Hi everyone and welcome to the first of the weekly newsletters.
I would like to begin the newsletter with a huge and sincere thank you to those families who have already kept children at home as a precaution. I know it isn’t easy but it really is our best line of defence at the moment. Please continue to keep any child who has any covid like symptoms at home.
The school is now up and running and has started to feel a little bit normal. There is a buzz of work coming from all the rooms and now that we keep all the doors open in the corridors I can hear singing coming from the other end of the school. We are already planning our first assembly with a virtual twist to develop our sense of being a community of bubbles, separate but together. The theme is ‘Friendship’.
The drop offs and collection seems to be working well but I am always open to suggestions.
With Jackie’s help we have found a nice system at the Rang 1/2 gate at collection time which had been an issue. I would like to remind all parents and minders to wait on the grass as this allows the children to use the footpath safely. I had to take a stick to one parent who shall remain nameless. ;-)
The main gate is great. A few residents have requested that people not leave bags and books in their doorways and with the community spirit we are building I am passing this message on to you. As much as possible pick up and go.
We all need to remain vigilant at the lane entrance as it is a two way street (a chat with Dublin City Council about installing a footpath informed me of this fact). We do put out temporary barriers but you can’t be too careful.
Top marks this week goes to the infants, who have amazed me at how great they are at walking from the front door, sanitising their hands and making their way to the classrooms independently.
We are still learning how to live with Covid so we are constantly testing things to see how we can make this ‘new normal’ easier for everyone. Please be kind to the teachers and try not to email them outside of office hours. They are all taking on a lot of extra responsibility and workload this year.
As you are no longer allowed into the school, I thought that it might be nice for the children to report on what has been happening in their rooms. Where possible each class is going to select a reporter or two to fill you in with a combination of text and images which we shall add to the Newsletter.
RANG 6 NEWS
Our first two weeks in Rang a 6 have been strange. We have to stay in pods of 4 when we are inside, wash our hands before lunch and use hand sanitizer before we go in and out of the classroom. Each pod has a different colour. The colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and grey. When we come in every morning ,we line up at the side gate opposite 5th class.
During the first week, we started learning the ‘Cup Song’, ‘as gaeilge’ with the actions. In maths we are learning place value and in English we have been doing recount writing. Every day at around 9:30 or 9:45 we do movement break. We usually play the alphabet game or ship, sea, shore in Irish (trá, farraige, bád).
This year we have individual star charts. You can earn stars if you are behaving and paying attention. Even though these past two weeks have been different we have still enjoyed them and are glad that the school has reopened.
We have enjoyed our first 2 weeks in rang a cúig. We liked getting to know our new teacher Ms. Nic A’Bhaird. We spent the first few days trying to get our perfect handwashing right. One of our favourite things so far has been our ‘Behind The Mask’ art (shown in picture). This art folded up shows us wearing our masks, but when you pull down the fold, you see all the nice things about us! We spent time thinking about all our good qualities and traits to include colourfully in our mask art. We also did a body percussion thunderstorm and it was lots of fun.
By: Art and Phoebe
Rang a Ceathair have been drawing portraits of each other. They are really enjoying the new spellings programme and Maths.
They have a worry box which the class then use to offer suggestions for how to deal with something they are worried about. They have been learning about fingerprints and blind spots. They think school is quite normal but it seems strange to have the yard divided in two.
Rang a Trí are very excited about getting to read the book they have chosen. They think that even though the yard is split it is still fun. They are delighted to have their plant back (Thank you to the Parents’ Association). They also did an art lesson on behind the mask and the people who have gotten to use the new spellings programme are really enjoying it.
Rang a Dó are really excited about getting to host the school Assembly as their previous assembly was due to to be held on the 13th of March (we all know what happened on the 12th)
They like having baskets and learning about joining their letters. They really enjoy getting to go to Linear Park for big break and learning about making friends.
Rang a hAon love that they get to see their friends again and have been very welcoming to the new people in class Riad, Ben and Ms Mortell.
They have been working hard, having lots of fun and are learning ‘lots of stuff’. They have loved working together on the yard to build forts at lunchtime.
Senior Infants are so happy seeing their friends again and have been working very hard!
In Senior infants we have been learning all about Autumn. We have learnt some Autumn poems and we have done some lovely Autumn art. We are so happy Tara has joined our class and are doing our best to make her feel very welcome to our school.
Thanks to the PA, the Junior Infant parents were invited to a social distant coffee morning. It was a chance to develop that sense of community which is one of the things which makes this such a special place to work and be part of.
Next week the Infants are in for the full day. 08:30 - 13.10. So they are going to need an extra lunchbox. Expect some tired children.
Lost Property
We almost succeeded in having no lost property this week. A few keys and two hoodies are looking for their owners.
Have a lovely weekend keep safe, wash your hands and practise social distancing.
Paul
