Displaying 2021-2030 of 3798 results.
Message for 1st year parents;
Created : 27 Aug 2020, 12:17 AM
Archived : 27 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 27 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Message to Parents of 1st years
Your sons will be coming into school on Friday 28th August, for a 9am start. He should wear his uniform and black shoes. He doesn’t need to bring any books, any iPad, or schoolbag.
He does need to bring a pen, and €30 in an envelope with his name on it which will pay for his locker, his Homework Journal and his Wellbeing Journal. If you have paid for this online (on the App) that is perfect. But he won’t get the locker etc. until he has paid in either cash or online.
The first thing he will do is have an assembly in our GPA. We have fitted Perspex dividers on all our lunch tables which separate the 4 students who sit there from each other. I am including a photo of what this area looks, like for your information.
Your son will receive his timetable, his HW Journal, his locker and the locker combination. He will get help from his Meitheal Leader in how to use his lock and probably be allowed to take it home for the weekend, so he can practice.
Anything he needs to write down, he can write in his HW Journal. His Timetable will be printed out and given to him. The Induction he has done, and the IT training he has had earlier in this week will help him know a good deal of what he has to know.
He will be told what to bring in on Monday. I can tell you now that he should bring his books OR his iPad in on Monday. If he is using the iPad, he can leave the text books at home. Do bring a hardback copy. The most any student using just textbooks will need is their textbook and a hardback copy on Monday, per subject. We have 1-hour classes and he will only have 4 classes, at most. for any day next week.
The 1st years have all received a minimum of 2 hours IT training. He has the login to any school computer. He knows his school email, password, can log into Microsoft 365 and use Teams for his classes. No doubt, he has also forgotten a lot since Tuesday as well. When he did the training on Tuesday, he was told where to find the short videos which showed him again how to do lots of things on his Microsoft account. These videos are also for you to view if you want to learn about Microsoft Apps, and Teams in particular. Please do. Our teachers have prepared these short videos over the summer to give you the option to keep up with your sons.
Every day next week (Aug 31st – Sept 4th) will be a half day. Your sons will attend all 5 days. They need to become familiar with the building, with their teachers and subjects before everyone else happens. We all need that time and space in the school building to learn the new practices without all 800 students and 80 staff in at the same time.
The teachers will be attending IT workshops every afternoon to upskill on the Microsoft Apps and the best ways to create and share subject content with their students. Photocopies are not allowed this year. This is a national policy. All notes and subject information must be in digital format. Teachers are learning to make the change from paper to digital and all that goes with that in the coming week. We are so lucky to have so many teachers who have put their time into upskilling themselves and to putting their time into creating these videos, putting on workshops for the students and the other teachers, and moving St Mary’s CBS well ahead of many schools in the country, IT wise.
What does he bring next Monday morning? He will have his Timetable. Just bring the textbooks for the 4 subjects that morning. I suggest not bringing the workbooks. One small copy may be enough to take down notes about what he will need the next time he meets that teacher. This is possibly the first time he doesn’t have science, religion or maths every day, as he had in primary school. Each day is different. On Tuesday, he will be more clued in, the teachers will be getting down to more class work and he will start to know what he has to do himself.
How is the CBS prepared for the ‘new normal’ of school?
• The hand sanitizer dispensers are installed in every classroom and throughout the corridors of the school.
• The General Purpose Area or GPA as we call it, has very sturdy Perspex screens on each table which divide it into 4 individual spaces (see photo).
• Your son has a locker of his own, but they are separated into small sections and can easily be socially distanced so they take turns and stay out of each other’s way.
• All 49 square metre classrooms have a max of 24 desks arranged so each student is no less than 1m away from the next student
• There is tape on the floors to remind all where each chair and table should be, to maintain the 1m distancing
• The teachers are prepared for a situation where they may have more than 24 in a class and how they must organize a rota of students who take turns being sent to the Library, where they will use their own earphones to follow their own teacher’s class on either their own iPad, a school iPad or their phone if there is a shortage of iPads. The teacher they should be with will be live streaming his/her class to them in the school and they will be part of the delivery of files, assignments and hear what was being taught in the base classroom. As it is a rota system, this should only be occasionally when your son may be in an overflow class.
• We are maximizing the use of all classrooms which are larger than 49 m2. We have 6 of these. The classes which are up to 30 students will get priority use of these. We are not assigning a class to a room for 6 classes in a row. Can you imagine lads, not leaving or walking for up to 6 hours a day?No, we all know the 5th and 6th years have 6 totally individual timetables. The 1st years are the only ones who remain in any classes. Please bear with us while we tweak and adjust the classes/rooms/teachers on the main timetable to arrive at the best outcome.
Your son’s lunch space may be designated to the corridors. We have divided the timetable into two grids – the 1st, 2nd and 6th share the same morning break and lunch break. That is so the 6th year Meitheal students can support the 1st year students during their ‘breaks’. The earlier break of 10am and lunch of 12.15 is for the 3rd, TY and 5th years.
We ordered 120 tablet chairs in June and have received some of these last week. These chairs have a small table for the student to put their lunch on, while eating. We have another 120 on order which will arrive - when they arrive – bear in mind all schools ordered everything around the same time. We want our students to have a table or surface to eat their lunch on, and we apologise for any delay in providing this. All we can do is await delivery.
We have 800 students. Approximately 400 have the early break and lunch (10am and 12.15) and the other 400 have the original break and lunch ( 11am and 1.15). We have 3 main student areas plus the corridors. All socially distanced. In the corridors, there are markers taped to the floor which mark the 1 m distance which is meant to show students where their chair should be kept. In the other break areas, there are longer tables with Perspex screens which divide the 2 student’s air space from each other’s . And the correct number of people in the room, proportionate to the square metres of the room. The GPA has, as you can see from the photos, very robust screens which divide large tables into just 4 student spaces.
Please encourage your son not to touch any of the screens. These are the surfaces which hold the air particles which could contain the virus. While these will be cleaned systematically each day, nobody needs to touch them at all. Please tell your son this. We have arranged for all tooms to be opened by Sodexo at 8 am. All students will go straight to the classroom they need to be in at 9am - on best behaviour.
Sanitisers, social distancing, Perspex screens, best cleaning practices – all of these will be in place when your son begins school on Friday. There are so many small details which ourselves and Sodexo, our Facility Management Company, have met and discussed in the last few weeks to make St Mary’s CBS as safe an environment as is possible to create for our students.
There is an element of personal responsibility, which I ask all parents to speak with their sons about. There are rules we never had before which we all have to follow. Please make them realise this.
All students must come to school with a mask to wear before they enter. If they haven’t a mask, they can purchase one at the office for €1. If they haven’t the euro, have no mask, and the office will ring you. If the student has no mask, he will not be allowed to attend class. He will be sent home. Everyone knows this in advance. You know it. It is your responsibility to be sure your son has just 1 mask with him as he leaves the house for school. Imagine if we gave a mask to everyone who forgot it, we would be giving out hundreds of masks per week. And no personal responsibility would be happening. That would be bad education. We must teach and set the good example of personal responsibility.
We ask all parents to ensure their son is prepared before sending him into school. Thank you.
FAO Transition Year Students - Future Leaders Programme
Created : 26 Aug 2020, 3:24 PM
Archived : 26 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 26 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Information regarding the Future Leaders Programme
The “Future Leaders Transition Year Programme” is a joint initiative from the GAA and the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST). It is a cross-curricular programme comprising of a series of modules designed to encourage maturity, initiative, responsibility and leadership skills in pupils. The Programme gives pupils the knowledge and skills to support all roles required in the effective staging of Gaelic Games.
Students will have the opportunity to complete modules in Performance Analysis, Nutrition, Sports Journalism, Coaching, Event Management and Sports Administration. At the end of each module you must complete a task in order to pass the module, each completed task will then go towards your Future Leaders certificate at the end of the year. There is also an e-Portfolio section to be completed with personal reflections.
The programme was a huge success in the school last year and as well as receiving individual awards in St Mary’s CBS, we also had a winner at a national level as Dee O’Brien won the overall Sports Journalism award for the Commentary competition.
This initiative provides a unique and creative learning pathway for young people to acquire skills which are both sports related and transferable not only across the TY curriculum, but beyond it.
Any student who wishes to apply for the Future Leaders programme this year must email
Mr Cahillane pcahillane@portlaoisecbs.com
or
Ms Hyland nhyland@portlaoisecbs.com by Friday 1.15pm.
In your email you must state why you want to take part in the Future Leaders course and why you feel you would benefit from engaging in it. (at least 200 words).
Finally, we would like to stress that this is not simply a GAA course, rather it is a Leadership course in a GAA context and a fantastic opportunity for any Transition Year student.
Regards
Paul Cahillane
ICT Co Ordinator
DojoMór-online coding fun-day for young people aged 7 – 17.
Created : 21 Oct 2020, 10:55 PM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 1:00 AM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 1:00 AM
DojoMór is HEA-funded, nationwide, online coding fun-day for young people aged 7 – 17. Multiple workshops will be hosted from 9 locations around the country this Saturday morning. The workshops will deliver fun coding activities like programming a micro-chip, coding a virtual robot, building a software app, making music, building a website, and creating games.
Attached is more information. If you could circulate the information about this event within the school network that would be great and maybe we can get a few more sign-ups!
This virtual event starts at 10am on Saturday 24th October. There are currently over 4500 registrations from around the country and bookings can be made up until midnight this Friday at www.dojomor.ie.
Workshops include:
Scratch – Create games and animations
Lightbot – Programming made easy
Thunkable – Building a software app
Vex Robotics – Programming a robot
Micro:bit – Coding a micro-chip
HTML – Building a website with code
Soundtrap – Making music
Blender – 3D Virtual Modelling
The event is supported by Cork Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Tralee, Calmast Waterford Institute of Technology, Maynooth University, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology, Offaly County Council and is funded by the Higher Education Authority of Ireland. Any and all support is appreciated.
Best Regards,
Jonathan Comerford
jonathan.comerford@cit.ie
DojoMór Project Cork Institute of Technology
www.dojomor.ie
Register Here
Information from HSE for Parents
Created : 25 Aug 2020, 6:14 PM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Letter from Minister to Principals - this letter contains useful links for all parents
Created : 25 Aug 2020, 6:01 PM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
There are several links contained in the attached letter which include translations of resources in many languages. There is also info for supporting children, fliers for parents, and age appropriate videos for children and young people.
Pdf-1
Pdf-1
The Minister for Education-Advice Leaflet for Parents
Created : 25 Aug 2020, 5:54 PM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
1st Year Book Rental for Collection
Created : 24 Aug 2020, 8:29 PM
Archived : 24 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 24 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Please come to collect your son’s books if you have applied and fully paid for his 1st year books. School is open between 9-4. If this is not suitable to some people, please ring the office and we can arrange some other way. They must be taken home by Friday 1.15. Thank you.
Reminder 1st year Book Rental Collection Today
Created : 24 Aug 2020, 8:30 AM
Archived : 24 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 24 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
1st Students and parents should collect their Book Rental bundles in the school at 1pm on Monday 24th August - as they are leaving the Induction. You are advised to bring a bag. Thank you.
Updated Reminder to 1st Year Parents - The Plan for this week
Created : 19 Aug 2020, 8:11 AM
Archived : 23 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 23 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Tomorrow, Monday 24th August, all 1st years will have their Induction Morning. They should be in school for 10am, wear their own clothes, and bring a snack/drink for break. No books, no iPads, no pens. But they must wear a mask. They will be in school until 1pm. Social distancing will be maintained, sanitisers will be available around the school and the lads will get an early start on how our school runs when they have it all to themselves.
The Meitheal Leaders are ten 6th years who have completed Meitheal training. They will spend the morning showing them the school, explaining how things work and having some fun along the way. The aim is to meet their new classmates, begin to get to know their Meitheal Leaders and get a preview of what our school is like. Their Year Head, Mr O'Laoire will meet them as well as a few other teachers who will be working with them in the coming years. We always look forward to this day every year - to meet with our new students and welcome them to St Mary's CBS. We hope they have a great day.
On Tuesday, 25th August, again, all 1st years will be in school from 9 am to 12.30pm. This is for the start of their IT training. It doesn't matter if a student has a school iPad or not. All students get a school email, Microsoft 365 account with all its apps and a login to the school IT system, so they can sign in on a school PC. All students will receive the same IT training from 9-11 from 6 of our teachers. Again, they will be in groups of 24, in classrooms where they can socially distance and must wear their masks. This training finishes at 11am. Those who will not be using the school iPad of their own will leave at 11am.
The students with their own school iPads will take a break from 11 to 11.15 and then begin an extra training, again with these 6 teachers. This group should bring a drink and a snack for that break if they wish. This session will end at 12.30.
If you have ordered a school iPad from Wriggle but haven't received it by next Tuesday, please ring the school office on Monday by 1pm and let us know. We will provide an iPad to your son for the 11.15 session so that he can benefit from that training.
We hope that everyone can attend. If your son is unable to attend please ring the school office to let us know.
Our Incoming Parent’s Evening, which was meant to take place on Tues 1st September, will not be an in-school event, due to social distancing restrictions. Instead, I will post a video on this App and on our website in which I will go through the same presentation and answer the questions which parents usually have on this night. I hope to have this up by Wednesday 26th.
The 1st years will not be in school on Wed 26th or Thurs 27th. These are two days for Teacher Training, Meetings and Planning. The 1st years will return on Friday 28th August, for their first real school day – in full uniform. They should bring with them an envelope with their name on it and €30 inside for their locker, Homework Journal and the Wellbeing Journal. Preferably, you can pay this online, to avoid the use of cash. They will be assigned their locker, be given their HW Journal on this morning and the Meitheal leaders will be with them throughout the morning. Fridays always end at 1.15. The Wellbeing Journal will be distributed later on in September.
For the week August 31st to September 4th, they will attend every day from 9-1.15. While other class groups will attend on only 2 days of that week, and the 6th years every day, we want the 1st years to become used to the school when it is still only half full. In case there is a shut down or something unforeseen happens suddenly, it is so important for this class group to feel they know the school, the teachers and feel they belong to St Mary’s CBS. Their primary school experience ended on the edge of a cliff and they suddenly lost their whole school identity. The only way we can create the new school identity is to give them a calmer start, every day, over the next 2 weeks. Become embedded. We need to get to know them as well!
Full classes 9-4 for the entire student body will begin from Mon Sept 7th. We hope and pray that all goes well and there are no further interruptions to the education of our students in the coming school year.
Their IT training will also continue during this week, in their timetabled classes, through the use of prepared videos which several of our teachers have created for them. They will be also able to view these same videos at home (as you will), to support their IT training, as required.
I hope that we have covered all bases in informing you and your sons of what starting school in St Mary’s CBS will be like. But this year is like no other. I am so aware these lads haven’t been in school since March. Routine is going to be a change. New practices for keeping safe will seem strange. But they will be strange for all year groups. We will do our best to keep them safe, follow all Covid Guidelines, encourage good practices and get used to the new normal.
Please note:
An extra clarification we have received from the Department of Education is that there is no reason to reduce the wearing of uniforms, based on the medical advice. So although we did suggest we would have Wednesdays as wear your own clothes day, this will not be the case. All 5 days are full uniform days.
Looking forward to meeting all our new students tomorrow. Till then, take care, Maura Murphy
We announce our 2 First Year Scholarship Winners
Created : 21 Aug 2020, 8:00 PM
Archived : 21 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Archived : 21 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
We are delighted to announce the two winners of our First Year Scholarship this evening. Jack Fennell of Scoil Bhride NS and Ciaran Donaghue of Emo NS both excelled in the double criterion for excellence - both in Sporting Achievements/Participation and in the Scholarship Examination they sat earlier this week.
There was strong competition from several other candidates, and we want to thank all of the applicants, their parents/guardians, their principals and sports coaches for the references and the reports they submitted on behalf of these students.
This year we increased the scholarships awarded from one to two as a response to the very high calibre of the students applying to and enrolling in St Mary's CBS. We look forward now to the next group of students to follow this lead in September 2021.
Each Scholarship presents the winner with a full school uniform from Shaws in additional to a 32GB iPad /ebooks along with a set of the printed books. We wish Jack and Ciaran and all of their classmates a good start this Monday when they have Induction Day. Well done lads!
