Restart for Nursery - P3 pupils Monday 9th March

4th March 2021

Dear Parents and Carers

Update for Parents: Return to School (Nursery, P1, P2 & P3) 8th March

Key points

• Pupils from Nursery and P1 – P3 will return to school for face-to-face teaching from Monday 8^th March until Friday 19th March. Remote learning resumes on Monday 22^nd until 1^st April (Holy Thursday). All pupils attending school from 8th March (including those children attending school under Key Worker supervision) MUST wear their school uniform. Please note, school will be closed to all, with online learning suspended, on Wed 17th March for St. Patrick’s Day.
• School meals will be available from Monday 8th March only for those pupils in Nursery, P1. P2 & P3. A reminder that all dinners (both free and paid) should be booked in advance through the School Money App.
• Any pupils in P4-7 attending under key worker/vulnerable supervision must continue to bring their lunch, as school meals are not available for this group at present.
• Translink have been advised by DE that their school bus service is available only to the pupils in this KS1 group therefore until the official return of KS2 there will not be a 3 o’clock bus in the afternoons. The morning bus run will commence and should be available to all. Our 2pm Taghnevan bus is ordinarily full so there will not be room for P4-7 children to hop on with their younger siblings. The Kinnego 2pm bus will have space for older siblings but parents will need to let the office know if they have permission to leave early.
• Those P4-7 children that will be continuing to attend school under the key worker supervision scheme must still be picked up from the school gate at 3pm Monday – Thursday and 2pm on Friday.
• All NEW applications for the following week under the Key Worker provision must be made by the previous Thursday 5pm. All families that have already provided Miss O’Dowd with Key Worker proof need not reapply. Those children are already on the register.

Other important reminders

• A reminder to please ensure that all pupils wash their hands thoroughly before coming to school and should they have a temperature or feel unwell, they must not attend. If a family member feels unwell enough to go for a test, then the household must isolate until the result comes back.
• All Parents/Guardians are asked to please adhere to social distancing around the school gate and grounds. Face coverings must also be worn onsite. Please ensure this is communicated to additional adults that may drop off/collect your child also.
• The one way walking system and the car drop off zone in the morning will recommence. With over 500 pupils returning to school we must insist on the same safety measures in Term One. School doors open to pupils at 8:45 from P1 – P7 and school gates close at 9:10. Nursery drop off arrangements have been communicated to parents via the Nursery Team.
• A reminder that parents MUST NOT drive into the school grounds during the school day.
• Parents/Guardians are asked not to enter the school building. Should you wish to speak to your child’s class teacher, we ask that you phone the school office to leave a message or make an appointment.
• If a meeting has been arranged between a parent and teacher, a face covering must be worn within the school building.
• As stated via a previous communication, DE requires that we must have evidence of work being completed by pupils from home. Pupils not submitting work will be given an absent mark. If your family finds itself in exceptional or difficult circumstances let Miss O’Dowd know via a call to the school office or via email.
• As we have an increasing number of children present in school under Key Worker status and with Classroom Assistants returning to their normal duties in Key Stage 1, there may be a drop off in the online responses and feedback to pupils, as teachers will now have a fuller role in the supervision of children on site. Remote learning content will still be posted daily but teaching staff will have other roles to fulfil on a daily basis in this reconfiguring of the school day.
• I want to pay tribute to all the non-teaching staff who have supported the children we have had in school since January. Thank you for the support they have given the children and the time they afforded the teachers in providing their remote learning experience.

Transfer for P7

Parents of P.7 pupils are reminded that the online admissions portal for post-primary schools is now open and all applications should be completed by 4pm on Tuesday 16th March.

Sacrament news

Dates for Confirmation and Holy Communion have been recently communicated.  We hope and pray that these dates remain viable in a continued Lockdown situation.

As you know by now, things can change very quickly and, more often than not, you get to hear of new arrangements, as we do, through the news channels.  If changes need to be communicated we will do so through the website, SeeSaw, Google and text.

I advise all parents to download the SchoolsNI App and search for our school.  You will get updates straight to your phone.

We’re looking forward to the day that we can have all the children back at St. Francis’ Primary, our Bunscoil and our Nursery, without the stress of Covid.  Stay safe, keep your distance and we’ll see all the little ones on Monday!

Yours sincerely

Orla O’Dowd

Principal