Category: Coronavirus

The Stay Home Superheroes

This is a lovely social story to read to  your children who are  all anxious and  most likely missing their grandparents , classmates  and friends. 

The Stay Home Superheroes

Once upon a time there was a big, busy world. In this big, busy world there lived a little boy called William. William loved going to school to play with his friends, going to the park with his mum and going swimming with his dad.

But one day, everything started to change. William heard on the news that there was a Big Problem. This problem was so big that it started to spread over the whole world. All the grownups were talking about it. All the children were talking about it. In fact, every single person in the whole world was talking about it. Everyone started to feel worried and scared about the Big Problem.

Soon, the Big Problem caused some big changes. At first daddy stopped going to work, then mummy stopped taking him swimming, then he found out that school was cancelled and day by day the big, busy world he lived in got quieter and quieter and quieter.

William was confused. He felt scared too. He had so many questions. What was going on? Would it be OK? How could they stop the Big Problem?

He went to ask his mummy all of his big questions. “It’s OK to be scared and worried, lots of other children feel that way, even adults feel scared too sometimes” she told him, giving him a BIG hug.

“But all of the very best, cleverest people in the whole world are working hard to fix the Big Problem right now” she explained.

This made him feel a little bit better. Surely the cleverest people in the world could find a way to fix it! But it was such a Big Problem, and he was still scared. He had to do something.

Mummy explained that there were lots and lots of special helpers working hard to save the world and stop the problem.

“Like superheroes?” said William.

“Just like superheroes.” said mummy, smiling.

William wanted to be a superhero too. This was his chance! Super William to the rescue! He jumped up, ready to run outside and join all the other superheroes to fight off the Big Problem and save the world, but his mummy stopped him and locked the door.

“HEY! How can I help fight the Big Problem if I’m stuck inside?” he asked.

“Well, we DO need you to help. Everyone is going to have to help to solve this Big Problem. And YOU are going to have a very special job indeed. You are going to become a Stay Home Superhero!”

William had never heard of THAT kind of superhero before. Mummy told him that Stay Home Superheroes could help fight off the Big Problem by using their Stay Home Superpowers. But what were they? He tried so hard, but he didn’t have super strength or super speed either. In fact, he felt exactly the same as before.

www.facebook.com/SophiesStories1

“The Big Problem can’t be solved with super strength, or super speed. The Big Problem will only stop growing if all the new Superheroes use their Stay Home Superpower to stay at home. In fact, if all the new Stay Home Superheroes work together the Big Problem will get smaller, and smaller and smaller every single day, until it goes away!” mummy explained.

“But staying home is a boring superpower!” said William in a grump.

“Boring? No way! You have the superpower to make this fun! And staying home is how YOU can help to save the whole world- there’s nothing more powerful than that!”

Just staying home and having fun could save the whole world? And he would be a real-life superhero? William started to feel excited. He started to feel powerful tool! He couldn’t wait to tell all his friends that they could turn into Stay Home Superheroes just like him!

William got to work quickly, using his Superhero creativity to think of all the fun things he could do at home. He made a long list with his mummy and daddy: pillow forts and cooking and games and dancing and puppet shows and singing and movies and MORE! Even better, William found out he could still play in the garden and go outside too, as long as he stayed away from all the superheroes who lived in different houses. They could wave to each other and wink, because they all knew the special job they were doing!

William did miss playing with his friends and going swimming and to the park. But then he remembered how important his new Superhero job was. He was helping to save the whole world and that made him feel so good inside. He was very proud of himself. Then he fired up his superpowers ready to find something fun to do. William the Stay Home Superhero and all his superhero friends worked hard together to help save the world, all without leaving their homes. And now you know, you can be a superhero too!

www.facebook.com/SophiesStories1

Letter from the Principal March 14th

Below is a copy of the email sent to parents/guardians March 14th

March 14th 2020As you are now aware, all schools have been instructed to close until the 30th March 2020. We understand that this is a difficult time for parents and guardians, when you may need to consider the reorganisation of childcare whilst ensuring the impact on your children’s education is minimised. We want to support you and your children as much as we can at this time. This announcement came quite suddenly and teachers had very little time to prepare. However, we have put arrangements in place which will support and extend pupil learning while the school is closed.

Teachers have given serious consideration to the type of work to assign and have compiled a series of tasks and activities that will be made available daily.  Assignments will be teacher-led but pupil-managed and self-correcting. The schedules of work have been agreed by teachers at each level and will be built around Reading, Maths and project work. Please bear in mind that the assignments are not compulsory nor is it a requirement that children complete every activity listed. It is up to you and your child to decided what work you would like to carry out during this time off school. It is also important that you are mindful of your child’s age, ability and learning needs. Please be assured that teachers will not be expecting all children to have completed the same amount of work. At most, we suggest that  at the present time,  pupils in the lower half of the school would spend no more time than half an hour a day on these assignments and no more than one hour for those in the upper half.

  • Assignments will be posted for what would have been school days starting next Wednesday, the 18th March.
  • Classes from Junior Infants to 2nd will receive a daily schedule of work available on the homework section of Aladdin Connect. This section was recently enabled  and can be viewed on your Aladdin app or web browser .
  • Third to Sixth classes will receive their assignments on Google Classroom.  Google Classroom has just been launched by the school , so teachers and pupils received only a very brief introduction. All children were given their login details but they will need your assistance to download the app or login via the website at home .We feel that this platform will best support teachers’ endeavours to help parents and pupils during this unplanned break from school.
  • If you have any problems accessing  Google Classroom. please email Deputy@saintbrigids.ie.
  • Children who were absent from school will receive their log-in details in a text message shortly.

Those parents who may wish to find alternatives to the above may find these sites useful:

Without any doubt, the most valuable things you could do over the next while is to encourage your child to read regularly . Each child in the upper classes brought home a class novel and I believe that the shared reading of this will bring much enjoyment and benefit to your child and your family.

Please find attached a nice social story about COVID-19 and some information from the Department of Education about speaking to your children about the virus.  More  information, ideas and recommendations will be posted on our website and twitter feed @stbrigidsns in the days ahead.

I hope that everyone keeps healthy and safe over the next few weeks and we look forward to welcoming you all back to school as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Denis Courtney.

School Closed

Parents

As you are aware we have been instructed by the government to close from today, Thursday at 6pm  and remain closed until Monday,  March 30th.

Despite having very little notice, our junior  teachers have organised some work for the children to complete at home.  We will send an email tomorrow with more information .

We will use the online classroom.google.com  from 3rd class upwards. Children have their login details and assignments will be posted from Wednesday 18th. As it is a new platform for children we will keep it simple for the first few days.

Any difficulties with logins email deputy@saintbrigids.ie. We will text login details to children who were absent today , Thursday 12th as soon as possible.

In the meantime we hope everyone  continues to enjoy good health  and to take precautions against the spread of the virus  so we can reopen as soon as possible.

Coronavirus 2nd Update

March 11th 2020

Dear Parents or Guardians,

We want to update you on what we are doing to protect our school community against the possible spread of the COVID-19 (also known as Coronavirus).  In our recent email, we attached a letter from the Chief Medical Officer and we outlined the advice we received from the HSE This advice is below and has not changed.

1. If, in the past 14 days, a parent, guardian or child has travelled to Ireland from any of the identified affected countries/regions e.g. Italy, Tenerife and they remain symptom free, they should visit the HSE website for advice and remain vigilant and alert to possible symptoms.

https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html

2. If, in the past 14 days, a parent, guardian or child has been in contact with a person who has Novel Coronavirus, or attended a hospital/healthcare facility where patients with novel Coronavirus are being treated but they feel well and do not have any symptoms of respiratory disease, they need to: Contact HSELive  on 1850 24 1850

3. If in the past 14 days, a parent, guardian or child has:

  • travelled to Ireland from any of the identified areas, or
  • been in contact with a person who has novel Coronavirus, or
  • attended a hospital/healthcare facility where patients with novel Coronavirus are being treated
  • AND they feel unwell, especially with respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, high temperature, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing), then they should: isolate themselves (i.e. stay separate from other people) and phone their GP immediately – giving their GP their travel history and symptoms. Your GP will advise you of the next steps over the phone.

In addition to the advice above we also ask that parents and guardians 

  • inform the school in confidence in all of the incidences above. We have several children and teachers in our school with compromised immune systems. Others have relatives at home who need to be aware of illnesses that may be present in the school community in order to protect their health.
  • if your child is unwell with a cough, cold or temperature please keep them at home. Children who attend school while unwell will be sent home.
  • if your child has asthma please send their inhaler with them to school.
  • if visiting the school please use the sanitiser in the foyer even if only calling to Reception for a moment.
  • please check your contact details and emergency contacts are correct on our Aladdin system.
  • ensure your child knows and uses the correct hand washing method and practices good respiratory hygiene.

We are doing everything we can in school to curtail the spread of this virus. We have installed sanitisers at all entry points and outside communal areas within the school. We also replaced all towels with paper towels and soap with liquid dispensers. It is important that children rinse their hands well to avoid irritation. Classes have wipes to clean their desks before eating and children are expected to use sanitising gel on returning to class after both breaks. We are conscious that going forward, supplies of gels and wipes may be difficult to source so we are asking children to bring in their own hand sanitiser if possible.

Our cleaning staff are instrumental in helping us to stay healthy. We have asked them to pay particular attention to table tops, backs of chairs, bannisters, handles and light switches and to be extra vigilant when cleaning the classrooms of children or staff with low immunity.

Protecting the health of our pupils, staff and community is now a priority and is dependent on each of us adhering to the advice from the HSE. We welcome your support and co-operation in our efforts to minimise the spread of this virus in our school.

Wishing you all continued good health in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Denis Courtney

Updated letter to schools March 10th