A Thuismitheoir/Caomhnóir dhíl,
Tá súil agam go bhfuil gach éinne slán agus ag maireachtáil tríd an eigeandáil Náisúnta seo. Is é feidhm an litir seo ná chun an staid ina bhfuilimid faoi láthair a leagadh amach agus chun an plean a shoiléiriú don tréimhse éaginnte ós ár gcomhair.
A fortnight has now passed since the school closures were enforced along with a range of other measures to deal with the Covid19 crisis. This has been a very challenging few weeks for the whole country and we hope that students and their families are coping well with the challenges we are facing. Teachers and students have been working hard together to maintain academic progress despite not being in school. As a school we recognise some of the challenges students face when working from home. We acknowledge this and want to reassure students that all the work done will stand to them when we do return to school. There are videos on our website in case parents have not seen them yet with information on how some of the learning platforms work: https://gaelcholaistenamara.ie/Nuacht/Onenote-agus-Teams--Ag-roinnt-eolas-le-daltai-(Sharing-information-with-students)/5495/Index.html
We greatly value the work that is ongoing from not only an academic perspective but also from a well-being point of view as the work has provided structure to the days. We have also tried our best to provide assistance to students when it comes to all aspects of their well-being through regular contact and engagement. There is also a page on our website which we are updating that provides advice, encouragement and general guidelines to students on how to stay physically and mentally healthy at this time. The link to this page is here in case you have not seen it yet: https://gaelcholaistenamara.ie/Nuacht/Moltai-Follaine(Well-being-advice)/5632/Index.html
Undoubtedly while we are all doing our best there have been some teething problems along the way with our remote learning model and we are meeting regularly as a staff via Teams video calls to work through these difficulties as we come across them. Students have been very proactive in directly contacting their teachers to ask questions and so on and this is something that again will really stand to them as they develop into more independent, resourceful students. As always we encourage parents to contact the school by email if you have issues or problems you would like to address. – gcm@kwetb.ie
Going forward we want to layout our plans for the weeks ahead. As it stands schools are closed until April 20th at least and we await further confirmation of this in the coming weeks. Next week is the last normal school week before the Easter break. It is our intention to take a full break from our online or remote teaching and learning for the fortnight of the Easter holidays April 6th to 17th inclusive. I think this break is needed for both students and teachers to recharge after what has been a very challenging few weeks for us all. We hope we might then be able to return to school as normal but again we will await confirmation on that from the Department of Education and Government. In relation to the other advice and guidelines provided by the government:
It goes without saying that the school supports the measures that exist with regard to social distancing and we strongly encourage the whole school community to strictly adhere to these guidelines in an effort to ease the burden on our health service. We can all play our part.
The most important thing for us all is to support each other during this time and to live with the hope that we will be able to come through this crisis and return to our normal lives again in the not too distant future. The school community of Gaelcholáiste na Mara has always been a close knit one. This has helped us to deal with this unprecedented situation and will undoubtedly help us when we come out of it.
Tabhair aire agus bí slán- ‘Ar Scáth a chéile a mhairimid’.
Tony Ó Murchú
Príomhoide