Dear parents,

I intend to send you a message each Wednesday.

Today I wish to congratulate you on the start you have made to 'Home School Learning.' We will be making contact with families that appear to be struggling with the technology. From our monitoring of usage, I can identify who, these are and we will support you through this difficult time.

We will try to keep to the same Seesaw routine each week. There are a lot of great ideas circulating at the moment but I have asked staff not to bombard you with them after the Monday post has gone up. Consitency is VERY important and if we keep changing the goalposts that will make things difficult for you.

We will add extension work to the website. I would urge you to look at the 3 new menus on the Home page.

1st is 'Learning From Home' - "Learning Support".

In it you will find an animated video and accompanying story book which will help your child to understand 'coronavirus and us', I know that lots will be feeling frightened, this will reassure them a little.

2nd is 'Relax Kids' ( J Callan has given permission for us to use her resources)- Coordinated by Mrs Byrne. We would respectfully suggest that you invest a little time in the programme. New resources will be uploaded each week.

Within the 'Relax Kids' room we also have an 'Audio book' section- fabulous way to entertain your child.

3rd is 'A Message From Home'- we know that the children are missing each other, so feel free to email some photographs in with a little caption. Hopefully this will 'take off' however, feel no pressure- I know that you are doing so much.

The final thing I wish to ask is that you keep up the daily prayer that your children experienced in school. They made constant daily prayer requests for sick grannies, goldfish, baby cousins,, global disasters etc and we all loved that.

Today is the Feast day of the Annunciation- the day when the Angel Gabriel told Mary that she would become the Mother of Jesus. I urge you to share this with your children.

Take care everyone.

Mrs Monaghan.

General principles to follow to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses.

Wash your hands often, preferably with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Only use alcohol sanitiser if handwashing facilities are not available. This is particularly important after taking public transport. An alcohol-based hand sanitiser must contain at least 60% alcohol.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in a bin. This is very important. 

If you sneeze quickly or do not have a tissue use your sleeve/ corner of you arm.

• wash your hands:  

• before leaving home
• on arriving home 
• after using the toilet
• after sporting activities
• before food preparation before eating any food, including snacks 

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

If you are worried about symptoms please telephone your GP for advice. Do not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment, see further information on the Public Health Agency website.