The school is doing everything possible to keep the classes safe and the school open. HEPA filters purify the air and CO2 detectors monitor the air quality in every room. These have been installed in all classes. All classrooms have windows open all day to provide constant fresh air. Sanitisers are on every block and in every class.
However, there is only so much the school can do – we need your help to keep our school safe and open.
To date, there has been a number of pupils in the school who have tested positive for Covid 19. These pupils had very mild symptoms – none were very sick. We are very lucky, compared to some other schools, in that our number is relatively low. We want to keep it that way.
If any staff are displaying flu like symptoms, they must stay at home. There are no substitute teachers or Special Needs Assistants available, most of the time, to replace them. If we have large numbers of staff absent we will have to close down classrooms and send classes with no teacher home. That is the last thing we want – and parents and guardians can help us avoid this happening.
To continue to keep the school open, we must try to stop infection spreading among staff and pupils. The advice for schools from the HSE is that anybody in the school (staff or pupil) who display flu-like symptoms must leave the class and go home. Pupils will wait in the isolation room until collected. They can return to school when they are well.
We can only remain open if the pupils and staff in the building are well.
If a pupil feels unwell in any way, they should not come to school. We understand that this can be awkward and inconvenient for families getting off work, having to stay at home to mind children, or arranging for someone to collect the children from school. However, this is the only way that we can continue to keep the school open and safe.
We are very grateful to all the parents and guardians who have kept their children at home when sick. We are grateful also to the parents who have come to the school promptly to collect sick children. It is only by working together that we can keep the spread under control.
Thank you.
