31st May 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you and your family are safe and healthy as you read this letter. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this time of national crisis. Life has changed dramatically over the past number of weeks and we, like you, have been adjusting, learning new skills and juggling many roles at home. It has not been easy for any of us.
I am extremely appreciative of our pupils, parents, teachers, staff and Board of Management for their positivity, flexibility and resilience during these trying times. I am also deeply grateful for our doctors, nurses, hospital employees, first responders, essential service workers and our state leaders for all they are doing to keep us safe and healthy. Many of you count yourselves amongst this group and we, as a school community, value so much what you have done and continue to do for us.
Our goal at All Saints’ NS is to provide continuous educational opportunities and practice for your children whilst the school building is closed however, we have also aimed to remove as much stress as feasibly possible for children and parents by recognising that you, as parents, are your child’s / children’s primary educator and so best placed to decide by how much your child/ children engage with home learning. Whilst it is our responsibility to continue to educate our pupils, we have also wanted to compassionately take into consideration the variety of circumstances and/ or difficulties that our families are enduring during this time. We thank you for taking up the baton of delivering home learning and please be reassured that you have done your very best in an extraordinary time.
It is still unclear how education in school will resume next academic year. As yet, I have not been given an opening date or any guidance or details of what school based learning will look like next term. As a school, we continue to operate remotely so we are preparing school reports; compiling book lists; preparing to welcome our new Junior Infants in the new term whilst also preparing to say goodbye to our Sixth Class pupils as they transition onto second level.
Sixth Class, I am so proud of you. You are coping so well in this time away from school. You are showing great strength of character to persevere with your learning, to remain calm and positive whilst having to face the disappointment of a postponed Confirmation Day and Sixth Class Graduation Evening. I think some day you are going to look back on this time and say, “Wow, I had all that time with my family” or “I became so independent” or “I was more mature than I realised at the time” … or something similar. And so what seems awful now, may actually become a great memory or a significant milestone in your development. That’s what I’m trying to keep my eye on during this time – the positivity that may come from this crisis and the opportunities that may arise from it. You are our golden group, Sixth Class and we love you all the more for coming through these changed times bigger, stronger and more hopeful young people.
Parents and Guardians, I would very much like to hear your thoughts on this period of distance teaching and learning and so have created a very short survey that I would like you to undertake. I promise that it will take no more than 2 minutes to complete. It can be accessed via this link: https://forms.gle/zDRkPAaTyDJ1YeH66
The survey is anonymous and the information you supply will help us to develop and improve our distance teaching and learning practice in the future. I thank you in advance for contributing to the survey.
I wish you all ongoing good health.
Kind regards,
Mrs F. Gallagher
Principal