Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,                                                                                             Happy New Year to one and all. Unfortunately school has not recommenced as we would like but we are up and running with Remote Teaching & Learning. All books have been distributed and I thank you all for your cooperation in this regard. We appreciate that each and every family is different and that many parents are essential or front line workers and continue to work, childcare therefore can be another impediment to remote leaning. In this email I just want to make you aware of some changes from Lockdown No. 1 and some of the resources available to you. I will continue to send the weekly Friday email at 3pm while being cognisant of the many others you may be getting.

Teachers are liaising directly with families through email, (check Junk or Spam) therefore workloads are not sent from my office on Sundays. Teachers are using ICT such as Zoom, Seesaw, Padlet, recordings as well as email/phone call to work directly with children. Teachers can be emailed anytime during the school day and are making themselves available to pupils and their parents. I would encourage you to contact your teacher if your child is having problems or you have any concerns proposals or suggestions. They will be only too happy to hear from you and help. The email is basically the teacher’s christian name followed by @ballymacns.com. These can be found on our website under contacts. The Special Education/SNA team is also available and will contact parents by phone during this period.

Guidance from the DES has asked that;

Schools should ensure that 2-way feedback between teachers and parents and between teachers and pupils is encouraged and supported. Schools should provide manageable and accessible opportunities for all pupils to regularly share samples of their work with the teacher throughout each week. Teachers should ensure that feedback is provided. The benefits of this for pupils are: 1. that monitoring progress will guide teachers to maintain or adapt future teaching and learning as appropriate. 2. Wellbeing: Frequent engagement between pupils and teachers can provide a sense of normality and connection for pupils and can contribute to their sense of wellbeing. The role of teachers in this regard is very significant and should not be underestimated. This Remote Teaching & Learning period is characterised by;

• Regular engagement with pupils:
• A blend of guided and independent learning tasks/experiences:
• Appropriate and engaging learning opportunities:
• Two-way feedback between home and school:

We continue to be available to help you in any way we can, whether it is to loan a device, prescribing additional work, answering an educational query or suggestion you or your child may have. Feel free to contact your teacher or indeed myself on 052-6136349. The school remains open to help deliver Remote Teaching and Learning. As an extra resource, it is worth noting that RTE Home School Hub returns. It airs weekdays, from 10am on RTÉ2. Rest assured we look forward to returning to onsite learning without undue delay. Please consider prescribed workloads as a menu and not a dictat. Get through what you and your child can achieve. Well done so far. I have included two attachments I have been asked to forward and I end by thanking the team here for their collective efforts and cooperation and you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time. Fanaigi Slán.

Letter to Parents from Minister

https://www.education.ie/en/covid-19/letter-to-parents-from-minister-foley-12-january-2021.pdf

Video from Bishop of Waterford & Lismore

https://youtu.be/x1ygX1ct0eU

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan

Principal