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2020-21

2020-21

Return to School Update – Feb 23rd

School Updates 10/01/21

Online Learning

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope all the boys and girls had a fantastic and well-earned restful Christmas break. Following recent developments with Covid-19, our school will be commencing online home teaching commencing Monday 11th January. We will be using the Seesaw programme which allows all pupils to engage with their Class/SEN teacher daily.

Seesaw is a wonderful platform for student engagement that allows the pupils and parents access to assigned work and get feedback from their Class/SEN teachers. We are delighted all teachers are ready to commence Seesaw and look forward to engaging with the pupils. We are very mindful that sometimes pupils do struggle with certain tasks so we encourage everyone to do their best, that’s all that is expected.

All pupils were encouraged to take their books home before the Christmas holidays. If for some reason you are one of a few parents whose child was absent or forgot to take home their books home we have made Monday 11th a special collection day strictly adhering to the following times:

9:20 – 9:40am Junior and Senior Infants only

9.45 – 10.05am 1st/2nd/3rd classes only

10.10 – 10.30 4th/5th/6th classes only

Please ensure you arrive at the correct times and remain in the Junior infant yard adhering to social distancing and new government guidelines.

We are delighted our school has had a complete clean while we were on holidays. Our school will continue to home school through Seesaw until further guidelines are issued by the Department, but are looking forward to having our school back together to share more exciting times when we are permitted to do so.

Download School Play – Matilda

We have had a number of requests from parents looking to get a copy of our school play Matilda. You can now download the school play via the two links below

Act 1
Act 2

School Updates 17/10/20

While it is great to be back for another new school year in Corville it is fair to say that this term is a little different to our usual term 1. With split starting times and lunches, pods and bubbles, open doors and windows, plus lots of washing hands, desks, chairs and door handles, we have endeavoured to keep the show on the road since starting back in September. Thankfully, all is going well so far. That is a credit to the hard work of all the students, parents and teachers. Everyone in Corville is trying their best to keep spirits high. Extracurricular activities in the school have largely been put on hold for the time being as children are restricted to their class bubbles, but nothing lasts forever and we hope to get back to normal before long.

Facebook: our Facebook account ( https://www.facebook.com/CorvilleNS ) is the best way to view photos of the things that are going on in school. Make sure to Like and Follow us over there.

Zoom Visit – Author Megan Wynne: 5th class were super excited to talk to Author Megan Wynne via Zoom with Tipperary Libraries for National Children’s Book Week. We are really enjoying ‘The House on Hawthorn Road’. Thanks to Áine from Roscrea Library for organising this Zoom.

Maths Week: last week was maths week in school.There were lots of activities taking place in each class every day. We had daily problems to solves, maths trails, quizzes and much more. At the end of the week a mathematician of the week was selected from each class. Congrats to all the students who won. Below is a small selection of photos from the week. For more check out our Facebook account.

DJ RockSteady: one of the worst things to come from the Covid related school changes is the emergence of our new school DJ on Friday mornings. DJ Rocksteady has replaced our normal Friday morning assembly with the students performing on stage. It is fair to say that this ‘DJ’ should stick to his day job but it is a nice distraction and a good bit of fun at the end of the week. The Students of the Week get their photos taken with the ‘DJ’ afterwards!

Tipp Senior Hurler – Jake Morris: was in teaching in Corville recently. The students were very excited to have him in the school. Mr. Morris took the 6th class students out for some hurling training while he was here.

Halloween Decorations: as we approach Halloween, Corville is getting spookier and spookier. Lot’s of Halloween artwork and decorations are being put up all around the school.

Space Camp on Zoom: 3rd class participated in a space camp on zoom for space week. They learnt all about astronauts and they got to create their own space suits.

WeDo Lego Robotics Programming: Ms. Bourke’s 5th class took part in an interesting robotics course. They learned all about constructing robots and making them move using computer programming. Sounds complicated!

Autumn Nature Walk: it is that time of year again when the conkers are on the trees and the leaves start to turn red and fall. The perfect time for an Autumn Nature Walk!

Guitar: the sound of guitar’s being strummed can be heard all over the school these days. The school invested €750 in buying a set of new guitars this year. Mr. Scully’s 6th class and Ms. Bourke’s 5th class have begun guitar lessons already and they are sounding great. The students are showing a big interest and the students can’t wait to perform some songs on stage once assembly starts back later in the year.

Soccer & Camogie Success: we were delighted to see so many of our girl’s on the cup winning Killavilla U/12 soccer team and Roscrea Camogie Team. When you work hard good things happen. When a school and a club work hard together they can produce big results for the town. As always, we urge all our students to join the sports teams in town.

Ms. Browne’s 3rd Class: We have been busy learning all about water. In science we have been busy experimenting with water and what is the best way to filter it. We had a great maths week, taking part in our very own math’s trail. Well done to Tyler and Joey for estimating the correct height of Ms. Browne!

6th Class Blog: our new 6th class students will be starting a weekly blog after the Halloween break. Each week a new pair of students will be responsible for taking photos and updating the blog. This will be a great learning opportunity for them and we look forward to seeing what they create.

School Calendar Dates

August

27th and 28th – 2 days

August 30th – Sept 4th – 5 days

September
7th – 11th – 5 days
14th – 18th – 5 days
21st – 25th – 5 days
28th – October 2nd – 5 days

October
5th – 9th – 5 days
12th – 16th – 5 days
19th – 23rd – 5 days

November
2nd – 6th – 5 days
9th – 13th – 5 days
16th – 20th – 5 days
23rd – 27th – 5 days
30th – December 3rd – 4 days

December
7th – 11th – 5 days
14th – 18th – 5 days
21stand 22nd – 2 days

January
6th – 8th – 3 days
11th – 15th – 5 days
18th – 22nd – 5 days
25th – 29th – 5 days

February
1st – 5th – 5 days
8th – 12th – 5 days
15th – 17th – 3 days
22nd – 26th – 5 days

March
1st – 5th – 5 days
8th – 12th – 5 days
15, 16, 18, 19 – 4 days
22nd – 26th 5 days

April
12th – 16th – 5 days
19th – 23rd – 5 days
26th – 30th – 5 days

May
4th – 7th – 4 days
10th – 14th – 5 days
17th – 21st – 5 days
24th – 28th – 5 days
May 31st – June 4th – 5 days

June
8th – 11th – 4 days
14th – 18th – 5 days
21st and 22nd 2 days

Total days 183

Open letter – Acting Chief Medical Officer

to parents and guardians of school children and to teachers and affiliated school staff.

Information from the HSE for Parents

Update to the Back to School Roadmap

Dear Parents and Staff,

The following protocols are announced in addition to those that we have issued previously.

1. Travel advice from the Department of Education: Please adhere to the advice below and do not return to school within fourteen days of travel from anywhere outside of the “green” countries.

Reminder to anyone attending school who has traveled abroad:
Government policy, which is based on official public health advice, continues to advise against non-essential travel overseas for everyone.

It is a requirement for anyone coming into Ireland, from locations other than those with a rating of ‘normal precautions’ (“green”), to restrict their movements for 14 days, and this includes school staff, parents and children or other students coming from abroad to attend school in Ireland. Restricting your movements means staying indoors in one location and avoiding contact with other people and social situations as much as possible.

Regards, Reopening Schools Section

2. Face Masks are not encouraged nor discouraged for pupils in Senior Classes
The advice of the Department of Education available
at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b264b-roadmap-for-the-full-return-to-school/ is as follows
“Non-medical masks may reduce transmission from individuals who are shedding the virus.
However, the extent of this benefit is unknown (especially in children) and would only be
potentially beneficial if done properly. It is not practical for many students to wear a mask
properly for the duration of a school day. Cloth face coverings are not suitable for children
under the age of 13 and anyone who

has trouble breathing
is unconscious or incapacitated
is unable to remove it without help
has special needs and who may feel upset or very uncomfortable wearing the face covering

Older students should not be requested to wear a facial covering but those who may wish to wear a facial covering where physical distancing is difficult to maintain should not be discouraged.

It is essential that those wearing a cloth face covering understand:

The purpose is not to protect themselves but to reduce onward transmission and the benefit is reliant on ensuring the mask is worn appropriately see guidance on mask wearing
Wearing a face covering or mask does not negate the need to stay at home if symptomatic.

“It is not a teachers responsibility to enforce mask use by pupils in line with the Public Health Advice, the use of face coverings/masks by pupils in primary schools by pupils should not occur”

Therefore, the position of the school is that masks or face coverings will not be discouraged nor promoted. It is entirely up to you the parents if your child wears a mask. The current advice from the Department of Education and HSE is that children under the age of 13 should not wear a mask. Should this advice change, I will update parents accordingly.

3. Uniform
All pupils are expected to present to school in their full uniform.
4. Homework
No written homework will be assigned in September or until further notice.
5. Temperature:
Please take your child’s temperature every morning before leaving home. If your child has a fever they should not attend school.
6. Book Rental/ Art and craft and insurance:
Please send in any outstanding monies with your child in a sealed addressed envelope.
7. Staggered Lunch Times:
The school will operate staggered Break and Lunch times for all pupils daily. Pupils will
be informed of all changes when we return on Thursday 27th .

As always thank you for your support and encouragement

John Slattery