Corona Virus Update

Dear Parents,

The Minister of Education has issued a letter stating that schools will close to pupils at the end of the school day on Friday 20 March in response to Covid-19. The aim of closing schools to pupils was taken to reduce the number of children in schools to enhance the effectiveness of our response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

During this time the staff of St Mary’s will continue to facilitate those children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and who would otherwise have no option but to stay at home to ensure safe supervision of their children.

The school needs to identify any families who believe that they meet the key worker criteria and need their children to be considered for a place.

We ask that only single parents who are key workers or families where both parents are key workers and must work during school hours and have no other means of childcare avail of this facility.

Key workers are those who are maintaining essential public services during the Covid-19 response as outlined below.

• Health and Social Care. This includes doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, home carers and staff required to maintain our health and social care sector.

• Education and childcare. This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who will remain active during the Covid-19 response.

• Public safety and national security. This includes civilians and officers in the police (including key contractors), Fire and Rescue Service, prison service and other national security roles.

• Transport. This will include those keeping air, water, road and rail transport modes operating during the Covid-19 response.

• Utilities and Communication. This includes staff needed for oil, gas, electricity and water (including sewage) and primary industry supplies, to continue during the Covid-19 response, as well as key staff in telecommunications, post and delivery, services and waste disposal.

• Food and other necessary goods. This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution and sale, as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (e.g hygiene, medical etc)

• Other workers essential to delivering key public services.

• Key national and local government including those administrative.

There will be limitations to the number of pupils that any school can accommodate while maintaining, appropriate staff levels and self-isolation protocols and places cannot be guaranteed.

Current advice is that the safest place for your child is at home where their contact with other children or adults who may be carriers of the Covid-19 virus is limited.

It is impossible to assess at this stage what the exact demand will be in relation to the number of key worker children who will need to attend school. The Department of Education will monitor the situation closely, working with schools and other providers over the course of next week and to help make further decisions around staffing and other requirements moving forward.

Any parent who wishes that their children be considered please contact the school using umcalinden469@c2ken.net

Please provide the following information.
Child’s Name

Key worker details
Parent 1
Occupation
Address of workplace
Emergency Contact Number

Parent 2
Occupation
Address of workplace
Emergency Contact Number

We cannot confirm that school dinners will be available on Monday.

There will be limitations to the number of pupils that any school can accommodate while maintaining, appropriate staff levels and self-isolation protocols and places cannot be guaranteed.

Current advice is that the safest place for your child is ah home where their contact with other children or adults who may be carriers of the Covid-19 virus is limited.

It is impossible to assess at this stage what the exact demand will be in relation to the number of key worker children who will need to attend school. The Department of Education will monitor the situation closely, working with schools and other providers over the course of next week and to help make further decisions around staffing and other requirements moving forward.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Una Mc Alinden