- Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS

Fáilte Ar Ais

Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,

A very warm welcome back for the 2021-2022 school year and we extend a special welcome to any family that is joining us for the first time this year. We are also delighted that Miss Power, Miss Hall and Mrs. Evans will be with us again. As always, we will continue to do our best for the girls, and we appreciate your ongoing support and co-operation.

Covid-19 restrictions are gradually being lifted for day-to-day activities, but schools have been advised to keep doing everything that we did last year. That means we still need to social distance, wash and sanitise hands and cover coughs or sneezes. A Glance Card with all the information you need was sent home with each of the girls on 1^st September.

The HSE has asked all school Principals to share the following information:

Symptoms – Please make sure all staff and families are aware not to attend school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 infection. The symptoms are listed here https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/symptoms/overview/

Close contacts – Please remind all staff and children that if they have been told by the HSE services that they are a close contact of a case of Covid-19, they need to restrict their movements at home and will be offered testing, as soon as possible after they have been identified and then at day 10.

Re-enforcing general public health messages – Please ensure all staff and children are reminded of the importance of abiding by the national public health measures currently in place at all times e.g. social distancing, use of face masks and hand hygiene, minimising social contacts.

Travel – Details of current arrangements for travel overseas can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/77952-government-advice-on-international-travel/

Please note, this advice can change at any time.

Thank you very much to all the Mams and Dads who are helping us out by driving through the car park to drop off and to collect the girls. The system is working so please continue to co-operate with us in getting the girls safely in and out of school. This will be especially important as our Junior Infants will be joining the other girls for the morning drop off from tomorrow onwards.

Our newsletter, The School Bell, will be published on the school website every second Thursday – keep an eye out for lots more news as the year goes on.

It is wonderful to have the girls back with us, and with your help, we look forward to a safe year of learning and fun.

Yours sincerely,

C. O’Reilly – Principal

Important

We have a pupil in our school who has a compromised immune system due to an organ transplant. For this reason, we would ask you to please let us know, in confidence, if your child has any symptoms of any childhood illnesses such as chickenpox, ‘flu, etc. Obviously, this also applies to any Covid-19 symptoms.

Bike Week

Next week is Bike Week so we would love to see as many girls as possible cycling (or scooting) to school. We are having a COW day on Wednesday. No, we are not getting into dairy farming – COW stands for Cycle on Wednesday.

Girls, remember to cycle safely. Wear a high-vis vest and a helmet and look out for other road users.

We are looking forward to having a new bicycle and scooter shelter installed very soon, so we hope that will encourage even more of the girls to consider scooting or cycling to school.

Congratulations

Our sincere congratulations to Dermot, and everyone at Walsh’s Bakehouse as they celebrate 100 years in business. Dermot is the Chairperson of our Board of Management, and he gives very willingly of his time to the school. We wish you and your colleagues many more successful years of bread making Dermot.

Sacramental Preparation

Thank you to Fr Kieran and everyone who helped to make the First Penance ceremony run so smoothly on Tuesday evening. The girls are looking forward to their First Holy Communion Day on Saturday and we all wish them a happy day.

What To Do If You or Your Child Has a Problem

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, a problem will arise that needs to be sorted out. In our school, we follow the nationally agreed procedure for dealing with any concerns or problems and even though times are very different right now, the procedure still applies. Conversations may now need to be held over the phone, but we can still work things out. Thankfully, it is our experience, that we very rarely need to go past No. 1 or No. 2 as most problems can be sorted out quickly when adults can have a reasonable conversation with each other. So, if you or your child has a problem, this is what you need to do:

1. Make an appointment to speak with the class teacher. To do this, call the school office on 051 832984.