Principal's Letter 5/8/'20

5/8/’20
Dear Parent / Guardian, Staff Member,
RE: Re-opening of St. Joseph’s National School
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.
Plans are underway for the safe reopening of our school now and we have published the DES COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of Primary and Special Schools on our school website ( under School Policies) .  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 (under School Policies) . 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 on Monday 31st August 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.
 
Yours sincerely
 
David Gavin      Chairperson Board of Management                                                                Pauline O’Hara          Principal
 
 
 
 
 
 
The following websites provide further information on COVID-19 and on government advice and recommendations regarding the re-opening of schools: -

• https://www.education.ie/en/covid-19/
• https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/
• https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a128d-back-to-school/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/backtoschool/