20th May 2020
Newsletter to Parents.
As we move towards the conclusion of the school year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents for supporting your children in engaging in their learning online. This has been a major change not just for our pupils but also for the teachers and school staff. Like any new initiative it takes time to get it absolutely right and in order to achieve this we must get parental feedback to help us to make the necessary changes to make our systems accessible to all. We do appreciate that some of our families are experiencing difficulties with online learning for a variety of reasons which is why we have kept things very simple and as child/parent friendly as possible. The teachers have certainly made every effort to ensure that no child is excluded from their learning and have endeavoured to get work to the pupils by any available means. We will continue to do so until the final week of term. I would like to request that all pupils should be participating in the work as we may be required to forward names of those not engaging to TUSLA on our return to school.
Return of Work/Corrections
Thanks to those parents who have sent on the work to the teachers for correction. Obviously it is essential that the current learning process is a two way one as this allows the teachers to keep up to date with assessment and progress of the children. In cases where it is difficult to return work, please keep this together and teachers will try to get this corrected once we return to school. You do not need to send in every piece of work; rather a sample of completed work will suffice. If the children are finding any area difficult or are struggling to complete assignments, then it is important that the teachers are kept aware of this. The work should be scanned/photographed and returned to the teachers via email where possible. All teacher contact emails are listed under the contacts tab on the school website www.iosaballyhaunis.com.
Please continue to use the Readtheory, Reading Eggs and Khan Academy platforms as directed by your teachers as these allow us to track the work and the progress attained.
Classes 2020-2021
The following is the provisional list of teachers assigned to classes for the 2020-2021 school year:
Junior Infants: Ms. Burke and Ms. Worden
Senior Infants 1: (Ms. Burke’s Class) Mrs. Byrne
Senior Infants 2: (Ms. Worden’s Class) Mrs. Durkan
First Class 1: (Mrs. Durkan’s Class) Mrs. Richardson.
First Class 2: (Mrs Byrne’s Class) Ms. Campbell
Second Class: Ms Ruane.
Third Class 1: (Ms. Ruanes Class) Mrs. Forde
Third Class 2: (Mrs. Richardson’s Class) Ms. Watchorn
Fourth Class: Mrs. Fahey
Fifth Class: Ms. Flatley
Fifth/Sixth Class: Ms. Byrne
Sixth Class: Mr. O Brien
Please note that these are provisional and are subject to change. You will be informed of any change. Also note that there will be some changes in class placements where children will have missed out on schoolwork due to not engaging with the ongoing work since March 13th.
Collection of Books
It is hoped that we will be in a position to facilitate parents in collecting their children’s books and other belongings from school under strict social distancing restrictions. This will also enable parents to return all school rental books (Abair Liom and Starlight English), Class novels, library books and Oxford Reading Tree books. We will update you on arrangements for this as soon as these are finalised.
Contact Numbers/Addresses
Parents are reminded to make sure that the school has up to date contact information. If you have changed address or contact telephone number please email this to the school email iosaballyhaunis@gmail.com as this assists us in keeping in touch with our parent body.
In the meantime we ask that the children are given the opportunity to play outside, do some gardening, go to the bog, experience nature and to be children. While schoolwork is undoubtedly very important it is also advisable that the children are not overburdened and are allowed to enjoy the fresh air and good weather. Thanks once again to those parents who have worked with their children and who have sent us photographs of gardening, baking and outdoor pursuits. Please keep them coming. Keep safe, keep healthy, observe HSE advice and hopefully we’ll all be back to normal before too long.
With Thanks
K. Dennedy & School Staff.