Dear Parent/Guardian,
With regard to the reopening of the school on next Tuesday each child from 1st to 6th will require a box to store their school equipment in. Previously all children from 3rd-6th would have been used to this system and now we are extending it to take in both 1st and 2nd classes. The advantages are that children can easily access their books in class and when we return to assigning homework later in the term children won’t have to bring home lots of books, just the ones they need which is good for their back health.
It is important that the box you purchase is not tiny on the one hand and certainly not too large on the other hand as if it is too large your child will not have enough leg space.
So the following are the dimensions of the boxes that we have found to be the correct size for school use.
- 32cm x 25 cm
- 39cm x 28cm
Please purchase a box of one of the above sizes or as close as you can to those sizes. Boxes that are too big will have to be sent home.
On the first day your child should bring in their school bag and school box. During the morning their teacher will allow them to transfer the books from the school bag into the school box.
With some of the older classes there is considerable weight in the books required. As such, if you wish, your child may bring their books in over two days i.e. Tuesday and Wednesday or in some cases your child’s teacher will indicate to you on Aladdin which books are required for September and which books may be left at home for now until later in the year.
* Your child should bring a rain jacket to school each day as weather is changeable at the moment. A wind cheater is preferable to a heavy raincoat as the temperatures are mild at the moment.
* Your child will need a nutritious lunch each day. Please consult our Healthy Lunch Policy which is on the school website .Please ensure that they can manage all aspects of their lunch themselves without the help of a teacher /SNA. In other words don’t give them an orange to peel if they cannot easily peel an orange. And if you give them yoghurt remember the spoon as there is no cutlery in the school at the moment (as it has all been taken out as staff must bring their own) so there will be no spare spoons to give to children now as we often did in the past!
* Your child should bring their rain jacket and lunch box to school each day but as you already know there will be no homework for the first two weeks so they will not be bringing any books/copybooks home. So the schoolbag can be left at home after the first day or 2.
* We will be allowing children their usual play time of course with class bubbles separated from each other and we will also give some additional movement breaks from time to time to allow children to readjust to school life. To that end we are very fortunate to have our large school field which the Board of Management purchased last year.
* If any family is experiencing financial hardship in relation to the return to school then please contact the school by email to principal@sncn.ie asking me to contact you. Your query will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
* A COVID Committee has been established in the school made up of key and experienced school personnel who will work to ensure that our COVID response including prevention measures are effectively discharged. Certain changes will have to be made to school life over the coming weeks and months as this situation evolves. At all stages we will be adhering closely to HSE and DES guidelines on COVID.
Mise le meas,
Damien Irwin