tomorrow, Wednesday as the company want to know whether to send a van or a lorry to West Cork for their collections this week.
Coaching with James McCarthy:
Tomorrow is supposed to be our last session with James for the time being. This has been great for all involved and we got to do it all outdoors which is great for the time of the year. The forecast doesn't look too good for tomorrow but please all children wear their Sports Uniform anyway for this last day of it. Children will revert back to their normal PE uniform days from next week on.
Christmas Jumper Day:
As previously mentioned we will have a non-uniform day monthly this year as an enjoyable fundraiser. For this month we will of course make it a Christmas Jumper Day and this will take place on Friday of next week, December 18th. All children should bring €2 each on the day and again we will cap at €5 per family for the larger families.
Christmas Raffle:
It was decided NOT to hold a Christmas raffle this year as we would be merely asking the same people to donate prizes and also to buy tickets and win back these prizes. We will hopefully be able to do something more substantial outdoors later on in the year.
Christmas Treasure Hunts:
Thanks to two parents who have compiled Treasure Hunts - 1 for children and 1 for adults - which can be completed by the children over the Christmas period. More information will follow on this in the coming weeks but there will be prizes for each classroom after Christmas and we would encourage and hope that every child/family will take part. There is no Community Development Association Elf Hunt this year so this is something very nice to put on for our school community and also for the community itself.
COVID-19 & Schools:
I 'attended' a webinar last week on COVID-19 & Schools delivered by the Department of Education and 2 Public Health doctors who have been involved with schools through all of this. It was very beneficial and answered some of the many questions people have regarding schools and cases/safety/contacts etc.
I'll just give you some of the information here which is positive for us in schools -
It is no harm as we have now moved from Level 5 to Level 3 and approach Christmas, that we remind ourselves of the need for continued caution and not to let our guard down. It is obviously great that vaccines have begun to be given on our island this morning and there is light at the end of the tunnel but we need to keep focused also. It is great that we haven't had a case of COVID in our school yet and hopefully this will remain the case.
To reiterate, any child who is sick should not be sent to school, particularly if they have any of the symptoms of COVID-19.
If a child has a COVID test because they have symptoms and the test is negative, they should not return to school until at least 48 hours after the symptoms cease.
If a child has a COVID test because they are considered a close contact of a confirmed case and the test result is negative, they MUST stay out of school and restrict their movements for 14 days from the day they were in contact with the confirmed case.
Any pupils travelling abroad for Christmas or at any time should restrict their movements and not attend school for 14 days after their return.
Young people and adults of course congregating in groups in busy settings outdoors - it is better to wear face coverings.
I don't want to be going on about this but it is definitely no harm in reminding ourselves and the children as we head into the Christmas season. Basically the 2 doctors said, 'you don't really want to be hearing from us and Prevention is always better than cure'.
I am also attaching here a Parents Guide to Close Contacts which is an easy read quick guide from the HSE.
Christmas Calendars:
Finally, our calendars turned out wonderfully with excellent photos thanks to our professional photographer Miss Maguire!
We will have the calendars before the end of this week and I will let you know when we do and you can send in the money for the number of them you ordered a few weeks ago. These are €10 each.
Kind regards,
Brendan McCarthy
Principal
Dear parents,
I'm just sending you some updates here on a few upcoming events as we head towards Christmas following our Parents Association online meeting last night.
Cash for Clobber Clothes Collection:
As you will be aware, we are having a collection of used clothes (in good condition) on this Friday, December 11th. Clean used clothes and shoes in pairs should be put in bags and can be dropped to school on Thursday and also on Friday morning. They will be collected during school on Friday. Bags will be weighed and the school will receive money from the company.
I am attaching here the leaflet about the collection again for your information.
If you are planning to send in some bags can we please ask that your child lets their teacher know tomorrow, Wednesday as the company want to know whether to send a van or a lorry to West Cork for their collections this week.
Coaching with James McCarthy:
Tomorrow is supposed to be our last session with James for the time being. This has been great for all involved and we got to do it all outdoors which is great for the time of the year. The forecast doesn't look too good for tomorrow but please all children wear their Sports Uniform anyway for this last day of it. Children will revert back to their normal PE uniform days from next week on.
Christmas Jumper Day:
As previously mentioned we will have a non-uniform day monthly this year as an enjoyable fundraiser. For this month we will of course make it a Christmas Jumper Day and this will take place on Friday of next week, December 18th. All children should bring €2 each on the day and again we will cap at €5 per family for the larger families.
Christmas Raffle:
It was decided NOT to hold a Christmas raffle this year as we would be merely asking the same people to donate prizes and also to buy tickets and win back these prizes. We will hopefully be able to do something more substantial outdoors later on in the year.
Christmas Treasure Hunts:
Thanks to two parents who have compiled Treasure Hunts - 1 for children and 1 for adults - which can be completed by the children over the Christmas period. More information will follow on this in the coming weeks but there will be prizes for each classroom after Christmas and we would encourage and hope that every child/family will take part. There is no Community Development Association Elf Hunt this year so this is something very nice to put on for our school community and also for the community itself.
COVID-19 & Schools:
I 'attended' a webinar last week on COVID-19 & Schools delivered by the Department of Education and 2 Public Health doctors who have been involved with schools through all of this. It was very beneficial and answered some of the many questions people have regarding schools and cases/safety/contacts etc.
I'll just give you some of the information here which is positive for us in schools -
- 'close contacts' of confirmed cases in a school setting have proved to have a 2-3% chance of testing positive compared with approx 10% in the community
- Up to 30th November, 23,346 tests have been carried out concerned with 833 schools (Primary, Post Primary & Special Education Schools). 538 positive cases were detected, a percentage of 2.3%.
- The data available reinforces the international evidence that schools are safe environments, or as safe as can be in the current times.
It is no harm as we have now moved from Level 5 to Level 3 and approach Christmas, that we remind ourselves of the need for continued caution and not to let our guard down. It is obviously great that vaccines have begun to be given on our island this morning and there is light at the end of the tunnel but we need to keep focused also. It is great that we haven't had a case of COVID in our school yet and hopefully this will remain the case.
To reiterate, any child who is sick should not be sent to school, particularly if they have any of the symptoms of COVID-19.
If a child has a COVID test because they have symptoms and the test is negative, they should not return to school until at least 48 hours after the symptoms cease.
If a child has a COVID test because they are considered a close contact of a confirmed case and the test result is negative, they MUST stay out of school and restrict their movements for 14 days from the day they were in contact with the confirmed case.
Any pupils travelling abroad for Christmas or at any time should restrict their movements and not attend school for 14 days after their return.
Young people and adults of course congregating in groups in busy settings outdoors - it is better to wear face coverings.
I don't want to be going on about this but it is definitely no harm in reminding ourselves and the children as we head into the Christmas season. Basically the 2 doctors said, 'you don't really want to be hearing from us and Prevention is always better than cure'.
I am also attaching here a Parents Guide to Close Contacts which is an easy read quick guide from the HSE.
Christmas Calendars:
Finally, our calendars turned out wonderfully with excellent photos thanks to our professional photographer Miss Maguire!
We will have the calendars before the end of this week and I will let you know when we do and you can send in the money for the number of them you ordered a few weeks ago. These are €10 each.
Kind regards,
Brendan McCarthy
Principal