Communication to parents/guardians – 5th January 2022
The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has confirmed that schools will fully reopen tomorrow Thursday 6th January 2022.
There has been a significant recent deterioration in all of the key disease indicators (case numbers, hospital admissions, etc.) arising from the impact of Omicron – the latest variant of the virus which is far more infectious than the previous variants.
We know from the experience of other sectors over the last two weeks (eg Health, An Garda Síochána, retail and commercial) that there is difficulty maintaining normal service due to higher numbers of staff testing Covid positive, deemed as close contacts or requiring to self-isolate.
Education and schools are not immune to this situation. We are all aware that there has been a significant recent deterioration in all of the key disease indicators (case numbers, hospital admissions, etc.) arising from the impact of Omicron – the latest variant of the virus which is far more infectious than the previous variants.
We know from the experience of other sectors over the last two weeks (Health, An Garda Síochána, retail and commercial) that there is pressure to maintain normal service due to higher numbers of staff testing Covid positive, deemed as close contacts or requiring to self-isolate.
Education and schools are not immune to this situation, and there may be days when the school will only be able to open for certain year-groups if there are not enough staff on-site to comply with Health and Safety requirements and there may be no alternative but to limit the number of year-groups who can attend. We are, of course, especially mindful of the need to minimise disruption for our students in Sixth Year and Third Year who are preparing for Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate examinations, so that will be taken into consideration should such decisions need to be made.
We will only know if the school has adequate staffing from day to day, and we would appreciate your understanding in this regard. You will receive a text message from the school if your child’s year-group is required to stay at home. In the event that students are required to stay at home, class material and assignments will be available through our school Teaching & Learning platform MSTeams.
Our staff has received support and guidance from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board on the most effective strategies to manage on-line learning. Staff have been appraised of the relevant advice and guidance on managing learning, teaching and assessment in the current pandemic. Our school platform MS365 & Teams, which students are familiar with, is the main portal for communication between students and teachers. We are hopeful that this will help to mitigate the loss in class contact time and ‘Face to Face’ time if students are unable to attend school.
Our patron, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board has also supported us very well since the pandemic struck, and we have weekly meetings of the region’s Principals and Deputy Principals to share best-practice and strategies that can support teaching and learning and student care.
We appreciate how challenging the Covid-19 crisis has been for families, and particularly students. Please rest assured that we will continue to work hard to support all students and parents/guardians in our school community as the pandemic evolves.
We respectfully emphasise the importance of continued compliance by all in our school community, with covid response measures – both public health and in-school measures. Please discuss this with your son/daughter – especially the importance of correct mask-wearing. We all must continue to play our part in keeping ourselves, our households, our school and each other as safe as possible. We thank all parents/guardians for your on-going support throughout these challenging times and we know that you will continue to work in line with public health advice re: illness and to err on the side of caution when unsure whether or not your child should attend school If your child has symptoms of COVID-19 – HSE.ie. For most up-to-date advice, please see COVID-19 (coronavirus) – HSE.ie.
We wish you and yours well for the New Year 2022,
Angela McNamara & Angela Russell
