Displaying 2081-2090 of 3861 results.
Update of the 1st Week For All
Created : 02 Sep 2020, 7:10 PM
Archived : 02 Nov 2020, 12:00 AM
It's been a hectic week since the lads returned to school. As you can imagine, as with all Covid-19 planning in every workplace across the country, we are learning what will work, what needs review and change and what we need to do that we didn't realise before now! The 1st years have now had 6 half days in school and it’s paying off. They are a very well-mannered group of lads, and we can see that they are relaxing and becoming familiar with the building, the practices put in place for Covid-19 and learning how to cope with the lockers, locks, timetables, etc. The usual problems which first years cope with each year. Their Meitheal leaders are an important part of this continuing Induction and I’ll take this opportunity to thank them on behalf of students, parents and teachers. If anyone wishes a change of subject, they should email myself at mmurphy@portlaoisecbs.com with their son's name, class, the subject he wishes to leave and the one he wishes to join. If there is room in the class, I will do what I can and then update you as soon as I can. The 2nd years have their Introduction Day tomorrow. We will have an Assembly, explain all the new practices, give all their timetables, and they will go home at 1.15. They must bring 10 euros in an envelope with their name and class marked on the outside for their HW Journal, which they will receive in the morning. They must wear full uniform, black shoes, and bring their own drink/snack for their 11am break. There is no Rafters Canteen for purchasing anything. There are no buses at 1.15, except on Friday at 1.15 as usual. The 3rd years have had their Introduction Day in yesterday. Their timetables are similar to last year, subject wise. They will return on Friday and then Monday begin with full days and hopefully that will continue until May 2021. They listened attentively yesterday to the new practices and the importance of being responsible for their own Covid-19 etiquette. We ask you to remind them regularly that they have to do the social distancing themselves, not just expect others to stay 1m away from them. This morning, the 5th years began with their Assembly, and all the information, as above. I asked them to email me if there is a subject option change they would like or other issues they may have. If there is room in a class, and they have done it before in Junior Cert, the change can happen. If they haven’t done the basic JC version of the subject, it is not going to work for them. Our 6th years have 3 half days done and doing well. They are finding their way around the new type building, having some time to gain confidence in these new surroundings, so that they get a head start before the other 400 students arrive on Friday. We wish everyone in our school community a healthy, happy and productive year ahead. We are here if anyone wishes to contact us about anything relevant to your sons. Take care, MM I will put up a separate notification for the TY’s tomorrow or Friday.
Family & Guardian Guide to Microsoft Teams-where to find it
Created : 31 Aug 2020, 11:07 AM
Archived : 31 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
This excellent guide is aimed at helping parents/guardians learn how their students are learning on Microsoft Teams, how to sign in, how to save content, how to submit assignment, and much more. It is a very comprehensive guide for all. It is too big a file to upload to Notifications. It can be found by clicking on the 3 lines on top left of app, clicking on SCHOOL / SCHOOL CODE & POLICIES / scroll to the bottom of that list to FAMILY & GUARDIAN GUIDE TO MICROSOFT TEAMS. Click on that link and it will open for you. The Table of Contents will help you be selective in what you need or begin at the beginning and learn it from scratch.
Some PE clarifications for students & parents
Created : 28 Aug 2020, 4:48 PM
Archived : 28 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Due to latest recommendations, students will be allowed to wear their PE tracksuit into school on days they are participating in PE. Students must have a change of footwear and wet gear, as they will be outside whenever possible. Students should have a change of clothes in the unlikely event that they need to change cloths after PE, which may or may not be their school uniform.
Message for 1st year parents;
Created : 27 Aug 2020, 12:17 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
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
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
The attached information leaflet has been sent to schools this evening...

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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
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.

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The Minister for Education-Advice Leaflet for Parents
Created : 25 Aug 2020, 5:54 PM
Archived : 25 Oct 2020, 12:00 AM
Back to School Advice for Parents can be viewed on the attached PDF.

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1st Year Book Rental for Collection
Created : 24 Aug 2020, 8:29 PM
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.