Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope you are keeping well and safe. Our news this week is as follows

• As you are aware the level 5 lockdown will continue until 5^th March. Schools will continue to operate remotely. We do not know yet when schools will reopen but will let you know as soon as we are informed.
• Our parent/teacher meetings will take place over the next few weeks via phone. Your child’s teacher will contact you with a mutually convenient date and time. As always if you have any concern, query or worry please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher via email and they will reply as soon as possible to you.
• As a staff we would like to thank all parents/guardians for their help and support throughout this lockdown. We all know how difficult it is to support your child/children in the current circumstances but the level of engagement on seesaw across all class levels has been fantastic. Thank you to everyone for all their efforts.
• It was noted at our staff meeting this week that some pupils are not really engaging with their schoolwork on Fridays. This is more notable at the senior end. It is good to keep a routine going across the five days of the week including Friday. For pupils at the senior end it is important that good habits are established in order to prepare for secondary school.
• We still have some school laptops available if any family require them. Please email the office at office@tolasns.com and we are happy to lend them out to anyone who needs them.
• The link for tomorrow’s Cruinniu has gone out with this newsletter. It was lovely to see so many of our pupils every week. Last week we had 128 devices logged on. Tomorrow is our last school day in January 2021 so we hope to see as many of you as possible.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald. Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are well and keeping safe at this challenging time. We are all hoping that as community transmission rates of COVID 19 reduce we can all return to in person school as soon as possible. Our news this week is as follows

• Well done to Junior Infants who are working so hard at home. I had the pleasure of joining them for part of their Zoom link up yesterday and they were all able to say a lovely poem about a snowman. Well done Juniors. We also heard a lot of news and apparently the tooth fairy will be very busy soon as there are a lot of wobbly teeth in Juniors at the moment!
• All other classes are busy with Zoom link ups too. Just a reminder of what we expect re using zoom
• Sit on a chair and look at the screen
• Use a real name – we will not admit anyone who is using a nickname
• Mute your microphone until you are asked to speak
• Listen to whoever is speaking
• Don’t leave the screen or walk around
• Wear appropriate clothing – PJs are not suitable
• The pupils should be in a living area of the house – not a bedroom and an adult should be in the vicinity.

• We are all getting a bit more used to using seesaw (hopefully) this week. I have been added as a teacher to lots of classes and will be popping in every so often to look at the work. Watch out as I may like or comment on work submitted every so often. I have to say that lots of pupils are working so hard and are submitting excellent work. Keep it up!
•  I have noticed that some pupils are choosing what to do and leaving out some of the core subjects such as maths or English. It is important that pupils are engaging with activities across the curriculum. As a staff we have prioritised the core subjects along with wellbeing.  If for any reason your child is finding something difficult or cannot manage activities please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible via email to let them know. In the current circumstances staff will support you and your child as best we can so please let us know if there are any issues.
• I have included the zoom link up for Cruinniu (school assembly) with this email for tomorrow Friday 22^nd January at 10a.m. Last week we had 130 devices logged on and we got to see so many of our pupils. We are looking forward to seeing everybody again tomorrow.

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope you are all keeping well and safe in these difficult and challenging times. Our news this week is as follows

• Thank you to all staff members who came into school last week and earlier this week to organise books and materials for distribution to all pupils. Thank you to all parents/guardians who collected the books on Tuesday last. It was lovely to see so many of you and we all hope we can return to school as normal in the near future.
• Congratulations to Ms. Clare Fitzsimons who has been appointed Deputy Principal of St. Tola’s N.S. Clare has been a dedicated, committed and enthusiastic teacher in St Tola’s since she joined the staff in 2009. I have no doubt but she will bring the same commitment to the role of Deputy Principal. I look forward to working even more closely with Clare in the coming years and I wish her every success.
• Well done to everyone on a great start to remote learning this week. We understand that every family’s circumstances are different. If you are experiencing any difficulties or challenges with any learning activities please contact us as soon as possible. You can contact your class teacher via their own dedicated email or through seesaw.  You can contact the school via office@tolasns.com The office will not be staffed next week as we are all required under Level 5 restrictions to work from home where possible. The phone will be checked regularly but this may not be daily. Email is the preferred option for contacting us. If you do ring please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as we can. Please remember that this is a stressful time for everyone and we do not want schoolwork to be adding to your stress. Please contact us if we can help in any way.
• We have organised regular weekly check ins with each class via Zoom. The schedule for these check ins is as follows

Junior Infants – Wednesdays 11a.m.

Senior Infants – Wednesdays 12p.m.

1^st Class – Thursdays 11a.m.

2^nd Class – Thursdays 2p.m.

3^rd Class – Thursdays 12p.m (both 3^rd classes)

4^th Class – Wednesdays 1p.m.

5^th Class – Thursdays 1p.m.

6^th Class – Fridays 11a.m.

Whole school Cruinniu (assembly) – Fridays 10a.m.

Please find attached guidelines for ALL pupils and parents when using Zoom for class or school linkups.

I hope you all stay safe over the next week.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal