Author: St Brigids INS

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We have been preparing for the reopening of school on 31 August and we are pleased that we now have clarity from the Department of Education. The roadmap for the full reopening of schools is available to read on gov.ie/backtoschool. Our new Minister for Education Norma Foley has asked all schools to thank parents and families for their patience and co-operation during the school closures and commended them for their efforts to keep learning going at home.

Classes for the new year

We have tried to keep continuity for the children in the arrangement of classes for next year.

A huge thank you and goodbye (for the moment) to Ms McDonald, Ms McMonagle, Ms Banks, Ms McIntyre, and Ms Kathy Kelly. We hope our paths will cross again.

SET team of teachers: Mrs Foley, Mrs Higgins, Mrs Stafford, Ms Pierce (standing in for Ms O Brien) will be working closely with the class teachers to support children’s needs with reading & writing, language, maths, fine motor skills, concentration and attention skills, social skills.

Early Start: Barbara and Evelyn in room 10, Emer and Tara in room 8.

Home School Community Liaison: Olwen will continue to link in with families during the year. We will be unable to have a Parents’ Room or gatherings of any kind in the school this year.

Special Needs Assistants: Aileen, Jackie, Fiona, Laragh, Mary will be working in various classrooms to support children with care needs, sensory needs and independence. As far as possible, they will be working with the same children as last year. As we have some new children who require SNA assistance, the SNAs will be working over a number of classrooms during the day.

Support for Schools

We will be getting advice from NEPS and Special Education Support Service around planning for individual educational needs and wellbeing for all children. Both agencies have useful parent pages on their websites. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment will be advising ALL schools about the curriculum in the new school year. All staff have been busy doing online and remote courses, meetings and preparation for the safe reopening of schools and return to education.

Reopening of School

Senior Infants and First Class: School reopens Monday 31 August, with slightly staggered opening and collection times, to prevent crowding. We will text you to let you know your times. Parents will NOT be allowed to accompany the children into the school building this year. There will be a team of familiar teachers in the yard to assist with directing/escorting the children into their rooms.

Children may wear their uniform or tracksuit. Crests and ties will be available to buy at the school from 19 August 10 – 12 daily.

New Junior Infants: Parents of incoming junior infants have been contacted to arrange a brief visit to their new classroom with ONE ADULT ONLY the week before school reopens. This is the only time that parents will be allowed into the building. A welcome pack and school lunch menus will be given out on the day. Parents may also like buy iron-on crests and school ties which are for sale in the school.

On Monday 31 August, Junior Infants will start school at 10 am. They will be greeted in the yard by a welcome team (familiar Early Start team from last year and the SET teachers) and escorted into the school. Parents will NOT be able to come into the school building this year.

As usual, the Junior Infants will begin with a shorter day, working their way up to the full day over a few weeks.

Early Start: All new Early Start pupils will start school on Tuesday 1 Sept. We will be in touch by phone to arrange an induction visit before school starts.

We are really looking forward to meeting all our pupils and families again!

Book rental, workbooks and stationery

All materials are ordered by the school. The cost is €60 for Junior Infants and €50 for Senior Infants and First class. Payment can be made at the school any morning between 10 and 11 am from 19 August. If necessary, parents can arrange to pay in instalments.

Communication with families

Under the new guidelines, we have to restrict visitors to the school building but we want to ensure that we keep a two-way channel of communication with parents. Principal Margaret O’Reilly, Acting Deputy Principal Helen Foley and HSCL teacher Olwen May will be in the yard every morning to deal with quick queries. We will be happy to arrange a longer conversation by phone or in a safely spaced arrangement. Our school email is info@stbrigidsinfantschool.ie. Olwen’s HSCL mobile number for calls, texts or WhatsApp messages is 086 370 5773.

We will need three up-to-date contact numbers for every child as we will ring immediately if any child seems unwell. No child should come into school if they have any coronavirus symptoms.

If a child has to stay at home, we expect that you will follow up with assigned work so that they do not fall behind with their learning.

Urgent school messages will be sent through Aladdin text. Please make sure we have up-to-date numbers.

We will continue to communicate updates through our website, monthly printed newsletters, phone calls and email. Please let us know if there is anything on your mind, as we want to keep the communication two-way.

Health & Safety for Children, Staff, Parents and Essential Visitors

We will strictly observe the public health and Department of Education guidelines and we know we can rely on the full support and co-operation of all parents and families to keep our children, our staff, and our school and local community safe, happy and back in a normal routine. The only way this can happen if everyone takes personal responsibility to keep the virus suppressed.

Children will be staying and playing with their own class group only in the new school year, with no crossover between classes. There will be no breakfast club this year, but we will continue to provide milk, healthy snacks, fruit and lunches in the classrooms.

There will be a lot of time spent on practising and teaching health education- hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and personal space. Please ensure that every child has a tissue and can blow their nose and catch a cough or sneeze in their elbow. Sing the alphabet while washing hands at home.

Children must be able to tie their own laces or else wear Velcro or pull-on shoes or runners – for the safety of children and staff.

Primary school children will not be required to wear face coverings. Staff may wear visors in certain situations.

Tights, leggings or tracksuit bottoms under pinafores will reduce the number of grazed knees.

We will be spending extra time in the fresh air this year, with as much outdoor learning as possible, so please make sure that all children are dressed warmly and have a hat, gloves and warm coat for the winter. (We have clean spare coats, hats and school bags. Just let us know if you need something.)

We will be observing the very strict guidelines on enhanced cleaning procedures and social distance throughout the school.

We request all family groups to maintain social spacing at drop-off and collection times. There may be staggered arrival and collection times to prevent crowds gathering. Siblings will be dropped and collected together. Keeping a safe distance from other family groups is the MOST IMPORTANT THING parents can do to keep our school safe.

We have been requested by the Department of Education to ask all families to walk to school wherever possible. Families living far away from the school may like to “park and stride”.

There may be a one-way movement system through the school grounds. Please follow the signs. While this may be inconvenient to a few parents, we will be expecting your full support. We will be working in cooperation with the Senior school.

The school carpark will be strictly for staff and Senior School Special Class transport only.

Our safety processes will only be as strong as the weakest link! We need your help to keep our school and local community safe.

The focus in September will be on reconnecting with friends, teachers, school routines and settling in smoothly to school. We will have the children’s wellbeing uppermost in our plans. If we all co-operate with a practical, sensible, calm approach to the arrangements for the new school year, the children will quickly adapt to the new normal and gladly get back to learning and playing in a safe and happy school.

Download the information leaflet for incoming junior infant parents below here

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We would like to welcome you and your child to junior infants 2020/21 at St Brigid’s Infant School. We are really looking forward to meeting you and your child and welcoming them into our school! St Brigid’s is a Roman Catholic, mixed, infant school comprising of Early Start, junior infants, senior infants and first class. This year we will have 4 junior infant classes in our school. Here is some basic information you might need to know for your child’s first few days:

What does my child need to bring to school?

Books

We will let you know when you can begin to purchase your child’s new school books from our office and the cost of these. This will begin in September this year; your child will not need any books for their first couple of weeks.

Stationery

The school will provide your child with all the stationery they need whilst in school (pencils/crayons/glue etc). You will need basic pencil and crayons at home to help your child with their homework.

School Bag

When choosing a school bag for your child, please ensure it is large enough to easily fit an A4-page sized folder inside (for homework), their lunch, lunchbox and a drinks bottle. They will carry these things daily so they need to be able to put them into and take them out of their bags with ease.

Uniform

Our uniform is a navy-blue jumper/cardigan, trousers, white shirt and tie. The tracksuit, cardigan and trousers can be bought in any shop (e.g. Tesco, Dunnes, Marks and Spencers, Penneys etc.). The girls blue-checked pinafore dress can be purchased from McAloons in Finglas village. The school crest and ties are available from our school office to add to school jumpers/cardigans. Children will be asked to wear a navy-blue tracksuit and runners for their PE day. Teachers will inform you of this day during your child’s first few weeks at school.

Please help your child’s teacher by sending your child to school in shoes without laces. Please label all belongings – coats, jumpers, bags, water bottles.

Lunches

At St Brigid’s, all pupils are provided with lunch free of charge. The lunches are funded by the Department of Social Protection and Employment Affairs. The lunches are prepared by Glanmore Foods under strict hygiene and Healthy Ireland nutrition guidelines. There are many options which cater for different tastes and dietary requirements. In September parents will be given a lunch form to fill out for their child. The menu can be changed as often as you want. Each child’s lunch is prepared and served in a sealed bag every day. Children are also offered milk and fruit every day. Please send in a full bottle or beaker of water every day. Water and milk are the only drinks allowed in our school. As part of our healthy eating policy, we ask that parents do not send in any additional food/snacks.

Your child will need to bring an empty lunch box each day in their bags. This is because they will bring home any uneaten food so you can see what they are eating at school. We also ask children to bring home their own rubbish for disposal at home. Please check/clean the lunch box daily.

The staff at St Brigid’s Infant School are really excited to welcome your child to our school and junior infants in September!!

We will be in touch with all families in the coming weeks and we will provide further information about opening times, the settling-in timetable, payment for workbooks and materials, and of course their new teachers and classrooms.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us in the meantime if you have any other questions.

School phone: 01-8348770 HSCL phone: 086-3705773 School email: info@stbrigidsinfantschool.ie

If you missed it you can download the May Newsletter here

Welcome to our new school website! We are very proud of the new website and we will keep it updated with school news, useful information, policies and forms, and lots of photos of our pupils learning at home and at school.

Continuing school closures

As the school closures and national restrictions continue, we hope that all families are well and safe.

We know that every family has been affected. Many parents have lost jobs. Older siblings have had months of uncertainty about the State exams. Some parents are working long exhausting hours helping to keep the country going. Others are trying to juggle working from home and family life. Sadly, some families are coping with a bereavement without the consoling presence of neighbours and friends. All children sense the uncertainty and may be acting out or holding in the anxiety. Everyone is just doing their best to get through this!

Keeping in touch

You can continue to keep in touch with us during the school closure through, the teachers’ email, the school email (info@stbrigidsinfantschool.ie) and the Home School Liaison phone (call/text/Whatsapp on 086-3705773).

Keep sending in photos of children at work or play and we will add them to the website over the next few weeks. We need the correct details to keep in touch with families during the closure so please be sure that we have your correct phone numbers, emergency contact numbers, postal address and email address. You can update any information by calling, texting or emailing us.

Learning from home

Even though the schools are closed, learning continues. Schools all over Ireland have put arrangements in place to ensure that children keep on learning. We would like to thank all families who are doing their best to help their children with the learning activities we are sending out through email, phone call, text or post. We have also gathered and distributed a list of helpful websites and resources which we have recommended to parents.

Thank you for taking part in our school survey which has helped us to plan for the rest of the term. In a recent phone meeting, our school inspector asked us to reaffirm to all parents that time spent talking, playing and enjoying activities with children is valuable and educational. With this in mind, for the month of June, we will focus on fun learning activities which we hope you will enjoy with your child, indoors and outdoors.

The school reports will be posted to your home towards the end of June.

Planning for the new school year

We will be in touch by phone and post with parents of incoming Junior Infants, incoming Early Start children, and First Classes transferring to St. Fergal’s and St. Brigid’s Senior School.

Pupil wellbeing is our priority in every decision we make for next year. We will let you know about your child’s teacher and classroom for next year before the end of June.

In the new school year, we will be adhering strictly to the government guidelines for health, safety and wellbeing of pupils, staff, parents and visitors. We know we can depend on your support and cooperation. We will take the upcoming changes in our stride and do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe, happy and busy.

We will have further updates before the end of June.

Places in school

Any parents enquiring about places in Junior Infants or Early Start can email the school at info@stbrigidsinfantschool.ie, call/text Olwen on 086-3705773 or call the school phone on 01-8348770 and we will be in touch.