August & September 2020 information

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Following guidelines communicated to schools on Friday 19^th June 2020, the following procedures have been discussed with both teaching staff and the BoG. A local principal cluster group has also been consulted upon as well as your feedback from a recent parent/guardian survey in June. At this time of publication, this is how we plan to operate our school in August.  We are planning for all pupils in school, 5 days a week.  Our classrooms can accommodate this with 1m distancing between pupils and 2m between staff.

Please inform the school if your child is shielding, or if they are living with a family member who is shielding and falls under the extremely vulnerable category.

These guidelines may change at any time.  I am hopeful that restrictions will be eased more in September, however at this time, this is what we plan to do under current guidance.

We will continue to consult with our entire school community regularly in order to best support everyone, however your children are at the heart of all we do and we will endeavour to best support them as safely as we can. Please read the following information carefully.

School Uniforms

Full school uniforms should be worn as normal. Primary 1 & 2 children will also require waterproof trousers and to wear a waterproof/weatherproof coat. They will also require to bring a pair of wellington boots to school and keep them there. Every child P1-7 will require a coat to school every day as we are being encouraged to utilise our outdoor learning spaces as much as possible.

Primary 3 children will also require wellington boots.

All pieces of uniform/belongings should be labelled with the child’s name.

Induction Week Details Monday 24th August 2020:

School uniforms should we worn to induction week to give the children a real sense of what school will be like.

Primary 1 children can attend school on Thursday 27^th August & Friday 28^th August 9am-11am. (If necessary, parents can drop their child off inside the classroom on these days to help their child settle). We would also request that P1 children should also bring to school on their induction mornings a change of socks, underwear and bottoms in case of any ‘accidents’. They should be in a bag, labelled with their name, this will be kept in school. Parents must use hand sanitiser on entry to the school building and exercise 2m social distancing. Please bring along all forms that were posted out in June and hand them to either Mrs McCafferty or Mrs Patton.

Primary 7 children can attend school from Monday 24^th August for the full week, with a shorter day on Thursday 27^th August. School lunches will be available on these days for P7's (apart from Thursday) for those who request one.

The school year will start for everyone on Tuesday 1^st September 2020. The school will be closed on Monday 31^st August 2020.

Children’s class teachers/LSA are as follows:

Primary 1 & 2: Mrs F. Patton & Mary Canning

Primary 3: Mrs S. McCafferty, Mrs F. Patton & Sadie Duffy

Primary 4 & 5: Mrs N. Morrison & Aileen Carmichael

Primary 6 & 7: Miss G. Herron, Mr P. Duffy (Friday) & Aileen Carmichael

The breakfast club will run from Tuesday 1st September from 8.10am at a cost of £1 per day.

There will be staggered drop off and pick up times for families, as detailed by the Department of Education.  More details of this will follow in August.  There has been no information shared with me regarding the school bus.

Primary 1-7 children: Your child should bring a pencil case to school on their induction day either with stationary or the school will provide stationary to put into it. It should be kept on their school desk and not taken home. Please label this with their name.

There will be staggered break and lunch times to ensure children do not mix with others from different classrooms. Children will be expected to eat their break/lunch either at their desks or outside in a designated area. There will be lunches only provided by the schools’ dinner service. Healthy breaks should be brought to school in disposable packaging. The school assembly hall will not be used as a canteen at lunch time at the moment. Children will be restricted to their classroom to form a ‘protective bubble,’ and to the playground/outside space. Again these are recommendations from the Department of Education.

Each class will have their own designated outdoor play equipment.

It is unclear how ‘blended learning’ and/or homework is going to be organised at this time due to guidance on limiting the amount of items which travel to and from home and school. But we will keep you informed on this detail when more clarity has been shared by the Department of Education.

At the present time, we plan to do the following; we consulted with parents in June, and the feedback was clear that the overwhelming majority of parents requested printed homework booklets. We may not be allowed to directly mark this due to restrictions, but it is vital that teacher feedback on this work completed, is allowed for. More details on this will follow.

There will be the regular cleaning of learning areas, throughout the duration of the school day and after school. Handwashing will become part of the daily timetable throughout the duration of the school day. Hand sanitiser will be available too. We would ask for children to wash their hands just before they leave their homes each day. We will be encouraging children to cough/sneeze into a flexed elbow or tissue. We will be promoting the campaign ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it.’ There will be posters displayed throughout the school on handwashing and personal hygiene. Teachers will also be reminding children about this regularly in class. Foundation stage children will receive a level of adult support.

1 child per class will be allowed access to the toilets at any time. The children will be asked to sanitise their hands before entering the toilets and wash them afterwards.

Internal doors will remain open to ensure reduced touching of door handles and to allow for fresh air to flow/ventilation. Windows will also be opened to allow for fresh air in classrooms.

Any money or dinner money should be sent in plastic bags or cling film, with clear labelling of the child’s name and what it is for.

Behaviour.

At St. Finlough’s Primary School, the behaviour of our children is a credit to themselves and their families and I have no doubt that our children will continue to approach these new guidelines with maturity and respect. However, if a pupil who wilfully refuses to adhere to arrangements of social distancing and deliberately coughs or spit at pupils or staff, putting them at risk, their parents/guardians will be contacted regarding this, and they may be asked to be collected and taken home. This is to ensure the health safety of our pupils and staff. This is Department of Education guidelines.

I have no further guidance on the schools swimming programme, Gaelic coaching, or extra-curricular after school clubs at this time. There has been no guidance whether children are permitted to use computers or iPads in school as yet.

The Northern Ireland Curriculum

Teachers will, “use the flexibility within the NI Curriculum and, in particular, the use of cross-curricular themes to structure lessons innovatively and thereby reduce the need for learners and staff to move between different areas of an establishment” (DENI 2020)

There will be an element of ‘catch-up’ time to ensure key skills of core curriculum content is covered. There will be a key emphasis on literacy, numeracy as well as personal development and mutual understanding. However, all curriculum areas will be covered. Careful classroom management will be taken into consideration for each lesson, to ensure the health and safety of all.

Additional support will be made available to those on the SEN register, or those who may be within 'target groups.'  More details on this will follow.

Finally:

The emotional wellbeing of the children and their self-esteem will be paramount.

At this time, this is what we as a school, plan to do. You will be informed of any changes if new advice is released by the Department of Education.

I appreciate that this is a lot of information to process, but we must keep everyone informed as best as possible. I hope this has answered any of your queries of what August may bring.

God bless, keep safe, and have a lovely summer break,

Mrs S. McCafferty