Holy Family N.S. Rathmore Co.Kerry P51 N290

Enrolment September 2021

Enrolment is now open for Holy Family NS for September 2021.

Please download an Enrolment Application Form and a Registration Form and return them to the school once you have completed them. 

You may also request to receive them by post by emailing: 

hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com

Please return completed forms by

 February 12th 2021.

Click Here to Download & Print Forms

Holy Family National School,

Rathmore, Co. Kerry.

ANNUAL ADMISSION NOTICE

In respect of admissions to the 2021/2022 school year

Admission Policy and Application Form

A copy of the school’s Admission Policy and the Application Form for Admission for the 2021/2022 school year is available as follows:

On request:   By emailing hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com 

Writing to:     Holy Family National School, Rathmore, Co. Kerry.

Download at: http://hfnsrathmorekerry.blogspot.com/

           PART 1 - Admissions to the 2021/2022 school year

Application and Decision Dates for admission to Holy Family National School

The following are the dates applicable for admission to Junior Infants.

*Failure to accept an offer within the prescribed period above may result in the offer being withdrawn.

Note: the school will consider and issue decisions on late applications in accordance with the school’s admission policy.

Number of places being made available in 2020/2021:

              Holy Family National School,

                                                                        Rathmore

                                                                                 Co. Kerry.

                                                      Tel. No:  (064) 7758492   /   Mobile: (086) 1806018

                                                                                  e-mail: hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com

                                                                             School Blog: hfnsrathmorekerry blog

                                                                                                15^th Jan. 2021

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As we finish our first week of Distance Learning, I would like to congratulate the children on their excellent contributions on Seesaw. I would like to thank the parents for their patience and support this week. We really appreciate it. Thank you to the teachers and staff for their innovation and diligence in posting and correcting a wide variety of activities and ensuring continuity of education for our pupils throughout the closure.

Over the next two weeks we intend to try a group meeting for the children on zoom. Every child will be invited to attend one meeting with a number of children from their class under the supervision of their teachers. The invitation will be sent through the Family Link Seesaw app so please accept the teacher’s invitation which you will have received by text or email. If you have not received an invitation to add your child on this Seesaw Family Link App, please contact the school by email or school mobile, with your current email address.

(This is separate to your child’s current Seesaw app and they will continue to use this to upload their work. Parents will have a direct private line of communication with the teacher and also be able to view everything in their child’s/children’s app also.)

For everyone's safety we have compiled some rules for these calls

Rules for zoom calls

·           All invites will be sent to parent/guardian’s email through the Seesaw family link app. You are asked not to share this email with anyone else.

·           All invites will be password protected.

·           The ‘Waiting room’ option will be enabled so that the teachers will control who is admitted to the meeting. This also ensures they are present from the beginning to the end of the meeting. Teachers will decide on a cut off time, after which no further attendees will be admitted.

·           All attendees must be appropriately dressed for the meeting – no pyjamas etc

·           All attendees will be muted on entry and the teacher will un-mute them as appropriate.

·           All attendees should be in a public room (no bedrooms) so that they can remain under the supervision of their parent/guardian.

·           Individual teachers may give further direction as to the format of their meeting.

·           Parents/Guardians are asked not to take photos or video footage of the call.

All Parents and Guardians are reminded that they are under no obligation for their child to attend a zoom call. We ask Parents/ Guardians to confirm their attendance/absence in advance of the meeting also.

We hope the children will enjoy this opportunity to see one another and interact in these unusual times. 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

Paul Horan

Letter to Parents from Ms. Norma Foley, Minister for Education

12 January 2021

Parents of students receiving remote learning

Dear Parent/Guardian

I hope that you and your families are keeping safe and well at this difficult time.

As you know, from yesterday Monday 11 January, schools will be closed to students and all students at primary and post-primary level will now move to a programme of remote learning.

While NPHET is of the view that schools remain safe environments, the decision to close schools was taken in order to minimise mobility of the entire population and to support the suppression of the Covid-19 virus in the community. This will allow everyone to reduce their contacts, with a view to reducing the spread of the virus and a swift return to school for all.

Remote Learning during this period

Following the initial period of school closure last year, the Department has engaged with the education partners to revise remote teaching and learning guidance. This was agreed with all stakeholders last year and guidance for primary and post-primary schools was subsequently published online in October and December 2020 respectively.

As such, during this time, all teachers, including special education teachers (SETs), are required to continue to support teaching and learning for all pupils/students in their class/subject group or on their caseload.

Schools have been advised of the need to ensure appropriate provision and support for pupils/students during this time. Every school has been advised of the need to develop a contingency plan for remote learning that is appropriate to children’s different ages and stages, and has been provided with guidance on best practice. The guidance provided to schools notes that it is crucially important that the learning of all pupils/students, especially those with special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage and/or early school leaving, are supported at this time. These guidelines are listed at the end of this letter.

Schools have been provided with funding as part of the Digital Strategy for Schools. In 2020 funding totaling €100m in 2020 was provided to schools and schools have been advised to prioritise supporting the purchase of devices for students who may not have access to devices for remote learning. The School Support services that are funded by the Department have developed a suite of materials to assist teachers in using an online platform to support teaching, learning and assessment. Furthermore, there is a range of supports available to schools from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Junior Cycle for Teachers, An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscoilaíochta, National Educational Psychological Service, Education Centres and the Centre for School Leadership.

There has been an excellent take up by teachers throughout the country of training and supports provided in this area, and I know that schools will do their utmost in these difficult circumstances to provide the best possible experience for students. Schools will contact parents directly with their plans and arrangements for remote learning.

The Inspectorate of the Department will continue to offer an advisory service to schools to support the delivery of remote learning and to provide assistance to school leaders in particular. The Inspectorate will also evaluate and report on the quality of educational provision for students at this time.

Returning to in-person learning for all schools

The Department is conscious that closing schools has hugely adverse consequences at individual, family and societal level. For children, it impacts on wellbeing, learning, on social and emotional development.

School closure has significant impacts on children with special educational needs. School closure also heightens student anxiety, particularly for the Leaving Certificate cohort, in relation to state examinations.

The Government decision included provision that in-person learning would be maintained for two specific cohorts from Monday 11, pupils/ students attending special schools and classes and final year Leaving Certificate students. Despite the confirmation by Public Health that schools remain safe, unfortunately it has not proved possible to get agreement to provide in-person learning for these two groups. In these circumstance there is no alternative but to pause the limited reopening and continue engagement with partners. I will keep parents of these students updated on this engagement.

The latest public health advice received by Government is available here. It clearly outlines that schools are safe environments, and that the protective measures and the considerable supports put in place to support schools have been successful.

Where there have been cases in schools, the enhanced school teams put in place by Public Health and the Department have worked effectively to support schools, and the level of transmission in schools has been low. Because of this, we continue to aim to return all students to in-person learning as soon as it is possible to do so.

Supports and wellbeing

It is important that students experience continuity of learning during this period to the extent that is possible for your family, bearing in mind your child’s age and stage. Research conducted in Ireland concluded that while online learning worked for some students during the period of school closure, it did not replicate the in-school learning experience – this was also the experience internationally.

We all know that it can be difficult to achieve maximum interaction with remote learning, with many competing demands and restrictions. The best advice is that you provide the support that is possible for your family to your child and that you prioritise your child’s and your own wellbeing, balancing that with supporting learning, during this period.

Links to some supports available are provided below.

I wish you and your family all the very best at this time, and hope to communicate soon with you on a safe return to in-person learning for all.

Regards,

______________________________

Norma Foley TD

Minister for Education

Information on guidance provided to schools on remote learning

The guidance provided to schools that it is crucially important that the learning of all pupils/students, especially those with special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage and/or early school leaving, are supported at this time, and sets out the following requirements:

·         Regular engagement with pupils/students: It is important that teachers engage with their pupils/students; in a primary setting this should, ideally, be on a daily basis; in a post-primary context teachers should, as far as possible, engage with students as per the normal school timetable.

·         A blend of guided and independent learning tasks/experiences: Teacher-pupil/student engagement should involve both direct teaching by the teacher and the assignment of independent learning tasks for completion by the pupils/students.

·         Appropriate and engaging learning opportunities: Teachers should ensure that the chosen learning tasks give pupils/students an opportunity to demonstrate their learning in a clear and concise way.

·         Learning tasks: The tasks chosen should be specifically aligned to the needs of the pupil/student, including pupils/students with special educational needs (SEN), and should enable the teacher to monitor progress and give constructive, developmental feedback to support the next stages in their learning.

·         Two-way feedback between home and school: Schools should ensure that two-way feedback between teachers and parents/guardians and between teachers and their pupils/students is encouraged and supported. Schools should provide manageable and accessible opportunities for all pupils/ students to regularly share samples of their work with the teacher(s) throughout each week. Teachers should ensure that work received is corrected and relevant feedback is provided.

·         Support for pupils/students with special educational needs: Special education teachers (SETs) should continue to engage with the pupils/students on their caseloads and class/subject teachers should differentiate teaching and learning in line with their pupils’/students’ needs to minimise disruption to their learning and progression.

Further details are available here:

·         Guidance on Remote Learning in a COVID-19: Context: September –December 2020 For primary schools and special schools

·         Guidance on Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning in a COVID-19 Context For post-primary schools and centres for education.

Circular 0074/2020  

·         Guidance for parents/ guardians on supporting continuity of learning can be found here and is available in multiple languages.

Wellbeing

The wellbeing of all children and families is important, and the National Educational Psychological Service has a range of supports available on gov.ie/schools in the parents section which you may find useful. This material is being updated regularly so please check back: Gov.ie/schools/wellbeing.

Message for Confirmation Families from Fr Pat. 

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

As promised we are getting back to you re  the Confirmation Ceremony.

So much has changed since before Christmas, and  given the new virus strain  and the simplicity of transmission;  it is necessary for us to shelve any provisional plans we had made up to now.

The general advice we are getting  from many sources (including contact tracers) is to push the  ceremony  as far out in the year  as is possible.

There is no point  in choosing another date as  the situation will remain fluid  for the foreseeable future. The best  we may be able to hope for  is having the Ceremony sometime in June, but it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that it could go later.

What we can say for definite is that even then the attendance will be confined to  the immediate household and as a consequence, the sponsor in all cases  will be  a Parent /Guardian, or a sibling aged 16 or over.

We will keep you updated 

Kind Regards 

Paul Horan 

                                    Holy Family National  School 

                                                            Rathmore, Co. Kerry

                        Tel. 064/7758492 Mobile: 086/1806018

                         e-mail hfnsrathmorekerry@gmail.com

                                    http://hfnsrathmorekerry.blogspot.ie/

8^th January 2021 

Dear Parents,

We are all looking forward to returning to school on February 1^st but in the meantime our aim is to make our system of Remote Teaching as practical and user friendly as possible. We realise this can be challenging but we are here to help. After much positive feedback in our two surveys we will be providing a similar approach to last time with some small adjustments.

As we attempt to find the correct balance of work once again we may make certain adjustments to our methods of assigning and receiving work. 81% of parents responded that the amount of work assigned by the teachers was ‘just about right’.  Opinion was divided on how often to assign work so we will use the same approach as last year and our message is – Do what you can, whenever you can.

Every assignment issued is optional and every family’s circumstances differ so please remember the health and well-being of the school community is the number one priority. We only expect pupils to try their best. Parents can decide if they are comfortable with the level of the child’s engagement and adjust it accordingly. Teachers will be allocating time to creating assignments and correcting activities. In doing so, they may prioritise the assignments they respond to but they will see everything you submit.

To enhance the privacy and quality of our Parent – Teacher communication, the teachers will invite you to join the family link app via text or email. You will then be able to privately message the teacher who will respond as soon as possible within school hours. This has made the delivery of Remote Teaching much easier for us as a staff and we encourage all parents to download it.

Collection times for books on Monday(for multiple children please collect at the time for the oldest child)

6^th Class and 5^th Class 11:00-11.30am

4^th Class and 3^rd Class (who have not already taken books home) 11:30-12.00pm

2^nd and 1^st Class 12:00-12:30pm.

Juniors and Seniors 12:30-1:00pm.

Please wear a mask and maintain a 2 m distance.

If for any reason your child has not been able to engage with the Seesaw app please contact me on the school mobile or email. 

The teachers will be in touch via Seesaw Monday morning.

Enjoy the weekend.

Kind Regards 

Paul Horan