It has been an unusual start to the school year but as always our boys and girls have been great. Although we can’t have any visitors, and we can’t see all of our friends during the school day, we are still very busy and still having great fun!

Have a look at the video below to see just a snapshot of what is going on inside Scoil Naomh Micheál! Enjoy the mid-term break!

Scoil Naomh Micheál School Choir 2019/2020

Dear parents and school community members,

please see the photographs above our wonderful school choir from last year. The children sacrificed their lunchtimes to rehearse for our Cór Fhéile event. The same choir sang in the local nursing homes at Christmas time and warmed the hearts of all with their amazing singing.

There is also a sound clip of our last rehearsal before lockdown. The children and us (Mr. O’Sullivan, Ms. O’Shea, Ms. Brady/Forde and Ms. O’Sullivan) were heartbroken when the news broke that the concert was postponed due to the virus. This recording is the last time we sang together and it is our only time sharing to the wider community what might have been. Please sit back and enjoy the songs;

1. Sisi Sisi Dolada- Congolese Folk Song

2. Mash Up of Riptide, Super heroes, Pompeii, High Hopes and Ho Hey.

3. Mash up of Dilín Ó Deamhas and The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Traditional Zulu folk song).

We pray that we will be back singing together at some stage again soon.

Kindest regards and stay safe everyone,

Mr. O’Sullivan. Ms. O’Shea, Ms. Forde and Ms. O’Sullivan.

Congratulations to the boys on the U-12 St. Colmcille’s team who won the football league this week, defeating Whitechurch in the final. Well done to all the boys and all involved in White’s Cross GAA and Carrignavar GAA clubs!

A letter from Mr. O’Connell has been sent by e-mail through Aladdin, and uploaded on the school website.

Please click on the link below to read the letter.

https://upperglanmirens.ie/letters-home/10th-september-2020/

Dear Parents,
 
We will shortly roll out the Aladdin Schools Connect to parents/guardians of children in our school.  
 
The school uses the Aladdin Schools software service www.aladdin.ie for administrative purposes and Connect will give you secure access to messages from the school and to details of your child’s attendance, test results, reports cards etc.  via secure login from your internet browser or Aladdin Connect App.

Aladdin Connect is a fantastic way to enhance a school’s communication with  parents. It enables parents to stay connected and informed about their child’s education by:
– Ensuring that the school has their most up to date contact information
– Allowing schools to gather permission(s) from parents
– Allowing parents to quickly and efficiently select preferred slots for parent teacher meetings 
– Keeping parents apprised of their child’s attendance
– Keeping parents up to date on school and classroom news via noticeboard messages
– Keeping parents up to date on what library book their child is currently reading and if it is due/overdue to be returned
– Allowing parents view their child’s approved report card
– Giving parents the option to opt in to share contact information with their child’s classmates’ parents via the Parent Privacy option for the class list.
 
Along with strengthening our home/school partnership, we also envisage Aladdin Connect helping the school by:
– Helping to improve attendance by allowing parents to keep track of any school days their child may have currently missed, along with late arrival and early leaving information.
– Helping to reduce the amount of class/school notes being sent home
– Helping the school/ teachers communicate with parents when the need arises
– Reducing costs by eliminating the need to send school report cards by post
– Reducing costs by reducing the number of text messages that need to be sent
 
You can rest reassured that Aladdin Schools uses state-of-the-art security to safeguard information entered by the school and data is stored and processed in strict compliance with Irish and European data protection laws.
 
In the next few days, you will receive a text/email message containing your registration link.  There will be one link per parent which will allow the parent to access information for all their children in the school from one user account. Please do not forward this text/email or share this link as this is a unique registration code for each parent for your child/children in this school. During registration you will choose a password that will be used in conjunction with your email address to securely access the Aladdin Connect going forward. If you choose you may share your own contact details with other parents of children in the same class as your children, but please be reassured that this information will not be shared unless you choose to share it. Once you are registered you will be sent an email with links to download the Aladdin Connect App for your mobile device. The main advantage of using the App is to receive immediate alerts for app messages sent by your school. Downloading the App is highly recommended to enhance both the parent and school’s Connect experience.

In preparation for this please let the school know if your email address or phone number has changed recently.

Please note: If there are any personal concerns, or legal provisions in place regarding giving access to Connect to any parent/guardian of your child please contact the school in confidence to discuss or restrict access as required.
 
We hope that you enjoy using Aladdin Connect. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Patrick O’Connell

A big welcome back to all our children today and a big thank you to your parents for their support in implementing of safe procedures around drop off and collections. It was fantastic to see the smiles on the children’s faces this morning!

Below you will find a selection of pictures of our first day back in our classrooms after almost six months at home. More pictures to follow…

Below you will find videos showing a walk through for the children ahead of tomorrow’s return to school.

Ms. O’Shea, Ms. McDonald & Mr. O’Sullivan

Ms. Fogarty, Ms. Forde, Ms. O’Sullivan &  Ms. Tutundjian

Mr. Scanlon & Ms. Flanagan

Ms. O’Halloran, Ms. A. Healy, Ms. L. Healy & Ms. O’Toole

Dear Parents,

We hope you have had an enjoyable summer and that you are looking forward to the return to school on Thursday 27^th August. We have been busy preparing the school building for the new year and we are confident that the control measures are in place to facilitate the safe re-opening of our school.

We will need your support to help us implement safety guidelines at the school gates and in the general vicinity of the school grounds before and after school. We are recommending that face masks/coverings are worn by adults dropping and collecting children, and we ask that you do not congregate at the school gates before or after drop-off and collection times. We ask that you speak with your children about the importance of social distancing in the morning time and to keep their distance from other children making their way to classrooms.

We are strongly recommending that children walk to and from school where possible. This includes wet mornings and afternoons where children can wear rain clothes. We also recommend parking away from the school and walking to the gate, similar to the Walk on Wednesday initiative we have used in the past with Green Schools.

Children will not be allowed on the school grounds before 9.10am. We ask you please not to drop your children at the school before the gates are open. Parents should not enter the school grounds with their child. Staff will be in school from 9.10am to supervise children and we kindly ask that you respect the parking arrangements in the Upper Glanmire Community Centre between 8.30am-3pm.

Morning drop off – 9.10am-9.30am

We are using 5 entrance and exit gates for drop off and collection.

1. Main school gate – Ms. O’Shea, Ms. McDonald, Mr. O’Sullivan. Children will walk around the side of the school building to their classroom.
2. Middle gate – Ms. O’Halloran, Ms. A. Healy, Ms. L. Healy, Ms. O’Toole. Children will enter through the two middle gates and enter the building through the double doors to their  downstairs corridor.
3. Lower gate (Ros Ard side) – Ms. Fogarty, Ms. Forde, Ms. O’Sullivan, Ms. Tutundjian – Children will enter through the double gates and enter the building through the side door of the building. They will follow the arrows in the stairwell to their classrooms.
4. Community Centre gate – Mr. Scanlon and Ms. Flanagan. Children will enter the school grounds via the Community Centre and walk directly to their classroom.
5. Double gates (top yard) – children arriving on the school bus will enter and exit via the double gate in the top yard. They will follow the same routes as above within the school grounds.

Collections

2pm collections

Ms. O’Halloran – top yard double gates.

Ms. A. Healy (Jun/Sen Inf.) – middle gates (same as morning)

Ms. L. Healy – lower gate

2.50pm – Surnames A-G             2.55pm Surnames H-M          3.00pm Surnames O-Z

Middle gates

Ms. O’Toole

Ms. Forde

Lower gates

Ms. Fogarty

Ms. O’Sullivan

Ms. Tutundjian

Main gate

Ms. O’Shea

Mr. O’Sullivan

Ms. McDonald

Community Centre gate

Ms. Flanagan

Mr. Scanlon

Children walking home from school will be allowed leave the school unaccompanied with the permission of their parents. Please e-mail your child’s teacher at their address below to request your child be allowed leave the school grounds and the vicinity of the school unaccompanied.

Uniforms & Tracksuits

Children will alternate school uniform and tracksuit throughout the week. We recommend the use of velcro or slip on shoes.

Tracksuit – Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Uniform – Tuesday & Thursday

Books, Pencil cases etc.

At the beginning of the year, all educational materials will remain in school. This includes all schoolbooks, copies and pencil cases. Please keep this in mind before sending materials to school on the first day of term.

Lunches

Children will bring all lunch waste home daily. Please bring enough water for your child to last the full school day. We will not be in a position to fill re-usable water bottles.

Homework

Homework is not a priority as we return to school. The focus will be a safe and happy return to school for all the school community. We will address homework when we have settled back at school.

Walk through videos on the school website will show children the morning routine, including entrance gates, hand sanitizing and directions to classrooms.

Pods and Bubbles

You will have heard of groups within schools being referred to as pods and bubbles. A bubble is simply your child’s class, along with their teacher and other support teachers & SNAs assigned to the class. A pod is the group in which your child will sit. This is no different to how classrooms were previously managed.

Children will remain in their class bubble for the entire school day. Unfortunately, there can be no interaction with other classrooms. Each class will have a designated area to play in the school yard. We ask that children bring a rain jacket to school every day as we intend on playing in the yard unless weather conditions are severe.

The procedures have been agreed with the safety of the children in mind. We ask for your understanding and support, and acknowledge that there may be a need to implement changes to the above if required.

When should I keep my child at home?

Children who are feeling unwell should stay at home and should not come to school. If your child is presenting with any of the following symptoms, please do not send him/her to school.

• fever / high temperature
• persistent cough
• shortness of breath
• change in senses of taste or smell

We ask you please to commit to checking for these symptoms every morning before sending your child to school.

If there is any concern that your child is presenting with any of the above symptoms, you will be contacted immediately. The school has purchased infrared thermometers for use where there may be a concern. If you have any questions in relation to the above, please contact the school.

E-mail contact

Ms. O’Halloran – n.ohalloran@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. A. Healy – a.healy@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. L. Healy – l.healy@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. O’Toole – a.otoole@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. Forde – e.forde@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. O’Shea – e.oshea@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. O’Sullivan – c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. Flanagan – c.flanagan@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. Fogarty – c.fogarty@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. Tutundjian – n.tutundjian@upperglanmirens.ie

Mr. O’Sullivan – n.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie

Mr. Scanlon – s.scanlon@upperglanmirens.ie

Ms. McDonald – s.mcdonald@upperglanmirens.ie

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing the children back in the school from 9.10am on Thursday.

Kind regards,

Patrick O’Connell

– Morning supervision in classrooms 9.10am-9.30am. Children not to enter school grounds until 9.10am

– Staggered home time based on surname – alphabetical order. 2.50pm, 2.55pm & 3.00pm

– Tracksuits – Monday, Wednesday & Friday

– Uniforms – Tuesday & Thursday

– Velcro or slip on shoes recommended.

– Enhanced cleaning

– Homework not a priority for September

– Detailed videos to follow ahead of re-opening