School Closure Extended to May 5th
Dear Parents,
I hope you and your families got over the Easter holidays safely.
I want to say a big ‘’HELLO’’ to all the children. We hope you are being good and helpful at home and that you are trying to do a little bit of school work. We are really looking forward to seeing you all back at school when these restrictions are lifted.
As you are aware the school closure has been extended now until 5th May, with the following Guidelines being issued to teachers from the Department of education.
On Friday, 3 April the DES issued Guidance on the Continuity of Education in Primary and Post Primary Schools. The Guidance states
All schools and teachers, including teachers of students with special educational needs, should therefore be regularly communicating and engaging with students to ensure that there is continuity in their learning. Where possible, primary teachers should make every effort to engage with their students on a daily basis and post-primary teachers should do so on the days that they are normally timetabled for lessons with their students. In engaging with students, there should be a balance between the assignment of independent work, whether written or practical, online learning and other tasks in accordance with the learning needs of students and the resources available.
Following the guidelines the teachers in CBS are either going to use Class Dojo or Seesaw to engage with the children to continue learning.
Most classes will be using Seesaw, one of the online platforms recommended by the Department of Education .
Seesaw is a digital portfolio tool which allows pupils to store their work in an online space and gain feedback from their teacher. It can be used on a computer (PC) or tablet. It effectively enables teachers to set tasks or assignments and include instructions or templates for students to use at home.
The SEN (Learning Support Team) may co teach with some of the teachers and may assign work for the children that they normally teach.
You have been invited (by class text) to send an email to your child’s class teacher, to confirm that you give consent for your child to be added to the closed class group. You must give consent for your child to be added to the class Seesaw.
The Teacher will add your child to their group and follow up with an email to your email address with login instructions/codes. When you receive the email from the class teacher you need to download the Free Seesaw Class App and login.
Quick Start Guide for Students and Parents
1. Parents/Students should download the Seesaw Class app (free) or visit Seesaw.me
2. Choose I’m a Student.
3. Enter the home learning code received from the teacher into the Text Code box at the bottom of the screen.
We understand that Home-learning has posed challenges for many parents and guardians since the outset of the closure. We do not expect you to re-create school at home. The children may be feeling anxious and may be finding it difficult to keep up with structured learning, they can learn other life skills at home through cooking, baking, physical exercise, play and meditation.
We hope Seesaw will allow us to offer guidance, support and practical advice, to help you manage home learning and help you keep children’s learning on track during this unprecedented time while schools are closed. Remember you are not alone.
Teachers not using Seesaw will continue to use class Dojo.
The school office is closed but you can contact us via email
office@cbsprimarydundalk.ie
Stay Safe.
Kindest Regards
Patricia Mc Keever