I hope all is well and you enjoyed the midterm break. All sections of our school will re-open on Monday 22nd February. Please check the Pupil Attendance Schedule for the days your son or daughter will attend this week. It is your responsibility to inform the bus driver of your child’s schedule. Please Do Not send your child to school if they are unwell or have symptoms of Covid 19, is a close contact, or awaiting a test result. Please see the HSE guide below:
When it is OK to send your child to school or childcare
If your child is not a close contact, it is usually OK to send them to school or childcare if they:
only have nasal symptoms, such as a runny nose or a sneeze
do not have a high temperature and are not taking any form of paracetamol or ibuprofen – this can hide a temperature
do not have a new cough
do not live with anyone who is unwell and may have COVID-19
have been told by a GP that it’s OK to go back to school or childcare if they have recently been unwell.
are being tested as part of a serial testing programme, but have no symptoms and are not a close contact. For example, some children in direct provision centres
are tested regularly because they are in a vulnerable group.
IF your child becomes unwell at school, you must be available to collect him or her. Department of Education and Skills Covid protocols do not allow a child who is unwell to return home on school or public transport. Thank you for your support and we will continue our vigilance to keep our school community safe. Kind regards, Eimear
Once again, thank you for confirming your decision on your son or daughter’s return to school this week and for completing the Return to School Declaration.
Please see attached our updated Covid 19 Response plan and new protocols for post-primary age pupils. We have updated these in line with the advice from the HSE and the Department of Education & Skills which was emailed to you previously. They take into account the increased risks of transmission re the new Covid 19 variants. The key changes relate to mask-wearing.
There is still no requirement for pupils under the age of 13 to wear face coverings in school. They can do so if they wish. Face coverings are recommended for all children travelling on school buses.
We are asking our post primary pupils to wear cloth or medical masks. The latest Health advice is that these are safer than visors.
Ventilation of the school building is mandatory. Windows will be open in classrooms. Your son or daughter should wear extra layers of clothing over their uniform such as a warm fleece, hoodie, coat to keep warm.
The most important message is to NOT TO SEND your child to school if they have symptoms of Covid 19, awaiting test or are close contacts of a person with Covid 19 or are in any way unwell.
Our bus escorts have been instructed NOT to allow any child who is reported as unwell or is visibly unwell onto the school bus.
Reminder: please contact your child’s bus driver to confirm the days of attendance.
Please note that in the interest of safety, visits to the school buildings without an appointment are NOT permitted.
A special ISL video for our pupils is below.
Advice for parents for Return to Special Schools – Click below to download leaflet
We are continuing our preparations for the return to school this Thursday 11th February.
Thank you to parents & Guardians who have already emailed Eugene Doyle Deputy Principal /School Office to notify us of your decision regarding your son or daughter’s return to school.
Please see below the schedule for pupil attendance in each section of the school; Early Intervention, Primary & Post Primary up to the end of March 2021.
Please note: This schedule may change inline with public health advice and Department of Education and Skills directives.
We have devised a schedule which best meets the Department’s requirement of a 50% capacity each day and which maximizes socially distancing. The post primary 6th Year exam classes 6A & 6B have been prioritized for daily attendance.
I know some pupils will be very disappointed that they are not scheduled to return this week. We very much regret this, but we have tried to be as fair as possible to all class groups. We look forward to their return after the mid term break.
Please do not send your son or daughter to school on the days they are not scheduled to attend. If this happens we will phone you to come to the school to collect your child.
We will share the schedule of pupil attendance with Bus Éireann, but it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to inform the bus driver of the days your son or daughter will be attending school.
Early Intervention
Early Intervention: very regretfully, due to staff illness, and health and safety concerns, Early Intervention will NOT reopen until Monday 22nd February 2021.
The Early Intervention teachers and SNAs will continue to support remote learning to the end of this week.
Today we had a guest speaker, Jamie Wilson, for our fifth and sixth year PE class. We have finished covering the topic on the role of a coach. Jamie kindly accepted our invitation to speak about his role as a coach within FAI, bringing the lesson to life! Jamie is Deaf himself and has gone on to achieve a high level of coaching qualifications. Working as head coach for Shelbourne U17s and Ireland U17s football team, he is a great role model for our students as they prepare to finish secondary school. Our students and staff enjoyed his presentation. Dream big and you’ll win big!
Irish Deaf Society has organised an Internet Safety for Kids and Families talk for safer Internet Day. Please read more information below.
Message from Trend Micro Europe, information about delivering cyber safety education free into our community. As part of their global Internet Safety for Kids and Families (ISKF) programme and to celebrate Safer Internet Day (Tuesday, Feb 9th) they will host a cyber safety night for parents on zoom.
The cyber safety talk will address many challenges facing parents/guardians everywhere and they would like to extend their invite to you, your colleagues, friends and family; especially those in our Deaf community. See poster attached and further details about the event:
5th Years take on Jerusalema Challenge Inspired by the Gardai video that went viral, our 5th years decided to try to take on the Jerusalema challenge with PE Teacher Mrs O’Regan. Mrs O’Regan began class with a video showing the origin of the song and the dance which can be seen here
The song reflects on the promise and hope. So as we live in a Covid19 world, it is important to know that there is promise and hope ahead of us. It was particularly difficult to do in such a small space and via a screen, it wouldn’t be called a challenge after all. After several attempts, the dance shapes our students were throwing began to look familiar! Well done to the 5th Year students. Take a look at our video below to see how they did!
If you want to learn it yourself, follow the video we used!
I hope this email finds you and your families safe and well.
I email to confirm that Holy Family will re-open next Thursday 11th February.
Please see attached the Letter to Principals from the Department of Education & Skills which was sent to the schools yesterday evening. It gives the basis for the reopening and references important documents to help schools prepare.
We are very busy studying this documentation from the Department of Education and will update our Covid 19 Response Plan to ensure to the maximum extent possible, the health and safety of our pupils, staff and extended families.
I will be sharing this updated plan with you and sending you regular updates as we move closer to Thursday 11th. We will translate the key messages for parents and pupils into ISL and upload them to our website.
The Guidance on re-opening of Special Schools states that only 50% of pupils can attend school every day. I will be sending you our schedule for this attendance as early as possible next week. It is likely, but not confirmed as yet, that our Early Intervention & Primary pupils will attend on alternative days e.g. Monday/ Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday. Pupils will attend for either 2 days or 3 days each week. All pupils will have the same time in school over a 2 week period. On the days the class group is at home online or remote teaching will continue to be provided.
Post Primary Classes are likely, but not as yet confirmed, to attend either for 3 days or two days in sequence every week i.e. Mon/Tues/Wed or Thursday/Friday. All pupils will have the same time in school over a two week period. There may be special provision for 6th year Exam pupils to attend on a fulltime basis. This is a model that best fits with Boarding. On the days the class group is at home online or remote teaching will be provided.
We hope that all pupils can return to our school. I would be grateful if you would let me know by Monday 8th February at the latest if your son or daughter will not be returning to school.We need this information to finalize our planning and to notify our bus escorts.
If your son or daughter is not returning to school, we will endeavour to put supports in place for the days they are not attending live schooling. But this will very much depend on the availability of staff to provide this support. It will not be possible for the class teacher to teach students in school and at home at the same time.
School Transport
I understand that grants can be provided to parents/guardians if they wish to bring their own children to school rather than use school transport for this limited period until all schools reopen.
I hope to be able to give you more information and share links to School Transport to apply for this grant as soon as possible.
Illness
It is of HUGE IMPORTANCE that your son or daughter DOES NOT COME TO SCHOOL WHEN THEY ARE SICK. Please err on the side of caution if your child is unwell. I will be directing bus escorts not to allow any child who is unwell onto the school buses.
We MUST keep our school community safe!
Short videos for parents from public health doctors will be circulated to reaffirm the importance of keeping COVID-19 out of education facilities by keeping symptomatic children at home
Every Parent MUST complete and RETURN the attached declaration form.
It is also available at this link:
Parents of children returning in this phase will be asked by the school to complete the declaration form at the attached link: This form is to be used when children are returning to the setting after any absence.
You can email this completed form to info@holyfamilydeafschool.ie or the child can return the form on his or her first day back to school.
If your son or daughter becomes unwell during the school day, You MUST be in a position to collect your son or daughter. Sick pupils are not allowed to travel on school or public transport.
I hope this information is helpful and I will continue to share our plans as they develop with you in the coming days.
Please also check our Website for updates.
Kindest regards,
Eimear
Letter from Department of Education to Principals below
A photography prompt list has been created for the challenge. Daily prompts invite students to take photographs of people, places, and things all within two kilometres of their homes. The prompts focus on different visual features including texture, pattern, colour, and shape. Students can participate by responding to the daily prompts and forwarding their entries to M.Owens@holyfamilydeaf.com and D.cleland@holyfamilydeaf.com.
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