Letter for parents and students 23/3/20

23/3/2020

Dear Parents,

First and foremost, I hope you and your families are all well. I am greatly missing the children in the class and would be grateful if you could show them the message below. It’s a strange and frightening time for us all and I want to stress that what is important right now is that the children are happy, safe and calm. I know it is great for them to be busy and I know they like to be active and to be using those clever minds during the day. BUT this is a very difficult time for parents. There is a lot to think about, a lot to organise, a lot to adjust to and a lot to take in. You are not expected to become a primary school teacher overnight!! All of the children are in the same boat. They are all missing school and when they come back they will all start from the same place. Please do not worry about what they are missing. So much of the learning that takes place in a primary school is through talk, play, reading and observing the world around them. They can learn so much from you that will benefit them for years to come! They can learn to bake, to sew, to draw, to play cards, to tie their laces… the list goes on! These life lessons and spending time with their families will have countless benefits for them. So please feel under no pressure to ‘teach’ them academic lessons. I am giving a list of activities, both academic and non-academic, but these are only to be used if you need ideas or to help you and your child come up with ideas together. This is not a to-do list! Please also see www.scmj.ie for a list of free online resources available. 

I hope to see you all soon. Please feel free to contact me at bairbre.elwood@scmj.ie if you have any queries or indeed to share some of your child’s news/work with me! I’d love to hear from them.

All the best,

Bairbre Elwood
Dear Children,

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well. I REALLY miss you all and can’t wait to see you. I hope you are all having lots of fun at home. Remember to keep busy doing lots of different things like dancing, playing, reading, singing, drawing, exercising, making things and of course helping out at home! Computer games and TV can be fun but remember to do all the other fun things too. I am giving your parents some ideas for things you could do at home but the important thing is to do lots of different things every day. And remember to keep reading! I would love to hear from you so if you would like to, you can send me an email with a message or a picture of something you are doing at home. 

Slán,

Ms Elwood