https://sites.google.com/view/olgcstem/home
Have you checked out our school STEM website?
Fáilte Ar Ais
Dear Pupils, Staff, Mams and Dads,
A warm welcome back to school for our second term. We are very glad to be open, and with your help, we look forward to a safe, busy and happy Term 2.
Please continue to do everything you can to keep our school community safe. You will know from discussions on television and radio that it is difficult to find substitute staff at the moment, and that the transmission levels of Covid-19 are still very high.
As challenging as it is, we just need to continue doing what we have been doing since March 2020:
Keep a 2-metre distance from others
Keep our social contacts to as few people as possible
Cough/sneeze into our elbows
Wash/sanitize our hands regularly
If your child is unwell, please keep her at home until she is symptom free.
The girls from Third to Sixth Class have been making a great effort with mask wearing and we do ask that parents support the girls with this. It is especially important as we have a child in the school who has had an organ transplant, and she is very vulnerable as a result.
A new year brings new hope, and as 2022 progresses, my hope is that there will be no need for our school newsletters to contain information about how we are managing during a pandemic.
On this Little Christmas Day, I wish you and your family a healthy and happy New Year. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Condolences
We offer our sincere condolences to Miss McElroy on the death of her Granny Brenda on December 22nd. Ar dheis Dé go raibh sí.
Congratulations
Well done to Ms. Fenton who was conferred with a degree in Early Childhood Education and Care on January 5th. Enjoy your success after all your hard work.
Air Filtration
Just before Christmas, the Department of Education sent guidance to schools on ventilation and the possible use of Air Filtration units. While it may appear from media reports that HEPA filters are the answer to all our concerns, and that all schools will be installing Air Filtration units, that is not necessarily the case.
The funding provided by the DE may be used in the first instance for improving ventilation. If that is not possible, then Air filtration units may be considered.
If it is not necessary to improve ventilation, the funding may also be used to improve the outdoor learning environment of a school.
Here is some of the guidance that has been provided by the Department of Education and the CPSMA (Catholic Primary School Management Association).
What is an air filtration unit?
It is a self-contained unit that sits in a room and must be plugged into an electrical power socket. The unit usually contains a filter or multiple filters. One of the filters may be a HEPA filter. The unit also has a fan that sucks air from the room in over the filter system and sends purified air back into the room. This can make the unit noisy. As air moves through the filter, tiny pollutants and particles are captured.
Can we close the windows and use an air filtration unit instead?
It is very important to note that:
- Air cleaning devices are not a substitute for good ventilation.
- Air cleaners do not remove Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
- The best way to reduce CO2 levels in a room is to dilute it with fresh air, that is by opening windows.
How do we know if a room is adequately ventilated?
By using a CO2 monitor. (Each classroom and Learning Support Room in our school has a CO2 monitor. 5 monitors were provided by the DE and the Board of Management bought monitors for every other room.)
The Board of Management is considering the guidance and doing some further research, and as always, will decide in the best interest of the children and the staff in the school.
In Ireland, January 6th is known as Little Christmas or Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas). On the feast of the Epiphany, here is a verse from a beautiful poem about the Magi.
The Three Kings
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Three Kings came riding from far away,
Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;
Three Wise Men out of the East were they,
And they travelled by night and they slept by day,
For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.
