Dear parents and guardians,
Hold Firm
We are so encouraged by your commitment to keeping our community safe. Thank you so much for looking after others in our community by wearing masks, keeping your distance and following the one-way system on our campus. Thank you also for keeping your children out of school when they have possible symptoms of Covid-19 or when someone in the home is awaiting a test. This is how we keep each other safe and we all appreciate everyone's commitment to that.


Distance Learning Plan
As promised, we are delighted to launch our Distance Learning Plan today. Don't worry if it seems overwhelming - we will talk through it at our Zoom session on Thursday morning. We hope you can join us. See meeting details in email.
We have opened our Distance Learning Skills page today too. We won't be using it until next week but this gives you, parents, a chance to read through it this week ahead of looking at it with your child(ren) next week.


Check it out
Highlights from our webpages this week:

• Claire's class - Elmer, playground and assembly!
• Lots of news from Martha's class
• Aoife B's class make sounds by blowing through blades of grass

Have a great week!
Caitriona.

Dear members of our community,
Following work by our Board of Management throughout the year and in line with changes for all schools, our Patron Educate Together this morning approved our new admissions policy.
There is a copy of the policy attached and it is also available on our school website.
We expect to issue our annual admission notice before the end of this month and the admission process will begin one week after that, in early October.
Pre-enrolments made by January 2020 remain valid.
The Board of Management thanks Educate Together for their support and guidance in creating this policy.
On behalf of the Board of Management of Citywest ETNS,
Caitriona Hand,
Principal.

Happy Friday to you all!
We had our first whole-school assembly this morning via Zoom, including Golden Book nominations! It was wonderful. We are all settling back into school life, albeit changed a little.


September homework
We know that many people are eager to start homework again. As we let you know in August, we will be using homework this half term to set us all up for successful distance learning, should that be needed.
Some classes will be starting on this from next week and more will join in the following week.
Please see our Reopening 2020 page for information about the next two weeks and what you can do to make this time most effective for your child. There is also a handy guide for isolation on the page, which we encourage you to print. Don't miss the important information at the top of that guide, separate to the grid.
We will publish the plan for October and for Distance Learning the week after next and will host a Zoom session on the morning of Thursday 24th September to explain it for any parent who feels that would help them. If you can't come, no worries - we will do the same as in August and put the slides up on the school website.


School phone number
Our school phone number is 01-4124060. Please make sure that you have changed the number you have for us in your phone.
Rathcoole ETNS have our old number. As a start-up school, they do not have the resources to continue answering phone calls for us.


Junior Infants on full day from Monday
Our Junior Infants have now finished induction and will attend for the full school day from Monday.
Can families with children in Senior Infants, 1st and 2nd class please be mindful of the extra families that will be arriving at the same time as you from Monday?
As everyone has fallen into a settled rhythm now, it would be easy to experience frustration as two routines are merged. Let's commit to being patient and generous of thought as we come together.


Have a look at what's going on

• Water play in Claire's class
• Orla's class all together for cake!
• Amy's class use their science copies
• Aoife B's class reads The Budgie Diaries
• Collaborative art work in Trisha's class
• Poetry in Stephanie's class

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Caitriona.

Dear parents and guardians,
The construction company needs to do some work outside our campus so that the traffic lights can be turned on. It will be great to finally have pedestrian lights outside the campus and will make it safer for everyone.
The work will run for the rest of this week.
This means that the path outside the gates on one side will not be usable.
We advise using the pedestrian crossing inside the gates to cross over. Yes, this does mean one part of the path where there will be people walking in both directions but, on balance, this is preferable to having children walk across the road.
We trust that everyone will give each other space on that section of path.
Take care,
Caitriona.

Hello everyone.
At the end of our first full week, I am so relieved and proud. Every single person in our community has pulled together and worked with the new systems, even as we continue to tweak and refine them. Pupils, staff, parents and other community members have followed the one-way system, worn masks, kept distance and been patient - even in the rain! Thank you so much to every single one of you for this. We are a strong community and we continue to face this new era together, with a positive, cooperative, supportive attitude. Working together makes it easier for everyone so thank you for that.


Survey results
We are pleased to release the results of the three distance learning surveys we undertook in August. We hope to have the distance learning plan ready and shared by 18th September and then we can work together on developing skills, routines and competencies that we will all need for distance learning.


Parents Association
Our Parents Association have published a poster showing the key messages for parents in keeping our community safe. 


Homework diaries
We have decided to continue using homework diaries in the senior end of the school. A key change this year is that parents are not to sign the diaries. The child should be the only person - at school or at home - who touches the diary.
This will be the only book or copy that will be shared between home and school.


Wishing you all a happy and peaceful weekend,
Caitriona.

Wow, we did it! What a wonderful community we have who worked together to make the first day for the children as safe and happy as it could be. 


Change in collection procedure for senior classes
Thanks to how smoothly it went, we have decided that we do NOT need the additional measure of stopping parents entering the campus at 2.15pm each day.
So your choice for children in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class is:

1. Have them walk out of the campus independently, as we had planned, and meet them off the campus
2. Meet them on the campus as happened this week. In this case:
   1. Maintain a 2 metre distance from other families at all times
   2. Don't wait on the exit path - instead wait at the front of our school or the front of CSCNS
   3. Join your child in the flow of pedestrian traffic and walk with them.

Hopefully it will continue to work as smoothly as it did this week and we can continue in this way.
We will continue to release 5th and 6th classes a couple of minutes early so as to avoid congestion.


One-way system on the paths
Thank you for following our one-way system.
At all times, to get from the school to the traffic island, you should follow the flow of pedestrian traffic around the front of CSCNS and then use the pedestrian crossing to get to the island. Do not cross back the front of our school or walk through the car park. That is not safe.


Car park
From Monday, there is no access to the staff car park for parents. Please be kind and courteous in the drop-off zones, leave the bus area for buses only and leave the car outside the campus if at all possible.


Arrival times
Reminder of the following arrival times. Please arrive during your assigned times only.

• 8.25 to 8.30 children in Senior Infants, 1st class and 2nd class who do NOT have siblings in older classes
• 8.30 to 8.35 children in Senior Infants, 1st class and 2nd class who DO have siblings in older classes
• 8.35 to 8.40 children in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes who DO have siblings in younger classes
• 8.40 to 8.45 children in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes who do NOT have siblings in younger classes
• 8.45 to 8.55 and 11.10 to 11.20 children in Junior Infants

Please do not arrive early and please do not wait on the campus between arrival times. Older children should NOT be left on the campus earlier than 8.35am.


Wet gear
We got very wet today. Some children had rain coats, rain trousers and wellies and they had great fun on yard and were dry for the rest of the day.
Others were pretty miserable in the wet and then had to either get changed or stay wet for the rest of the day. This affects their learning and engagement in class and is really unpleasant for them.
Please send in wet gear if you have not already done so. We are going outside to play, whatever the weather.


I know that Monday is a step up with everyone being in. Following the last two days, I am fully confident that next week will go smoothly. The feeling of community here the last two days was absolutely amazing.
The school can put all the measures in place for everyone's safety but they only work with everyone's cooperation and we certainly had that this week.
Thank you all so much.
Have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday!
Caitriona.

We're all set and ready to go!
The waiting and planning and preparing is done - at home and in school - and now it's time to get into action!
We are so excited to see the children tomorrow and Friday.
Please remember:
Mornings

1. Do not arrive on the campus before 8.25am (Junior classes), 8.35am (Senior classes) or 8.45am (Junior Infants morning group). Arrive during your designated 10 minutes only. Parents of children in junior classes can walk their child to their door; senior class children are expected to walk around to their door without a parent.
2. Do not hang around. Drop and go. 
3. Wear a mask (adults).
4. Stay 2 metres away from the next family. This does mean that it will take longer and this may be frustrating. Prepare for it, allow the time and be kind.
5. Follow the one-way system on the paths.

Afternoons

1. Parents of junior class children go to the designated door and stay 2 metres from the next parent.
2. Follow the one-way system.
3. Parents of senior class children will not be permitted onto the campus at school finish time from Monday. This week only, you may wait on the Entrance path (to the right as you come in) and then walk across the road to join your child in the exit pedestrian flow. This will allow you to pick a meeting spot together for next week.
4. Do not drive onto the campus for the 2.15pm pick-up. Vehicular access at that time is for buses only.
5. Please don't agree to meet your child directly outside the school gate. Please leave that spot for those families where there is additional need. Having lots of families meet there will undermine the hard work inside the campus.

General

1. ​​​​​​​Do send all items to school this week, other than those you've been asked to leave at home by the class teacher.
2. Do remind your child that school is a safe, happy and fun place.
3. Do be patient and supportive of others.

We know that we would be extremely lucky to have everything run smoothly from day one so let's expect the unexpected and then work together to find solutions!
Looking forward to a great start to the school year!
Caitriona.

Dear parents and guardians,
We are pleased to launch the new Reopening 2020 page on our school website.
On this page you will find:

• Response Plan
• Summary Sheet
• Presentations from info nights for mainstream class parents this week
• Links to class websites, where there is useful content for the children

Thank you so much for your attendance and engagement this week. We have a wonderful community and I am honoured to be a part of it.
Looking forward to seeing you next Thursday or Friday.
I will be in touch early next week to let you know which day your child should come to school.
Have a great weekend,
Caitriona.

Dear parents and guardians,
Please find below details for the meeting next week to share details of reopening the school for our school.
Please note that I will be targeting my presentation at adults and we will be discussing the reopening from an adult point of view.
We are preparing Welcome Back pages for the children that will show them:

• What their class will look like with the new layout of furniture
• Where their yard play area will be
• How to get to and from their classroom
• What their teacher looks like with and without a face covering

We aim to have these pages ready by the end of next week. 
I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.
Have a lovely weekend,
Caitriona.

Hello again.


Staggered start of school year
Please see results of our first survey on our school website. It is clear that our community is in broad agreement with this proposal and so we will go ahead with it.
We aim to let you know on Monday 24th August which day your child(ren) will attend - Thursday 27th or Friday 28th August.
We look forward to seeing the children on those days and to spending the day practicing new procedures with them as well as reconnecting and getting down to work.
To be clear, the teachers will teach the same content on both days and so children will not miss any content.


Further surveys
We have already received 117 responses to the parent survey and 87 responses to the pupil survey. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that. If you haven't already taken the time to go through them, please do so over the weekend.


Two weeks to go - time to increase measures in our community
With two weeks to go to the start of the school year, NOW is the time for everyone in our community to return to living very carefully. Please protect everyone in our community by doing your part.


Response Plan
We have been working all week and will continue over the weekend in preparing our Response Plan for returning to school.
Our Board of Management will meet on Monday to consider it and to make some crucial decisions.
I will write to you on Tuesday to share a copy of that Response Plan and will host Zoom meetings next week to talk through it.
I will send Zoom details later today.


Returning from outside Ireland?
Some of our families have been asking about returning to school following travel abroad. Government guidance for schools is as follows:
"As per HSE current guidelines, if a person arrives into the State from a location not on the 'green list', the public health advice is that you need to restrict your movements for 14 days. 
Please check the Covid 19 Green List on gov.ie. Anyone arriving into Ireland from these locations will not have to restrict their movements."


Wishing you a great weekend,
Caitriona.