 Newsletter May 25th 2020
Dear Parents, It was lovely to see all the children and some of you, our parents, at our assembly on Friday. Great to keep up the communication and connection from us to you. What fabulous happy photos we got for our competition. Re-opening of School You will all have heard that the primary schools are now expected to be open in September. This brings some clarity to us all but we all know that there are still many questions to be addressed. There is much speculation in the media about schools re-opening earlier but you will always be given the most up-to-date and correct information in these weekly newsletters and on our website. As it stands, schools will re-open in September. The safety aspects of opening the school are upmost in all our minds. We don’t know yet what schooling will look like in September- whether there will be a reduced pupil teacher ratio, for example and staggered re-entry or staggered days. Pupils, parents and staff will need reassurance that the reopening can and will be managed safely. Guidelines for the safe re-opening of our schools will be drafted by the Dept. of Education and Skills and the HSE along with other Partners in Education. The teachers’ unions and principal bodies, the Boards of Management and Patron bodies (Educate Together for us) and the National Parents Council are all involved. All decisions will be relayed to you in a timely manner. As soon as we know, you will know. You can be re-assured that we, in Esker ETNS, will do what is asked of us to safely re-open and restore our school. Online Learning Here we are now in the last week of May, another five weeks on online learning to do before the summer holidays. The teachers are putting in enormous work on See saw and Edmodo, uploading video tutorials, preparing weekly and daily work schedules of core material and further extension work. I know many of you are working hard with your children to continue this work and together we are all doing the best we can in less than ideal circumstances. Thank you for your work in this. All the work you are putting in will greatly stand to your child. Class get-togethers beginning this week should give the children the much needed connectivity with their classmates and teachers and SNAs. And hopefully these get togethers will be a chance to re-invigorate the effort in online learning. I would like to appeal to the parents of older children here. I am not sure whether the older children are putting in the effort that their teachers are. Your children might be saying to you that the work is too easy, or too hard, or too boring. Be assured that there is plenty of work there for every child and all abilities. Your children might be saying that they are finished, when in fact a minimal effort has gone in. It is difficult for me to hear that teachers are frustrated with the hard work they are putting in and the lack of response from some (not all!) of the children in the senior classes. Children in 5th and 6th with access to devices should not need support from the parent to actually do the work, but I do that they need encouragement and supervision from you. Please show an interest in and encourage your children to engage fully with the work that is being set and be satisfied yourself that your child is doing their best. Make sure that your child is actually uploading work for the teacher to see. We know it is difficult circumstances for everyone but in reality we only have three to four more full weeks of school work before we start to ease off a bit in late June. So let’s all make the effort to give it one last push for the next few weeks. Graduation Preparations for the online graduation are underway. The online ceremony will take place at 7 pm on Friday June 19th. As previously discussed we hope to be able to host an evening for the graduating pupils later in the year- if social distancing rules allow. Lunches The Carambola lunch packs will be distributed next week, deliveries beginning next Tuesday after the bank holiday. Reports Reports will issue as usual in mid-June. They will be a bit different to the usual report as no standardised testing (Maths and Literacy) took place this year. The reports will reflect the work that your children did in school and their attendance record up to 12th March. Teachers may also reference some of the good work that the children engaged with in their online learning. Class Get togethers and Assemblies Encourage your children to get involved in these. Connectivity with their school community and their peers is really, really important for their sense of belonging and their well-being. Find out what day this week the class together is on and make sure they join and I hope to see another great turn out at our next assembly on Friday June 5th. The theme for our next assembly is the Wonders of the Animal Kingdom. To prepare, we are looking for the children to research and present work on their favourite wild animal, from Ireland or abroad. It can be a mammal or a fish, a bird or an insect (not a pet this time). Upload the completed work (one entry per child) to your child’s teacher, noting that it is for the competition. Each teacher will forward the best three to Catherine, Gemma and Colette and we will choose the winners from there. The quality of the drawings, neatness and the quality of the written report will be the criteria for selection. Infants: Draw a picture of their favourite wild animal/bird/fish/insect with the name of the animal written on it. 1st and 2nd: Title (name of the animal) and detailed picture with three important/interesting facts about their chosen creature. 3rd and 4th. Report to include drawing(s) and ten important /interesting facts about the chosen animal, to include, where it’s from or in what country can it be found, habitat, diet, name of animal ‘as Gaeilge’, and any other interesting facts. Full sentences please. 5th and 6th : Fact file to be presented in whatever format you choose- to include drawings and many interesting facts. Be creative. There will be winner in each of the four categories- a one-for-all voucher for €20! Nice! For students in 4th, 5th and 6th class. Don’t forget the self-guided virtual tour worksheet for the Natural History Museum. I know students will find this resource both educational and enjoyable. The lesson and worksheet can be downloaded from here - www.cliste.ie/natural-history-museum-virtual-tour/ Colette
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Dear Parents,
The longer this goes on the more questions arise for us and for all schools and school communities! We have settled our school calendar for school year 2020-2021 which we will send out to you at the beginning of June. According to our calendar, school reopens on Thursday 27th August 2020. However, we have no direction yet from the Department of Education as to how many children will be allowed in the building or in any classroom at any one time. So arrangements continue to be very fluid and uncertain. No decisions as to how schooling will look in September can be made until we have clarity from the Department. As soon as we have the information we need, we will share it with you. All decisions that will be made will be in line with the guidance we receive from the Department of Education and Skills, with health and safety of children and staff being paramount to all decisions. Parents Survey Thank you to all parents who responded to our Parents survey. We were delighted with the kind comments from you and we got very useful information. We have individually contacted parents who had specific concerns about technology and/or access to books and hopefully some (if not all) issues have been addressed. I particularly liked the suggestion from one parent who wanted to know whether the teachers will be buying Yankee candles for the parents this June. I enjoyed that one! Remember -You can contact Linda at [email protected] or myself [email protected] if you have any further concerns that you would like to discuss with us. Remember also to contact [email protected] if you are having technical difficulty with Seesaw, Edmodo or Zoom. Catherine also has asked me to remind you to contact her [email protected] if you are looking for any advice or materials for supporting children with special needs. Class Get- togethers One comment that came up from many parents in the Parent Survey is that they would really like Zoom Classes Get- together for pupils and teachers. We agreed at our virtual staff meeting that each class teacher will host get togethers for their class once a fortnight. Each week for the next six weeks there will be either a live Friday Assembly or a class get together. Next Friday there will be an assembly as scheduled and the following week each class will have their own Zoom get together. Each class will be given plenty of notice about the Zoom meeting from their class teacher. We believe that the children will really benefit from meeting up with their teachers and themselves in this way. Assembly and Photograph Competition The theme for next week is “Happy at Home” and we are announcing this week a photography competition reflecting this theme. Children are asked to use their imagination and artistic talent to create a scene/scenario to photograph, or simply to take a photograph of something that conveys joy or happiness. Children should give their photograph an individual title and make sure that their name and class accompanies their photograph. Photos can be sent to [email protected] or through the class platform, Seesaw or Edmodo. The children might take a number of photographs but they should choose the best one to enter the competition. One entry per child. There will be three prizes of gift vouchers (suitable for online use) sent to the three best entries as judged by Catherine, Colette and Gemma. These prizes will be sent to the winners the week after the assembly. Remind your child to give their photo a title and to include their name and class. Virtual Graduation for 6th class pupils on the 19th June. Teachers are meeting (virtually) on Monday to begin preparations and we will be in touch with 6th class pupils soon to start the process of preparation. Transfer to Second Level Linda (Home School Community Liaison Teacher) will be in touch with parents and pupils of 6th class in the coming weeks with tips for smooth transfer from 6th class to 1st year in Secondary School. if you have specific concerns about your child's transfer to second level, please contact Linda for advice. I hope to see your children next week at Assembly on Friday at 2.30 pm Please encourage your children to get involved in the competition. Have a good weekend everyone. Colette Dear parents of our new children starting with us in September,
The Government has announced that schools will be open in September, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about social distancing and how that can be managed in a school situation. Be assured that Esker Educate Together will follow all departmental and health guidelines to the letter to ensure the safety and well-being of all your children. At this time if the year, normally, we host a parents evening during which we go through all aspects of school life and introduce ourselves to you, our new parents. This of course sadly cannot happen this year. We are working at the moment on a welcome booklet which we will forward on to you in the coming weeks and will include booklists for your child’s class in September. I will keep in touch with you and keep you up to date with the latest thinking and advice from the Department about the opening of the school in September. What all this means is that we in Esker Educate Together National School will have to work even harder in September to make sure that you and your children feel part of our lovely school and settle in well. I am really looking forward to meeting with you all and your children and to welcome you properly to our school, Warmest regards, Colette Colette Kavanagh Principal [email protected] Dear parents of our new Junior Infants 2020/2021,
What an unfortunate time for your children to be starting school! The Government has announced that schools will be open in September, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about social distancing and how that can be managed in a school situation. Be assured that Esker Educate Together will follow all departmental and health guidelines to the letter to ensure the safety and well-being of all your children. At this time if the year, normally, we host a parents evening during which we go through all aspects of school life and introduce ourselves to you, our new parents. This of course cannot happen. We also usually invite the new Junior Infants in to the school in late June to meet with their teachers, to see their classroom and to meet their new class mates. Once again sadly, this cannot happen this year. We are working at the moment on a welcome booklet and a slide presentation by the junior infant teachers which we will forward on to you in the coming weeks. This will include suggestions as to how to prepare your child for school. In the meantime, keep talking to your children about coming to ‘big’ school. Reassure them if they are anxious. Prioritise story time, practise nursery rhymes and counting in your home over the next couple of months to ease the child’s transition to school. I will keep in touch with you and keep you up to date with the latest thinking and advice from the Department about the opening of the school in September. What all this means is that we in Esker Educate Together National School will have to work even harder in September to make sure that you and your children feel part of our lovely school and settle in well. I am really looking forward to meeting with you all and your children and to welcome you properly to our school, Warmest regards, Colette [email protected] Internet Safety Top Tips for Parents
We are all stuck at home during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, and it’s likely your children are spending a lot more time online. School, chats with friends and grandparents- so much has shifted online. Being connected helps children reduce the impact of this new (temporary) normal and encourages them to continue with their lives. It presents a new set of challenges for parents. How can you maximize all that the internet has to offer, while minimizing the potential harm? As a parent you need to be on top of what your child is doing on-line and on their smart phones. It is very easy for things to go wrong very quickly. We all want to protect our children from coming across unsuitable adult material either by accident or by design. It’s also very easy for your child to become involved in on-line bullying- either as the victim or as the bully. Group chats can lead to very difficult and hurtful messages being shared. We need to be sure that our children are not involved in posting anything hurtful to another child. Webwise offer free information, advice and resources to help parents, teachers and students address internet safety issues. I strongly recommend giving over some time to this www.webwise.ie Here are some tips taking from the site
May 1st Newsletter
Happy Mayday everyone. We are all hoping for good weather. Hello again and hope you are all continuing to do well during this lockdown. We have to wait until later today to hear what the Taoiseach and the Chief Medical Officer are advising about easing restrictions, but all the indications are that there won’t be any re-opening of schools in the next couple of week at any rate. This means that we all have to struggle on, doing our best and trying to make the most of it. Bank Holiday Monday Monday 4th May is a bank holiday. We are all taking the day off-teachers, SNAs, pupils and PARENTS. A well-deserved break. Enjoy the long weekend. New Home learning Hub on Website We have updated our website ‘eskeretns.ie’ with a special information section Esker Home Learning Hub (thank you Katie). We have designed this page to be your one stop shop for all your Home Learning questions while our school building is closed due to COVID-19. We hope it will help answer any of your questions but if not, please email me at [email protected] or [email protected] (Home School Liaison Teacher)and we will try our best to help. Contact [email protected] if you have difficulty signing in or logging on. She will help you with technical issues. Home learning Parent Survey Gemma sent a really important survey out to today - Home Learning Parent Survey. There is lots of information that we want to get from you to let us know how your children are engaging or if there are reasons why they are not engaging. It is really important for us to get this information. Teachers are working really hard to get work out to your children and encouraging them to engage. The longer this lock down continues the more important it becomes that your children do get involved in their learning. We will do everything we can to support this. Your answers to the survey will help us to get this right. Assemblies We intend to run live assemblies once a fortnight. Our next assembly’s theme is about gratitude-being thankful. We hope to see your children there on the 8th May at 2.30 pm. Note the change of time. We will send you out a link to the assembly at 2.15 pm on the assembly days. Lunch Packs from Carambola The second monthly packs should have been delivered to those families who signed up. The next delivery should arrive at the end of May. If you didn’t sign up originally but wish to do so now, please let me know and we will add your child/ren to the list. We have over 180 signed up and I believe that the families are very pleased with the service. It also supports the lunch company Carambola which we are anxious to do as they have been extremely supportive of us over the last number of years. Please read the next page which gives you suggestions as to how you might keep your children safe online during this very unusual time in our lives- See you next Friday at Assembly!! Dear Parents,
Welcome back to Term 3 of the most unusual school year in my long career in education. I hope that you, your immediate and extended families are well. There is a lot of speculation in the media about children returning to school, perhaps for one day a week. This is really nothing more than idle talk. We will be in full lock-down situation at least until May 5th and at that time the Minister will make further announcements. Nobody, not even the Minister, knows at this stage what the next phase will be like. He, along with all schools, will take the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. So speculation doesn’t really help us at all. We can only hope. Today is our first day ‘back’ at school and we all need to try to get back to some sort of routine with the children. You will have received a schedule of work for your children and we hope that you and your children are up and running on the platforms and have begun to re-engage with school work. The message today as always is to focus on the positives and do what you can. You and your children will soon get the hang of Seesaw. The more you and they engage the easier it will become but don’t expect to be expert immediately. Don’t panic! The younger the child, the shorter the amount of time you can expect on ‘academic work’. We would recommend about one full hour for younger children and two full hours for older children over the course of the day of 'academic ' tasks. That would be fabulous if you can manage it. Remember children are always learning. Playing a board game, jigsaws, brainteasers etc. will challenge them in a fun way and will feel like a break for the children. Keeping fit, reading books, listening to audio books are all great ways to encourage further engagement and to promote a healthy body and mind. Lots of apps from Linda on the home page in Aladdin should also help to entertain the children while they are learning. Definitely give yourself a break from 11am to 12 noon while the children watch the RTE hub. This is suitable for children from 1st class up to 6th. Children in 5th and 6th on Edmodo should be able to engage with the assigned work, without too much support from home. I am delighted to have received lots of emails from you thanking us for our efforts to support our families during this very unusual time. I have also received some emails from parents who are worried about the level of support that they can give their children with their online learning. Please do not think that the other parents are all managing to do a great job with this. Everyone is struggling. This situation has been thrust upon us all and we have to do what best for us and for our families. You know your family best. You know your children best. You know what resources are available to you in your house, what physical resources, computers, I phones or I pads, text books etc. You know what space you have in your house for children to learn. You know what other work or health related stresses might be on your family. But most of all you and only you know how to strike the right balance between your own emotional and mental reserves and what is possible or desirable for your family. Please do not stress yourself with the online learning work that we are sending out. Remember that when all this is over, we will work really hard with your children to make sure that they recover in their learning. So, be gentle with your children and yourselves and do what you can and what makes sense in your family. Health and well-being are more important than ever during this Covid -19 emergency. We will be having our assembly on Friday at 1 pm. It may be live or it may be recorded. We are looking at both options at the moment. I will be in touch again soon about this. Contact your child’s class teachers with any concerns about log-ins, lack of text books or online work. They will be available to answer you between 10am and 12 noon each school morning. If you have other concerns, about your family or your children’s well-being, or lack of food in your home , please contact myself, Gemma or Linda (Home School Liaison Teacher) in the strictest of confidence and we will do our best to help you out. [email protected] , [email protected], [email protected] Warmest regards to you all Colette k here to edit. |
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