Please find below some details of Scoil Bhríde, Milltown’s BOM Covid-19 Response Plan which outlines the logistic plans for re-opening on Thursday, 27th August.
We appreciate your support as we try to safely restore school life for all members of our school community. Without doubt, we will have to adjust and get used to new operating systems as we re-open our school and collectively act in the best interest of all pupils, families and staff. We are confident and certain that if we work together we can establish a safe and welcoming environment for all.
For our parents/ guardians of pupils from Senior Infants to 6th class, we kindly request that you do not come onto the school grounds or into the school building before school in the morning time. We would ask you to please drop and go at your child’s designated gate.
A separate arrangement will be in place for our incoming Junior Infants and their parent/ guardian for the initial days of the school year. This will be explained in full at next Monday’s Junior Infant Staggered Induction Day. We recognise that some of our SEN pupils with complex needs may also need extra support, in these circumstances entry to the yard will be agreed with supervising staff on both gates. Separate arrangements, outlined below, have also been put in place for the collection of our younger pupils in Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1st Class at home time.
All details are explained in full in our Covid-19 Response Plan which has been posted to all parents/ guardians through Aladdin and the school email. We would encourage all parents/ guardians to read and familiarise themselves with the arrangements in place. It is essential that childminders and anyone dropping and/ or collecting pupils are also aware of the new arrangements. Working together we hope to be able to progress the reopening in as safe a manner as possible for all. Please be patient as we endeavour to embed these necessary precautionary and protective practices at the beginning of the school year.
It is imperative that –
- Adults do not come within 2m of each other or another pupil
- Parents/ guardians do not try to have meetings with members of staff in the playground at drop-off and collection times – meetings between parents and teachers can only take place by prior arrangement. Phone calls or emails to the school office to inform and update staff regarding individual pupils are encouraged and welcomed as an alternative.
- All parents/ guardians, pupils and staff adhere to the drop-off and collection plans as outlined below
Some useful terms and information:
Please note:
Staggered Drop Off and Collection Times:
From Thursday, 27th August, our school will be split into two operating groups with the following Daily Timetables in Place –
General Information about Arrival Time:
- All pupils to please wash their hands before they leave for school every morning.
- Two members of staff will open both the Main Gate and the Allen Gate for Group A at 9:05 a.m. and will remain there to help and direct all pupils from both groups.
- All class teachers will be in their classrooms at 9.05 a.m. when the school gates open.
- Pupils are requested to arrive at their designated time only.
- All class bubbles will have their own individual entry/ exit gate and route at their designated time.
- Parents/ guardians and pupils to wait in their cars outside of the school until their appointed drop off time. Should parents/ guardians and pupils walk/ cycle to school, they are asked to arrive at their designated time only.
- In order to support social distancing, Covid-19 ribbon has been placed on the surrounding school fences at a 2m distance, this is to act as a guide initially in the first days of term as we are not in a position to mark the path outside the school grounds.
- Pupils will go directly to their classrooms on arrival, using the agreed access routes, will hand wash and/ or sanitise as directed by their class teacher and will be assigned their class seat within their class pod. Other staff members (including SET, SNAs and the Principal) will be available at the gates and outside and inside the building to receive the children and to help them to their classrooms.
- Class teachers are currently preparing entrance videos for class groups and these will be added to the school website over the coming days. It would be very helpful to watch these videos with your child.
Arrival Times and Designated Gates:
Re-configuring of classrooms:
In order to re-open and to accommodate all pupils in their class bubbles on a daily basis, re-configuring of classrooms was necessary over the summer holidays.
Entrance/ Exit Points:
Please see the entrance plan outlined in the following photo:
General Information about Collection Time:
- All parents/ guardians and pupils are requested to maintain social distancing outside the school gate.
- All pupils are asked to leave the grounds directly at their dismissal time.
- NB: This system will apply in all-weather so please make sure that your child comes to school with a coat if needed.
Collection Time:
Younger Pupils: To facilitate collection of our younger pupils in both infant classes and 1st Class, one parent or guardian is invited to enter our school yard at collection time by the main pedestrian gate on the Milltown Kildare Road. Coloured spots are in place to the left of our basketball court at 2m apart, in line with social distancing guidelines, please see below. A parent/ guardian is asked to wait on a coloured spot of their choice until they receive their child from the class teacher and exit using the staff car park gate.
Collection Time Summary:
Final Summarised Timetable for both Arrival and Collection Times:
A Final Word:
Please continue to keep up to date with information from the school. As resources and final logistics are now being put into place, amendments to plans may be necessary and we will continue to make parents aware of changes on the ground as they happen for any class bubble/s.
Rest assured, we are and will continue to work in the best interest of all members of our school community to re-open our building by minimising risk and maximising physical space, as far as is practicable.
We look forward to seeing our incoming Junior Infants on Monday 24th August and our entire pupil body on Thursday 27th August. We will issue a letter next Tuesday with some final reminders. In the meantime, a quick reminder for all pupils to please practise correct handwashing, coughing and sneezing etiquette. How wonderful it will be to see school life in Scoil Bhríde, Milltown back up and running.
Our thanks to all members of the school community for their continued support.
Regards,
Gavin O’ Connor, BOM Chaiperson & Fiona Fay, Acting Principal