Dear parents,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the lovely sunshine.

We are now over a fortnight back at school and new systems are up-and-running. Well done to all our students for their adherence to safe hygiene practices and new play and work routines. We will continue to remind everyone, as I am sure you will also, of the importance of keeping safe distances and observing proper hygiene etiquette.

Thank you to you the parents, for your co-operation in the new practices around times for entering and leaving the school. A gentle reminder to everyone to keep with the designated times which ensures that the there is a manageable flow through the car park.

New Families: 

A special word of welcome to all our new junior infants and children who have joined classes through the school. I hope you have many wonderful days in St Anne’s. Welcome to all new parents too- you are an important part of the St Anne’s community and we wish you well. 

Notes re absences:

Thank you for your updates regarding absences to date. Given the current situation, the sending of notes is not the most practical. We will enable an option on the Aladdin Connect App for parents to enter a reason for children’s absence on any given day, from tomorrow. We request that you fill this in on the morning of the child’s absence please- there is an option to fill retrospectively also. Teachers will also be able to fill this in.

This gives us the information for your child’s attendance record and attendance across the wider school.

In terms of Covid-19 related absences, should the school not already be aware of your child being required to isolate or attend for tests, please also let us know by email/phone call. We appreciate your co-operation with this.

 

Homework

To date much of children’s homework has focused on oral work; any written homework is/will be set, based on workbooks/copies that are at home or outlined in homework list

Homework will be sent out to parents on Aladdin, either on weekly or daily basis; senior classes may move to work being set on See Saw in due course. Teachers will be in touch with everyone regarding access to See Saw and the submission of homework . (note – anyone who has paid for homework journals, we will hold them here for you as there is no date on them and they can be used in any given year)

In the event of any closure (pod, class) work will continue on See Saw. 

 

Staffing

I wish to inform you that Mr O Leary is taking over as acting Deputy Principal until Easter, while Ms O Connor is on leave. Thanks to Mr O Leary for the work he has done to date in St Anne’s and his work in supporting the re-opening in the past few weeks; I know he will continue to serve the school well.

Please be aware that the current requirement for testing and related restrictions has, and will continue to have, impact on staff across the school. This means that teachers may be absent for a period of time. We employ sub teachers in that event from a local panel and they work on the plans devised by the class teacher. In the event of your child being high-risk, or is being advised by the HSE, to remain at home, we will contact you to support children working from home via See Saw.

 

First Communion

Congratulations to all who celebrated First Communion over the weekend. We are very proud of you all and hope that you had a great day. Unfortunately, some children were not able to receive First Communion on this occasion- Fr O Byrne assures me that he will make arrangements for you to celebrate as soon as possible.

 

PSG

A special thanks to our volunteers in the PSG for their assistance with the car park over the past few weeks. As ever, your contribution to St Anne’s is wonderful and is very much appreciated.

 

I appreciate that this is an unsettling time for the school community. We will continue to adhere to the DES protocols and advice from HSE. Should you wish to discuss any concerns please make contact with me through the school office.

 

Wishing you all safe and happy days ahead

Kind regards

Mary Manley