Please click on the file below to read a letter to parents from Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronan Glynn on the return to school.

A Big Well Done to Everyone on a very successful first day back to school in St. Philomena's.  We are so proud of all the girls on how they settled back in to their new routines today!   

A couple of little reminders:

• If you start class at 9 o'clock - you finish at 2:40
• If you start class at 9:10 - you finish at 2:50
• If you start class at 9:20  you finish at 3 o'clock

If your class enters through the the back door - remember to come in through the back gate a couple of minutes before your class starts and your teacher will bring you into class!

Please scroll down to find all of the information about your class 'start times' and your route for entering the school every morning!

Get out and enjoy a bit of fresh air on this last day of August!

It's great to be back x

Please click this link to watch a video with advice for parents 
​youtu.be/MVlb0jAm55Y

Advice for parents in other languages
nascireland.org/covid-19-world-service

St. Philomena's will re-open on Monday, August 31st. These are our drop off and collection procedures:
We will be using the three entrances to the school-front door, side door and back door. Parents/Guardians of girls that are entering through the back door are asked to park on Store St. and escort your daughter to the back gate, or your daughter may walk up the path. A teacher will be present on the path just before 9.00am. You are asked to avoid driving up Benburb St as it is very narrow. Chapel Lane will also be closed from August 31st as there are works taking place so you will only be able to turn right onto Harbour St.

We will have 3 opening times and you are asked to only arrive at the appointed time. The girls will go directly to their classrooms on entering the school.

• 9.00am Front Door: Ms Marron (Room 5) 3rd+4th Class

                     Side Door: Ms Madden (Room 8) 6th Class
                     Back Door: Ms Higgins (Room 7) 6th Class

• 9.10am Front Door: Ms McDonnell (Room 2) 3rd Class

                     Side Door: Mr Murphy (Room 3) 5th Class
                     Back Door: Ms Kenny (Room 6) 5th Class

• 9.20 am Side Door: Ms. Lee (Room 4) 4th Class

There will be staggered closing times also. 

• 2.40pm Front Door: Ms Marron 3rd+4th Class

                     Side Door: Ms Madden 6th Class
                     Back Door: Ms Higgins 6th Class

• 2.50pm Front Door: Ms McDonnell 3rd Class

                     Side Door: Mr Murphy 5th Class
                     Back Door: Ms Kenny 5th Class

• 3.00pm Side Door: Ms Lee 4th Class

In the morning sisters whose starting times are not the same may arrive together and one may wait on a bench until their entry time. In the evening sisters will leave together at the earlier time.
Parents/Guardians are asked to keep a 2 metre distance from each other.
The girls will have 2 breaks, one ten minute break in the classroom and one half hour break outside. The outside break times will be staggered and there will be 2 or 3 classes on the yard at a time in their designated areas.

If a child needs to be collected during the school day, please let the school know in advance. 
Visitors to the school will only be seen by making an appointment. A form will have to be completed upon arrival for contact tracing purposes.
Remember: Please do not send your child to school if they have a high temperature, a cough, shortness of breath or loss of smell or taste. Any pupil displaying these symptom will be escorted to the First Aid area and parents/guardians will be contacted.
If you have any questions, please contact the school.
Please read our updated Covid-19 School Response Plan
​

Here are some of our plans to help keep everyone safe when we return to school:

• The girls have the option of wearing their school uniform on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and their PE uniform on Tuesday and Thursday. When the weather gets colder, they may wear a long sleeved top underneath their t-shirt.
• There will be no homework for the first month. Time will be allocated at the end of the school day for completion of set tasks.
• All pencil cases and books will be left in school.
• The girls will need their school bag to bring their lunch and water and to bring home any wrappers/papers etc.
• If any girl feels unwell they need to remain at home until they are better.
• If any girl feels unwell during school, they will be escorted to our isolation room and you will be contacted to collect them.
• Anyone who has been abroad to a country that is not on the 'Green List' must restrict their movements for 14 days this means staying indoors in one location and avoiding contact with other people and social situations as much as possible. 

We are continuing to work on our drop off and collection procedures and we will let you know when they have been finalised.
Kind regards, Bridget Clear.

​Dear Parent/Guardian,
 
Our school is delighted to announce that we will shortly roll out the Aladdin Schools Connect to parents/guardians of children in our classes.  
 
The school uses the Aladdin Schools software service www.aladdin.ie for administrative purposes and Connect will give you secure access to messages from the school and to details of your child’s attendance, test results, reports cards etc  via secure login from your internet browser or Aladdin Connect App
 
Aladdin Connect is a fantastic way to enhance a school's communication with  parents. It enables parents to stay connected and informed about their child's education by:
- Ensuring that the school has their most up to date contact information
- Allowing schools to gather permission(s) from parents
- Allowing parents to quickly and efficiently select preferred slots for parent teacher meetings 
- Keeping parents apprised of their child's attendance
- Keeping parents up to date on school and classroom news via noticeboard messages
- Allowing parents view their child's approved report card
- Allowing parents to view their child's latest standardised test results
 
Along with strengthening our home/school partnership, we also envisage Aladdin Connect helping the school by:
- Helping to improve attendance by allowing parents to keep track of any school days their child may have currently missed, along with late arrival and early leaving information.
- Helping to reduce the amount of class/school notes being sent home
- Helping the school/ teachers communicate with parents when the need arises
- Reducing costs by eliminating the need to send school report cards by post
- Reducing costs by reducing the number of text messages that need to be sent
 
You can rest reassured that Aladdin Schools uses state-of-the-art security to safeguard information entered by the school and data is stored and processed in strict compliance with Irish and European data protection laws.
 
In the next few days, you will receive a text/email message containing your registration link.  There will be one link per parent which will allow the parent to access information for all their children in the school from one user account. Please do not forward this text/email or share this link as this is a unique registration code for each parent for your child/children in this school. During registration you will choose a password that will be used in conjunction with your email address to securely access the Aladdin Connect going forward. If you choose you may share your own contact details with other parents of children in the same class as your children, but please be reassured that this information will not be shared unless you choose to share it. Once you are registered you will be sent an email with links to download the Aladdin Connect App for your mobile device. The main advantage of using the App is to receive immediate alerts for app messages sent by your school. Downloading the App is highly recommended to enhance both the parent and school's Connect experience. 
In preparation for this please let the school know if your email address or phone number has changed recently.
Please note: If there are any personal concerns, or legal provisions in place regarding giving access to Connect to any parent/guardian of your child please contact the school in confidence to discuss or restrict access as required.
 
We hope that you enjoy using Aladdin Connect. Your class teacher, the secretary or myself will welcome any feedback or questions you may have.
 
Yours sincerely,
Bridget Clear

August 12th 2020
Dear Parent / Guardian, Staff Member,
RE: Physical Distancing and Safe School Attendance
We are currently working on upgrading our procedures and routines within the school to ensure that there is as much Physical Distancing as is possible in our building. We will apply physical distancing in a practical and sensible way, recognising that the learning environment cannot be dominated by a potentially counterproductive focus on this issue.
Physical Distancing will be achieved in two ways: -
Increasing Separation.  This will be achieved by re-configuring the classrooms to maximise physical distancing. Each class will be referred to as a bubble and we will ensure that there is as little contact as possible between children in different bubbles.  Within the bubbles, children will be organised into pods.  A pod is a group of children (normally 4) who will sit together and who will stay in their pod while in the bubble, or classroom. 
Decreasing Interaction. This will be achieved by decreasing the potential for children from different bubbles to interact.  There will be marked routes  to enter and exit the school.  Bubbles will have different lunch-time access to designated areas in the playground.  We will make these routines enjoyable activities for the children, emphasising safety at all times.
While all children will be welcome back to school, we would remind parents that, where children are displaying colds, coughs or flu like symptoms, they should not be sent to school.  Children who display such symptoms in school will be isolated and parents asked to collect them from the school.
Children who have travelled from countries not on the Green List should not attend school during the 14-day self-isolation period
Further information on COVID-19 symptoms in children is available at: -
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/if-your-child-has-symptoms.html
Teachers will make children aware of the proper hygiene procedures regarding hand washing and etiquette related to sneezing, coughing or spitting.  We would be grateful if you could also emphasise safe behaviour in this regard to your children at home as part of the preparation for returning to school.
Our aim remains to re-open the school in an orderly safe manner, while reassuring the children and making them feel comfortable, safe and relaxed with their friends in the new school environment.  This will be achieved by all of us working towards this common goal.
Le meas
 
   Marie White                                                               Bridget Clear                                                                                                                                     
  Cathaoirleach, An Bhóird Bainistíochta                             Príomhoide                                                                                                                                                    
 

06/08/2020
Dear Parents / Guardians, 
RE: Re-opening of St. Philomena’s N.S.
I hope you and your families are keeping well.
As you are aware, our school has now been closed since 12th March due to the COVID-19 situation.  We are now hoping to re-open our school safely, in line with current guidance and recommendations.
Re-opening the school safely will require the co-operation of all members of our School Community – BoM, School Leadership, Staff, Parents and Pupils. We will all be called on to play our part in ensuring that re-opening of the school is done in a safe manner which prevents the spread of the virus and allows the vital work of Teaching and Learning to proceed with as little disruption as possible.
We have been working on our plan for the safe reopening of the school for some weeks now and have published the DES COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of Primary and Special Schools on our school website.  The Response Plan gives details of

• Physical preparation, signage, hand sanitiser stations,
• Advice, procedures and training for the safe return to working in the school for all school staff and pupils
• General and specific advice on how all pupils, staff, parents and visitors will prevent the spread of the virus

We have also published our COVID-19 Policy Statement on the school website. Our BoM will keep you informed as to the progress of our re-opening plans and provide you with the information required by you to play your part in safely re-opening the school.
We are really looking forward to welcoming our children back to school and will be doing all that we can to ensure that the return to school is a safe and enjoyable experience for the children. We will be in touch with you again before school re-opens.
 
 
Le meas
 
Marie White                                                                                                                     Bridget Clear           Cathaoirleach, An Bhóird Bainistíochta                                                                                                                                                                         Príomhoide
 

Please click here to read Minister for Education Norma Foley's letter to parents regarding reopening of schools.

As we begin our last week of distance teaching/learning together we want to share with you our very special story of 2019/2020 in our 9th edition of our school magazine. Enjoy!
​Please click ​here.