Covid-19 Notification to Parents/Guardians

RE: Re-opening of Golden National School

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope you and your families are enjoying the summer holidays.

Under the governance of the HSE and Department of Education and Skills, we are re-opening Golden National School as planned on Monday, August 31^st in line with the Department of Education’s COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of Primary and Special Schools.

The Response Plan gives details of

• Physical preparation, signage, hand sanitiser stations
• Advice, procedures and training for the safe return to working in the school for all school staff and pupils
• General and specific advice on how all pupils, staff, parents and visitors will prevent the spread of the virus

We are currently personalising this publication and finalising our own plan at Golden N.S where we anticipate some operational and logistical changes to the school. This will be a time of change and there will be new routines for us all to learn. However, we will learn this together because we all have a role to play in keeping the whole school community safe. The changes, in addition to what parents and students can expect when term begins, will be outlined in detail over the coming days.

Please be assured, the staff of Golden National School is committed to providing as safe a learning environment as possible for your child/children upon their return to school in accordance with our Covid-19 Policy Statement (available to view on our school website). 

In the interim, a key element in ensuring that Golden National School remains open, once we re-open, is for everyone in our school community to continue to play their roles in keeping the virus out of our school by adopting behaviours in harmony with the following broad themes outlined by the Department.

A Balanced Approach

“One of the key challenges for schools during this pandemic is to balance the need for a practical and sensible level of caution with the need to provide a supportive environment for pupils/students and where teachers feel able to engage with pupils in a way that supports their learning”

Apply Common-Sense

“An atmosphere of fear and an overwhelming preoccupation with infection and hygiene can be harmful to teachers and pupils and to the quality of the educational experience without materially reducing the risk of infection beyond what can be achieved with a common-sense approach”

Create Awareness

“A heightened awareness by staff, parents and children (where age appropriate) is required so that they know how to protect themselves and each other and how to recognise and report symptoms of COVID-19 infection”

Do Everything Practical to Avoid Introduction of COVID-19 into the school

“The most critical part of managing the risks of COVID-19 related to schools is doing everything practical to avoid introduction of COVID-19 into the school. If the infection is not introduced it cannot spread. The risk of introduction is related to how common the infection is in the community served by the school at a given time. If the infection is uncommon in the community then the likelihood of introduction is much lower”

Stay at Home if Unwell

“No person (child, teacher or parent) should attend an educational setting if unwell or any members of their household are unwell with symptoms consistent with COVID-19”

Keep doing the key measures to keep us all safe

“Social (Physical) distancing, hand hygiene and good respiratory etiquette should be observed by all (children, teachers, parents and visitors)”

All at Golden National School are really looking forward to the year ahead and will be doing all that we can to ensure that the return to school is a fun-filled, safe, and enjoyable experience for the children.

Please ensure to monitor our school website (www.goldenns.ie) over the coming days and weeks to keep updated on further developments as they arise.

Is mise le meas,

James McCarthy

Principal

Golden National School

principalgoldenns@gmail.com