Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Daily Update - Wednesday 18th March 2020

  Wed 18 Mar 2020

  Dear parent,

  As I have been trying to do each day this week, I want to check in with you all again to keep everyone informed of the situation in school and the general situation regarding the Coronavirus outbreak. Please read the following points carefully so that you have the most up to date information.

   

  WORK FOR CLOSURE

   

  Work is being sent home with children today (Wednesday). Parents of absent children are invited to collect work from the front entrance hall from 1.30pm. A few reminders regarding this work are worth mentioning again:

  • The work is designed as a two-week emergency pack in the event of a closure at very short notice. It should not be commenced until day one of an official closure.
  • If you have chosen to keep your child from school, please be aware that if you start the work earlier than an official closure, you may not have enough to keep going until plans are in place for term 3 (should we need them). You may have to supplement it with additional work from online resources (i.e. Twinkl, which is offering a free NI resource pack)
  • At this stage, no closure date has been announced. The best that we can do is to continue as normal and keep going until we are told that we can’t.

   

  NO SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED CASES OF CORONAVIRUS

   

  To date there have been no reports of suspected or confirmed Coronavirus cases amongst the children or staff at Gilnahirk Primary. A number of families (including at least one from Astoria Kindergarten) are following the most recent guidelines of 14-day self-isolation due to relatives exhibiting what may be Covid-19 symptoms, but no child or adult has shown symptoms while in the school building. Please be assured of openness and transparency on our part as a school in this regard. We will take no action that will endanger or risk the health of the children or staff.

   

  SCHOOL BOOKS RETURNED

   

  As part of our ongoing preparations for possible closure, you are asked to return all reading books belonging to school by Friday 20th March. If your child is currently attending and will be in attendance on Friday, simply send them in with your child. If your child is not in school, they can be left in the labelled boxes at the front entrance hall. You will accept that school budgets are extremely tight at the best of times, so your help in returning these valuable resources is greatly appreciated. Many thanks for this.

• Work Provision in the Event of Closure

  Tue 17 Mar 2020

  Dear parent,

  I trust you are well and holding fast in these difficult and worrying days. Life has continued as normally as possible over the last two days in school as we await further guidance and instruction from government and the Department of Education. We have, as yet, received no further guidance from the Department in relation to closure. Their silence on this issue is incredibly frustrating but we look to press on the best we can.

  The purpose of this correspondence is to update you on our plans for education provision in the event of closure.

  I think we all must accept that what we send home as a school can never replicate the school experience and all that comes with it, but you are strongly encouraged to follow the suggested timetables that will be sent out to you in due course.

   

  You will tomorrow receive a 2-week emergency pack of resources and worksheets. These were collated last week in the event of a sudden closure and will be enough to see the children through the two weeks up until Easter should schools close at the end of this week – let me reiterate, however, that no indication has been given that this will be the case. If your child is not in school on Wednesday, please collect the work pack from the relevant box in the front entrance hall.

   

  Looking ahead to term 3, it is envisaged that if schools are closed for part or all of the term, provision will be made via various online learning tools, including uploading of activities on to the school website and the use of Google classroom. Further information will be provided to you once this is ready to go – we want to ensure we have it right as a school before we put it out to you as parents. However, as has been mentioned, please use the work packs in the meantime to keep your children engaged in learning in the event of closure.

   

  Please continue to reassure your children.

  Again, I deeply appreciate your forbearance and patience in these uncertain times. We are plotting our way through unprecedented times and we can only do it if we all resolve to work together and be patient with each other.

   

  Please continue to reassure your children.

  The difficult task for us as adults and parents is to exude a calmness and normality to our children while being honest with them about how life will be very different for the next few weeks and months.

  Thank you again for everything and for your many kind words of encouragement that have been expressed to me personally over the last couple of days.

   

  I will, no doubt, have missed something as the situation evolves so quickly and unpredictably. In order to stay informed, please ensure you have downloaded ‘TheSchoolApp’ on to your phone/tablet and searched for Gilnahirk Primary. It has been brought to my attention that messages via the app do not always appear as notifications for some of you, so do open the app and go in to the messages section to ensure that you don’t miss the latest updates. You should also check in regularly to our Twitter feed (@GilnahirkP) for updates and keep a close eye on our website (www.gilnahirkps.org.uk).

  Please also ensure you have provided school with your most up to date email as we will also look to communicate with you this way very soon.

  Kind regards

  D Corbett

  Principal.

• Corona Virus Update

  Mon 16 Mar 2020

  Dear parent,

  As I wrote in yesterday’s correspondence, I am keen to ensure that the lines of communication between parents and school are regular and transparent and so I am writing to you again with a couple of other updates and issues that have arisen in discussions and phone calls with parents today.

   

  SCHOOL CLOSURE

  The most recent update provided this afternoon by the Department of Education through the Education Minister, Peter Weir, has reiterated that schools will most likely close but not yet. I understand that this causes so much uncertainty and that it leaves us all in a state of ‘limbo’ as we await what seems to be an inevitable decision to close schools. Please be assured again that we are having many discussions and making plans for what provision for the children’s education looks like in a protracted period of closure and this will be communicated to you in due course. Please see the next point for more detail.

   

  WORK PROVISION

  You may remember that teachers took time last week to put together two weeks’ worth of emergency work in the event of a sudden closure similar to that in the Republic of Ireland. These packs are being finalised and will be sent home on Wednesday. Please do not commence with the pack until a closure has been confirmed. If your child is not in school on Wednesday, packs will be left in the front entrance hall in boxes for collection (labelled in separate year groups). Provision for a longer period of closure has already been discussed but it is difficult to form any concrete plans for this until we know what length of closure we are dealing with. As always, we will communicate this clearly to you as and when we are in a position to do so.

   

  SCIENCE FAIR/SCIENTIFIC SUE

  As part of our attempt to reduce unnecessary footfall through the school, the P6 Science Fairs due to be held on Wednesday and Thursday have regrettably been cancelled. We are currently thinking through how we can continue with Scientific Sue’s visit on Friday without bringing the children to the hall in large groups, so unless I inform you otherwise, please send £1 with your child on Friday to cover the cost as originally planned.

   

  STAFF UPDATE

  Miss McFarlane (P2) is currently off school with an infection unrelated to Coronavirus and is not self-isolating. She hopes to be back in school by Wednesday, all being well.

   

  THANK YOU

  I want to once again express my gratitude to you as parents for your support and cooperation in these trying and difficult times. I do hope you feel reassured that we are trying to continue with life as normal in school and not get pulled in to the panic that we are witnessing in some quarters.