Thursday 28th May 2020 – Message from Mr Luke Kilcoyne
Next week is Wellness Week. Your child’s teacher will email you all the details. A padlet of proposed activities has been created and can be viewed here:
https://padlet.com/sarahtkeogh/co4dfj97mg36ku6h
We hope pupils and family members will enjoy a variety of activities designed to encourage us all to look after our wellbeing.
Kind Regards
Luke Kilcoyne
Friday 22nd May 2020 – Message from Mr Luke Kilcoyne
Dear pupils, parents and guardians,
Thank you to all of our pupils for continuing with learning at home during the last week. Teachers tell me that pupils are all doing really well. We are all very proud of our pupils for their engagement with this school work. We thank all parents and guardians for their continued cooperation and support during the school closure.
End of year School Reports
Teachers will soon begin preparing end of year School Report Cards. These reports will be forwarded to parents in mid June. This will allow time to enable parents to discuss the content of the report with their child’s current teacher should they wish to do so. The Department of Education and Skills confirmed on 27 April 2020 that standardised testing was cancelled this year. Therefore, this section of the report card will be left blank. Teachers will report on these four areas: your child as a learner, your child’s personal and social development, your child’s progress with learning in curriculum areas or subjects and the next steps in your child’s learning, including ways for parents to help.
Work for next week
Work for next week will be emailed to you today. Next week is a 4 day week as no work is scheduled for next Friday, 29th May. That day was planned as a school closure because it runs into the June Bank Holiday weekend.
The following week, beginning 1st June, has been set aside as Wellness Week. Next Thursday teachers will email you a host of fun activities to promote healthy eating, physical exercise & mindfulness during that week. It will provide all families with the opportunity to take a break from school work and to concentrate on staying healthy and well.
Kind regards,
Mr Luke Kilcoyne.
Friday 15th May 2020 – Message from Mr Luke Kilcoyne
Dear pupils, parents and guardians,
I hope you all had a good week and that you are all keeping safe and well.
I hope all the girls and boys are continuing to be good for their mams and dads and that children are helping out around the house and doing their chores. All this time spent at home presents an opportunity for children to learn some skills at home that they can use for the rest of their lives. By giving your child jobs to do around the house like feeding pets and sweeping the floor, you are sending them an important message: that they are a contributing and important member of your family. Giving your child chores to do has a number of benefits, not only to your household but to your child’s personal development. When children do chores, they sense that they are contributing something important to the family and it builds their self esteem. This link may be useful:
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/chores/the-ultimate-list-of-age-appropriate-chores/#gs.6l17bk
Thank you to Fr Gillespie
A sincere thank you to Fr Gillespie for his beautiful prayer service last Saturday to mark what should have been First Holy Communion Day for our 2nd class pupils. The service brought our Communion children and their families together in a special way. The service can still be accessed by going to to http://www.churchservices.tv/letterkenny, choose the “Featured Videos” tab at the bottom of the page, and click on S. N. Fiachra, Illistrin: First Holy Communion
Parents Association Facebook Page
Our Parents’ Association Committee continue to update their Facebook page on a regular basis with great tips for parents during the school closure. Check Illistrin PA on Facebook for their latest updates.
Work for week beginning 18th May 2020
Work for the week beginning 18th May will be emailed to you by your child’s teacher/s before 5.00p.m. on Friday 15th May. We encourage you to make every effort to maintain a daily routine at home that includes time for school work, fun activities and physical exercise, while at all times adhering to Government restrictions and guidelines.
RTE’s Home School Hub
RTE continue to broadcast the Home School Hub on RTE 2, Monday to Friday from 11.00 to 12.00. It is aimed at pupils from 1st class to 6th class. Pupils could include watching it as part of their daily routine.
Best wishes to all pupils, parents and guardians,
Mr Luke Kilcoyne,
Principal Teacher.
15th May 2020.
Friday 8th May 2020 – Message from Mr Luke Kilcoyne
Dear pupils, parents and guardians,
School Closure
The Government’s roadmap to ease COVID-19 restrictions and reopen Ireland’s economy and society was published late last Friday evening. It is available to read here: https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/e5e599-government-publishes-roadmap-to-ease-covid-19-restrictions-and-reope/
The roadmap makes it clear that schools will remain closed for pupils for the rest of this school year.
Phase 5 of the plan allows for the “opening of primary schools, on a phased basis, commencing at the beginning of the academic year 2020/2021.” In reality, there is still a high degree of uncertainty regarding the reopening of schools and we await further instructions and guidance from the Department of Education over the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, teachers will continue to provide weekly work for pupils up to the date of the school summer holidays – Friday 26th June and they will be available via email to you up to that date.
Message to 6th Class pupils and parents
The final term in primary school is always marked in so many different and special ways. Unfortunately, our 6th pupils will not have the opportunity to experience their final school tour, celebrate prize giving, organise and host their fundraiser and enjoy their last Sports Day. No doubt they were also hatching some other plans to mark the end of their 8 years in Illistrin! We are very saddened that you, and we, will not be able to say “Farewell to the Class of 2020 ” in the usual way in school.
However, we will not be letting the current difficult circumstances prevent us from marking your graduation from the school and celebrating the great young people you have become during your time in Scoil Naomh Fiachra. You have all made amazing progress over the years and the whole school community is really proud of you. We are working on plans to ensure that the end of your 8 years is acknowledged and celebrated despite being apart. More details will be emailed to you by your teachers in a few weeks!
Holy Communion 2020
Saturday 9th May should have been the day our second class pupils celebrated their First Holy Communion. Circumstances do not allow for this to happen but we feel it is important that the day is marked in a special way. Fr Gillespie has prepared a video to mark the day and to encourage Communion pupils and their families to all join together in prayer at the same time in their own homes. Here is Fr Gillespie’s message:
Message from Fr Kevin Gillespie
To mark what should have been your child’s First Holy Communion day, I have prepared a short video which you can use to gather as a family on Saturday. This video is short, and will conclude with a blessing of your child and family with the Most Blessed Sacrament.
The video can be accessed on Saturday from 11am as follows: go to http://www.churchservices.tv/letterkenny, choose the “Featured Videos” tab at the bottom of the page, and click on S. N. Fiachra, Illistrin: First Holy Communion. You are encouraged to think of ways in which you can pray as a family at 11am on Saturday, using the simple prayers the children know, and to mark this day with them. Bringing all the pupils and their families to pray at the same time, even though you are all in different locations, is a special way to mark what should have been Communion Day. We all look forward to the day your children will receive Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
I hope you all have a lovely day, despite the circumstances.
Fr Kevin Gillespie.
Work for week beginning 11th May 2020
Work for the week beginning 11th May will be emailed to you by your child’s teacher/s before 5.00p.m. on Friday 8th May. We encourage you to make every effort to maintain a daily routine at home that includes time for school work, fun activities and physical exercise, while at all times adhering to Government restrictions and guidelines.
NEPS advice & resources for keeping children and young people well during Covid-19
The Department of Education and Skills’ NEPS psychologists have developed advice and some resources for children and their families to manage and stay well when schools are closed. All of their advice is available at this link: https://www.education.ie/covid19/wellbeing/ The link has some short video clips containing sound and sensible advice for parents and pupils.
I continue to be available at illistrinoffice@gmail.com if you have any concerns or queries.
I hope you are all staying safe and well.
Kind regards,
Mr Luke Kilcoyne.
A Message to all ‘Our Dearly Beloved Students’ during Covid 19
Friday 1st May 2020 – Message from Mr Luke Kilcoyne
Dear pupils, parents and guardians,
Thank you to everyone for your engagement with work provided by teachers during the week. “Home Schooling” is new to all of us and presents many challenges. We fully understand that many parents are under pressure with work, seeing to the needs of cocooners, looking after children and also trying to help our pupils with some school work. Please continue to do whatever you can and be assured that whenever school reopens plenty of time will be set aside for revision of any work missed during the closure.
Work for week beginning 5th May
Work for the week beginning 5th May will be emailed to you by your child’s teacher/s before 5.00p.m. on Friday 1st May. We will no longer be posting work to our website. Emailing the work will ensure links open more easily for parents and pupils and will allow teachers to send worksheets as attachments where appropriate. Please note that as Monday is a Bank Holiday, work has been provided for Tuesday to Friday.
Parents’ Association Facebook Page
Please check our Parents’ Association Facebook page (Illistrin PA) for great tips on staying fit and active during the school closure. This year Active School Week was replaced by Active Home Week and during the week the facebook page showed simple ways to keep fit and healthy. School staff are also keeping fit and active during the school closure and a video of their various activities will soon be released! Keep an eye on the website and facebook page for the video.
International Week
The work displayed in our International Week video was fantastic. Thank you to pupils and parents for sending in the work and to school staff for coming up with the idea and putting it together. It was an amazing celebration of our diverse and wonderful school community.
Bank Holiday
I hope all pupils, parents and guardians enjoy the Bank Holiday Weekend as best they can in the circumstances. Please take a break from Home Schooling and try to enjoy some fun family activities while still observing the current restrictions.
Stay Safe,
Mr Luke Kilcoyne
Principal Teacher
1st May 2020
