To all Parents/Guardians/Pupils of Scoil Mhuire na mBuachaillí
Hi all,
I write to you all at this unprecedented time, not just for our school community, or for Ireland but for the world at large. Never before have we faced into such uncertain and difficult times. I want you all to know that my staff and I are thinking of you all and hope that you are all keeping safe and managing to get through each day as best you can. We had hoped to get all the boy’s schoolbooks given out to them yesterday as arranged last Friday but with the new restrictions that was not possible. However the books are all bagged and labelled with a programme of work enclosed for when we see a way or opportunity of getting them to your homes.
I am very aware that every home is different and this presents different challenges and difficulties. Some homes have parents working and others with parents at home. Some households have pupils at Second level as well as Primary and this creates problems with availability of hardware and space to do work. There are homes with many laptops, I pads etc and great broadband but others don’t have those facilities. I don’t want people to be under any more stress than they already are because of Covid-19, due to worrying about their son’s education.Don’t get caught up in what others are doing. When everyone in our school gets through this safely we will all work hard to make sure your son reaches his potential. Anyways if all the work could be done online there would be no need for schools. In our classrooms the work is differentiated to suit the needs of all children and whenever school resumes we will have to ascertain where boys are at from where we left off, to ensure that all children receive an equal opportunity to have no gaps in their learning, especially in numeracy and literacy.
I advise boys that one option open to them is to continue with a third unit of work from spellbound, another week of mental maths and another week of tables champion. Again this is optional but will help those who have the opportunity at home, to do some work. Continue with reading and accelerated reading if possible as notified on this website in previous posts. Creative activities like painting, colouring, drawing, playing with lego, jigsaws etc are good for the mind which is most important right now.There are many links on this website in previous posts and also in the section, news for parents, where those who have an appetite for work and a desire for activities can find appropriate material and links. eg https://www.scoilnet.ie/ http://www.twinkl.ie/offer https://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/products?ed=all&gr=Welcome%21
The children would have been getting their Easter holidays this Friday and I would suggest that if they have been doing some schoolwork that they give it a break over what would have been the holidays. I will be in contact again with you all the week after the 12th April when we know what the situation is going forward and to plan accordingly.I emphasise once again that by the end of the Easter holidays on Sunday 19th April, boys will only have missed 14 school days.
I know that boys are missing seeing their friends at school and we are missing all of them also and the daily routine. No one could describe what we are going through as an ordinary break from school and I look forward to the day when we all get back safely to Scoil Mhuire na mBuachaillí.
As you hear daily on the news, stay home and keep safe.
Eamon Mc Eneaney Principal