School Update

Dear Parents & Students,

I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful Christmas holidays and wish you all a very happy new year!

Prior to the holidays, I’m sure none of us envisaged such dramatic rises in COVID 19 numbers over the short Christmas period. As of Wednesday 6th January, the government announced that school buildings will now remain closed until Friday 29th of January except for 6th Yr students and students attending special classes, who were set to attend school from next week. Whilst we had commenced planning to welcome these students back in as safe a manner as possible, Wednesdays’ announcement by the minister for education sparked much debate and concern nationally, resulting in a reverse of the decision tonight. Provision for all students will now be through online learning for the coming weeks.

Should the trajectory of the virus improve over the coming weeks, it is possible that we may see a return to the plan to see a phased reopening of schools, with priority once again given to exam students. The planning we have carried out over recent days will ensure we are well placed to implement any such return swiftly.

In light of tonight’s changes, we have now rescheduled a staff planning meeting for Monday so that the latest arrangements can be effectively communicated to staff. This means that online tuition to all groups will commence on Tuesday 12th next week.

I want to assure all that Coláiste Staff have participated in a significant amount of professional development and planning in relation to online learning since our last lock down in spring 2020. This should facilitate a more streamlined approach with all teachers and students now familiar with the use of Microsoft Teams to engage online. Teachers are already planning lessons and online resources. Indeed, a number of 6th yr classes already participated in online classes over the past few days.

While this more streamlined approach will help, it is still extremely important that we all appreciate that there is no one model of online tuition that suits all individuals and households perfectly. There are a multitude of complexities which must be taken into account by teachers when planning online engagement and how best to reach all students. For example, while some might presume that live online lessons are always the best way to go, this may not be possible as a significant number of students in a group may not be in a position to access those classes for a variety of reasons ie. others in the house may be working from home and internet may not support multiple devices, some households do not have wifi, lack of suitable devices etc. This is just one example but hopefully it gives some insight into how complicated the issue can be.

With this in mind teachers will try to ensure a blend of different approaches such as recorded demonstrations, voiceover on powerpoints, live lessons, setting assignments etc.  Some level of live contact will be maintained by teachers every week as it is important for teachers to speak with students to see what is working/ not working and to maintain student engagement etc. Where possible, any live classes or contact will be scheduled on a day and time that the class is normally timetabled with that teacher so that live sessions across various subjects do not clash.  

Over the past few days, a number of queries have already come in about State Examinations. This closure of schools is envisaged for three weeks until the end of January. After this period, we hope to have all students back into school on a full-time basis. As is evident from recent announcements and the prioritising of 6th yr students, the government is adamant that exams will go ahead and I am extremely confident that this will be the case.

Like everyone, schools are being guided by public announcements and we do not get information any earlier than the general public. We will ensure we bring any new developments to your attention via text and social media as soon as we become aware.

This is an extremely difficult time for everyone, but I assure you that the staff of the Coláiste are working hard to try to ensure as high a level of continuity as possible. If you have concerns or queries over the coming days and weeks, please contact us via email at admin@buttevantcolaiste.ie and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Take care & kind regards,

Donal O’ Sullivan (Principal)