Latest News
12th March 2021
On Monday next, 15th March our school re-opens for all pupils and staff. We are very much looking forward to having the girls from 3rd Class to 6th Class back with us again. Girls, please put your books and any other belongings in a plastic bag, write your name on the outside of the bag and bring it to school on Monday. Your things will be quarantined in your classroom until Thursday morning. Remember to bring your Return to School Form.
To try to cut down on the number of cars driving through the car park next week, we are encouraging as many of you as possible to walk, scoot or cycle safely to school. (Remember to wear your helmet!) Whether you are walking or coming by car, please wear your high-vis vest. It makes you more visible to traffic.
Our ‘Stop, Drop and Go’ system worked extremely well from September to Christmas. Please continue to use the system. Mams and Dads should stay in their cars, and a staff member will collect your child from the car or bring her to your car in the afternoon. It is absolutely essential that you wear a face covering and keep your distance. We need your help to keep our pupils and staff safe, and to keep the school open.
Wednesday of next week is St. Patrick’s Day – our national holiday. The girls may wear their national colours to school on Tuesday.
As a staff, we would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to all the superhero Mams and Dads who have been supporting their children with Home Learning since January 6th. We know that it has not been easy at times, and we truly appreciate the effort that you have made to help your children keep engaged in learning. We are very aware that the last thing you will want to do right now is deal with Homework. For the next two weeks, the girls will have only 1 easy task per week assigned for them on Seesaw by their teachers. It can be done and uploaded at a time of their choosing. This is to make sure that the girls, the staff and their parents stay familiar with all the online learning skills we have developed over the last few months.
Our lovely new classroom extension is almost finished. After Easter, Sixth Class will move into the new room for their final term in Primary school, and Fifth Class will move to a classroom upstairs.
Today, it is one year since the first lockdown began. We have learned to live in a different way and sometimes it has been difficult. However, we have made it through the year by working together and we have learned so much that will help us to keep going until life returns to some form of normality. Next week, we will do some collaborative artwork with the girls to help them to reflect on the past year, the tough times and the good times.
Thank you to everyone in our school community for your ongoing support. We look forward to the next couple of weeks leading up to the Easter break, and please God to a good final term to this school year.
Our most recent newsletter is available to read on the School Bell tab and girls, be extra nice to your Mams and Grans on Sunday!
Miss o’Reilly and all the staff of OUr Lady of Good Counsel GNS
Letter To Parents from Dr. Ronan Glynn
Schol Re-opening
Dear Mams and Dads,
School will re-open for Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First Class and Second Class on Monday 1st March 2021. We are looking forward to seeing our lovely Good Counsel girls again. We need your help and support to make sure that our school can remain open and to keep everyone safe.
This is what you can do to help:
- You will receive a letter in the post on Friday with a form enclosed.
- Read and sign the form. Make sure that your child brings it with her on Monday morning. Your child cannot return to school without a signed form. Just in case you do not receive the Return to School form through the post, you can download the form below this message and return it by email to your child’s class teacher no later than Friday evening 26th February at 5p.m.
- It is important that anyone in your house who has symptoms of Covid-19 stays at home and self-isolates. You should then contact the family doctor to arrange a test.
- Children should not return to or attend school:
- Ø if they are a close contact of a confirmed case of Covid-19
- Ø if they live with someone who has symptoms of the virus
- Ø if they have any symptoms of Covid-19
- Ø if they have travelled outside of Ireland
- Co-operate with any public health officials and the school for contact tracing purposes and follow any public health advice in the event of a case or outbreak in the school.
- Download the Covid-19 tracker App – You can download the free app from Apple’s AppStore or the GooglePlay store
- If you wish to speak with your child’s teacher, please call the school office on 051 832984.
- Do not gather outside the school at drop off or pick-up times. Follow Public Health advice and please wear a face covering and stay at least 2 metres away from everyone else.
We worked very well as a school community to keep our school open from September to Christmas, and we are asking you to keep up the good work from Monday onwards. Thank you for your great efforts with Home Learning and stay safe.
Miss O’Reilly, Miss Kelly and all the staff of Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS
Return to School Form
Ireland Reads
Dear Good Counsel Girls, Mams and Dads,
Let’s start with the good news! Our mid-term break is next week so on Wednesday evening you can put away your books and devices and take a good rest from Home Learning. You deserve it after all your hard work since the beginning of Term 2.
We have very much enjoyed talking to Mams and Dads this week for Parent/Teacher meetings. It is great to hear how everyone is getting on, and we do hope that you feel re-assured and supported by the school. The level of engagement on Seesaw and Zoom is fantastic so please give yourself a big pat on the back. It is important for Mams and Dads to check in on the work the older girls are submitting on Seesaw – you will be amazed at their creativity and imagination – well done girls!
Next week, we will not have our class Zoom calls. We know you will be busy making pancakes on Tuesday so we thought we would take a little break from technology. Of course, Lent begins on Wednesday. We cannot go to the church this year, so you might like to tune in to the Parish church on that date on https://ferrybankslieverueparishes.ie/ or maybe you might even visit the National Shrine at Knock https://www.knockshrine.ie/church-services/mass-times/
Ferrybank Library has been in touch to ask us to share the following information about an event it is hosting.
Dr Mary O’Kane has recorded an online talk for us (Ferrybank Library) on “Raising Resilient Children” where she outlines 3 practical tips that parents & educators can use to help children become more resilient in dealing with challenging times. We can all agree that the past year has been very challenging so we hope that this talk may be of benefit to the parents, teachers and ultimately the pupils in your school. The talk will be available on the Library Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kilkennylibrary/ or on Kilkenny County Council YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/kilkennycoco
We wish you a good week and an enjoyable mid-term break.
Stay safe.
Miss O’Reilly and all the Staff of Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS
Dear Mams, Dads and Good Counsel Girls,
We hope that you are keeping well and safe. You are doing such a great job managing Home Learning and we are enjoying all the wonderful work that the girls are uploading to Seesaw. The highlight of our week is seeing your lovely smiles during your class Zoom calls.
Tuesday next is Internet Safety Day. Because we are all using technology so regularly during this pandemic, it has never been more important to be aware of staying safe while using the internet. Last week, our Sixth Class girls had a fascinating debate during their Zoom call about the benefits and downsides of screen time. Mams and Dads might be interested in some of the following webinars that will offer advice and support to parents.
The National Parents Council
Supporting your child to stay safe online can be a daunting parenting responsibility!
The National Parents Council Primary is running free online interactive workshops on “Keeping your child safe online” all next week. This programme will give you practical information and supports to help you as a parent in this vital role. It will help you better understand that your parenting skills are key to keeping your child safe and it will also look at some of the evidence about what children in Ireland are spending their time doing on-line and will also examine some of the risks and benefits for children online.
The sessions are taking place online via Zoom at 10am on Monday to Friday, and 8pm on Monday to Thursday next week, starting Monday the 8th. Just click on the link below to register.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/InternetSafetyOnline2021
Each session will have limited numbers for discussion and questions, and places will be offered on a first come first serve basis.
| #BeKindOnline Webinar Series – the Irish Safer Internet Centre Tuesday, 9 February: 7.30pm-8.15pm · Title: Empowering Healthy Online Behaviour in Teenagers · Guest Speaker: Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton, Cyberpsychology Researcher, member of the Cyberpsychology Research Group at the University of Wolverhampton and lectures in Cyberpsychology and Psychology in IADT, Dun Laoghaire. · Audience: This webinar is for parents of teenagers. · Register here Wednesday, 10 February 7.30pm-8.15pm · Title: Empowering Healthy Online Behaviour in Younger Children · Guest Speaker: Mark Smyth, Consultant Clinical Psychologist · Audience: This webinar is for parents of younger children. · Register here |
Teachers have been in touch with you to arrange Parent/Teacher meetings next week and the week after. We are looking forward to having the opportunity to chat about your child’s progress at school.
As always, our message to everyone is ‘Just do your best’. We understand how challenging it can be to manage family life at the best of times, so let’s keep working together and supporting each other and we will get there! Stay home and stay safe.
Yours sincerely,
Miss O’Reilly and all the Staff of Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS
