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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
Resources for Home During School Closure
Parents should view the link from their child’s individual teacher for advice, tips and learning activities. This will be the most helpful resource to you in knowing how to support your child’s learning at home but there are also lots of wonderful free online resources available to parents which may further support you. Many of these resources are used regularly in our school and we have chosen the ones we feel are particularly useful and worth a look. Please also keep an eye on our Twitter feed where we are tweeting daily with ideas, tips and online activities. (Note: you don’t have to sign up to Twitter to view our feed.)
Tips:
- Here are some useful tips on helping young children to read: Click here to view.
- Here are some great tips for keeping children busy and getting them moving: Click here to view.
- Here are some tips on how to count with young children. Click here to view..
- Paula Conlan, who teaches Wellness Drama in the school, has kindly shared these videos for the children to view.
Free online resources available:
- Twinkl has offered free access to all parents for the upcoming month. This will allow parents unlimited access to every single resource for every subject. Go to www.twinkl.ie/offer and enter the code IRLTWINKLHELPS.
- Starfall: visit the website or download the app. Lots of games and stories to support the learning of phonics and reading. Particularly useful for Junior Infants to 1st Class.
- Teach Your Monster to Read: this is a highly recommended website and app which supports your child in learning to read.
- topmarks.co.uk: this website has lots of games and activities in all subjects and for all levels.
- gonoodle.com: this is a great website full of dances, exercises and physical activities. It is used in school on a daily basis to keep the children active.
- Worldbookonline: All students in the Republic of Ireland have open and free home access to World Book Online. World Book is a trusted encyclopedia containing thousands of informational articles with stunning illustrations, videos, interactive maps, research help, and activities.
- Grow in Love online program: This program is used to teach religion in school. There are stories, songs, videos and activities for each topic. Use these details to sign up: Email: trial@growinlove.ie, Password: growinlove
- Kildare Library and Arts online services offer a wide range of services including ebooks, eccomics and the Children’s Reading Corner.
- NCSE online resources: resources for children with special educational needs.
- Folens have given free access to all of their ebooks and resources. Go to folensonline.ie and enter Prim20 as the roll number. Planet Maths and Abair Liom are both used to support teaching in the school and this site will give access to all of the games, interactive resources and ebooks.
- CJ Fallon is offering free access to all of its online textbooks. Click on the year and subject to view titles.
- The Educational Company of Ireland are offering free access to all of their ebooks and digital resources. Use the login primaryedcobooks and the password edco2020.
- RNIB Bookshare: free online books and readers.
- Worldebook have made 3,000 ebooks and audiobooks available for children to access at home
- Kandle.ie will be regularly posting resources for key liturgical dates.
- Scoilnet.ie: resources and activities to support students and teachers for every subject.
Emergency School Closure
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I am confirming the school is closed tomorrow 13/03/20 and will reopen on 30/03/2020. I will update you of any further developments by text, email and the school website, www.scmj.ie
Over the next number of weeks please read to your children, listen to your children reading, keep them active and minimise screen time.
The online learning resource company, Twinkl, used regularly by teachers in our school, has offered free access to all parents for the upcoming month. This will allow parents unlimited access to every single resource for every single curriculum subject from junior infants to sixth class.
Setting this up is really easy to do – go to www.twinkl.ie/offer and enter the code IRLTWINKLHELPS.
I am also attaching an advice sheet from the Department of Education and Skills, offering advice to parents on how to reassure children during this worrying time.
On behalf of the staff, Board of Management and myself, I wish you and your family well for the coming weeks.
Le gach dea ghuí,
Caitlin O’Connor
Principal
Talking to children about Covid 19.
Seachtain na Gaeilge 2020
Scoil Mhuire Junior celebrates Seachtain na Gaeilge 2020 with a packed programme of Irish-based events and activities organised to encourage children to speak through the medium of Irish. Seachtain na Gaeilge is an
important fixture in the annual school calendar and runs from March 6th to March 13 and features artwork/flags on display, along with music, Irish dancing and traditional song-singing and storytelling. The First and Second classes will hijack the intercom for 5 minutes each day for Radió Scoil Mhuire and the entire school will turn green for Lá Glas on March 13th . Visiting artistes include Mark Redmond, the protegee of the late great Liam O’ Flynn who will give students a taste of the uileann pipes, Tales of Irish folkore with storyteller Helena Byrne as well as local musicians such as Maireád Carroll and Brid Leddy who are all kindly giving of their time as part of the festivities. A multicultural celebration will also take place on March 6th under the aegis of the Home School Commuity Liasion Scheme to celebrate cultural diversity within the school. “We are lucky to have our own very talented fiddle player and composer, Sandie Purcell to add to the fun “ said principal Caitlin O’ Connor, “At the heart of Seachtain na Gaeilge in Scoil Mhuire Junior is the sharing of ceol agus craic between classes which take place as part of the festivities and the encouragement given to young children to speak the cúpla focail at home and at school,” she added.
Internet Safety Talk for Parents
On Thursday 13th February, we will be welcoming Zeeko Ireland to the school to teach the children about Internet Safety. That evening at 7pm we invite ALL parents to attend a talk on Internet Safety.
This is not a topic that is only relevant to teenagers and older children. Young children spend time online using mobile phones, games, social media and online streaming. It is essential that your child is SAFE while doing so! We hope to teach the children good habits while they are young as well as inform parents about the real online dangers for young children and the reality of what they can be exposed to online. We strongly encourage all parents to attend!
