Please click below to download notification regarding the Board of Management's annual review of the Child Selfguarding Statement for our school.
Please click below to download notifications regarding the Board of Management's annual review of the anti-bullying policy and Child Safeguarding Statement for our school.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I hope this letter finds you all well amidst these strange and challenging times we are all still witnessing. Due to the continued closure of schools, the staff and I have been discussing how we can further advance remote learning. We are very anxious to have a more communicative method going forward.
After much research we have decided to set up remote learning using the secure online platform called Seesaw. Each pupil will be assigned an access code which is required to enter their teacher’s class on Seesaw. This code is a unique password and should be stored securely .
The code allows pupils to log into Seesaw while protecting their privacy. In order for your child to use Seesaw ,the app needs your child’s name to be able to associate work like photos ,video or voice recordings with their account. Seesaw only uses this information to provide the service and doesn’t advertise in seesaw, create profiles of pupils or sell your child’s personal information or journal content. You can read more about their strong privacy promises on https://web.seesaw/privacy
PARENTS/GUARDIANS PLEASE NOTE THAT BY ALLOWING YOUR CHILD TO ENTER THEIR CODE ON THE SEESAW CLASS APP THAT YOU ARE CONSENTING TO THEM USING THIS APP TO FACILITATE REMOTE LEARNING AT THIS TIME.
Using Seesaw pupils can post to their journals, respond to activities, view announcements and comments from their teacher and post a question or comment to their teacher. Pupils cannot see each other’s work, comments etc...The teachers will post tasks/activities on Seesaw for the pupils to complete every “school “ day.
We, as a staff, are very aware that circumstances are very varied for families at this time and if school work is not appropriate in your life right now, we fully understand and respect that .For those of you who can and are willing to engage with us through this platform, we would be delighted to have you on board. The items we post will mostly be revision of topics already covered in school so the pupils should be able to manage them fairly independently once they get used to using the app.
We would also encourage pupils from 1st to 6th classes to continue to work on their Mental Maths and English in Practice workbooks completing one days work per day. This may be particularly useful if more than one pupil in the same household is waiting on a device to access Seesaw. One can work on workbooks while the other is on Seesaw and vice vearsa.
Our SET teacher Ms.Kidd is in contact with her pupils directly and will continue to provide guidance and work packs .It is important to point out to these pupils that there is no pressure or onus to also work on tasks from your class teacher on Seesaw. Please only do what is manageable for you at this time.
Thank you to all who confirmed their e-mail address by replying to the test e-mail sent to the address currently on our database. We are still awaiting confirmation from some families and would be grateful if they could reply to the e-mail sent from parentscamolinns@gmail.com on Friday 3rd April last as future communications from us via e-mail depends on us having your up to date e-mail address on our database. If you did not receive an e-mail, please e-mail parentscamolinns@gmail.com stating your name or alternatively text your current e-mail address to the school mobile phone at 087-1486216.
Home learning codes will be sent by text message to all families on Monday morning next,April 20th and pupils can engage with the activities posted by their teacher from then on.
Ms.Ryan has kindly made a video tutorial explaining exactly how to set pupils up on the seesaw class app and how to use it going forward. This is available to view below this letter and I would strongly encourage all to view it as it is very clearly explained in a step by step process.
In conclusion,this is a new pathway of learning for all of us, teachers and pupils alike, so we’ll take it slowly and gently and allow ourselves a chance to get used to this new form of communication over the coming weeks. If there are pupils who are not in a position, for any reason, to access this type of remote learning platform the menu of suggested activities for each class will remain on the school website whereby pupils can continue to choose tasks from this list aswell as completing their daily work in their two workbooks. Any queries or issues with remote learning can be e-mailed to either the school or the dedicated parent e-mail address and we’ll do our best to deal with them as effectively and promptly as we can.
Finally ,let’s all continue to play our part to do what our government and national emergency team of experts are asking of us so that some semblance of normal life and routine can be restored as soon as possible .So stay at home, adhere to physical distancing and wash those hands often please!
My very best wishes to you and all of your extended families,
Kind regards,
Elaine Bolger
Acting Principal
02/04/2020
Dear parents/guardians,
Under the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 every school in the country is required to have in place an Admission Policy. This policy must be sent to the school patron, in our case the Bishop of Ferns, by April 30th of this school year for their approval.
In formulating the admission policy, the board of management is required to consult with parents, as well as school staff, for their feedback. To this effect please find below a link to a draft policy for our school. If you wish to you can read it and if you would like to give some feedback please email it to camolinnationalschool@gmail.com
Thank you,
Elaine Bolger
Below are three links to social stories and visuals that clearly explain what is happening with Coronavirus (Covid-19) for children.
24/3/2020
Dear parents/guardians,
I write this letter against a backdrop of an emergency facing our country and world never witnessed before. Fear, worry and uncertainty have come together to provide an unprecedented challenge to each and every one of us in so many different ways.
But this crisis will end at some stage and a degree of normality will slowly return.
We will face serious challenges between this and then, but acting in solidarity with each other, we will prevail.
I repeat the advice that continues to be given to all:
· Wash hands thoroughly and regularly
· Sneeze and cough into our elbow or tissue and then dispose of tissue safely
· Keep all surfaces clean
· Practise social distancing and avoid non-essential contact with others
· Follow the advice and information given by reliable sources, primarily the HSE and national broadcasters
· Avoid at all costs the fake news that exists on social media and never contribute to it
· Use the vast array of technology at our disposal to keep in contact with family and friends
· Stay at home as much as possible
· Do everything you can to stay safe and safeguard others
I want to assure you all that the school is being thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
If you could all do your part by washing your child’s school bag, jacket ,uniform, lunch box and any other school item thoroughly before the school reopens that would be much appreciated.
The staff and I are in constant contact and have put together some ideas which may be useful on the school website for the continued duration of the school closure. They can be found on www.camolinnationalschool.com under the tab ‘closure packs’. We are very aware that some families may welcome suggestions and like to try some out and for others
this is not a priority right now. We want to therefore emphasis that these are only suggestions and there is no compulsion on anyone to undertake them. You the parents/guardians know what is best for your children and household during this time.
In fact, there is a growing body of evidence coming from reputable associations such as the paediatric mental health association and others that spending time together as a family and doing things that we don’t usually have time for such as doing puzzles, reading to each other, gardening, baking or whatever it is that you like to do together as a family could be a much better use of this unprecedented time rather than arguing over school work.
The last thing anyone needs at this time is added stress so whatever works for your household with regard to schoolwork is totally respected by the staff and myself.
The staff and I would like you to know that we are here for you if you have any concerns or queries at this time. We can be contacted through the school e-mail which is checked regularly at camolinnationalschool@gmail.com
If you would like your query to be directed to a certain member of staff please put that in the subject box and it will be forwarded to the relevant person. We do ask you to bear in mind that we the staff also have serious concerns for our families and loved ones at this time and to please understand that there may be times in our own lives when we simply cannot engage with you as teachers as our priorities will be with people in our own lives at this time also. However if we are in a position to help, please be assured that we will.
I conclude as I started, there are difficult times ahead and we have to unite like never before to get through this which I am confident we can achieve. In the meantime stay safe and well and mind yourselves and your loved ones,
Kindest regards,
Elaine Bolger
Acting Principal