Attached below is a copy of the school’s COVID-19 Policy which has been adopted by the Board of Management and which summarises the actions being taken by the school to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19.
In particular, the following changes are being made to the timetable:
Arising from liaison with School Transport, school bus timetables will be altered so that students do not enter the school grounds until 8.30 a.m. each morning. Pupils not travelling on buses should not enter the school grounds before 8.40 a.m. When they enter, they should proceed directly to their classroom for their first class that day, unless they have Assembly when they should enter the school by the rear of the building at the Sports Entrance. First Years will be assigned home rooms for all their classes (except Taster Subjects) and should enter the building at the side entrance.
Morning Breaks and Lunchtime Breaks will take place on a staggered basis. See the diagram attached. This is necessary to reduce the number of students circulating in the GPA at any given break.
Pupils will have the option to pre-order food online from the same catering company as last year, in which case they will need to adhere strictly to queuing signage.
Lockers will be assigned in year sequence to assist with physical distancing.
The school day will finish at 3.40 p.m. Pupils not travelling on buses will leave the building first, followed by pupils who are travelling on buses.
This year, many existing classes have been reduced in size by allocating an extra teacher. The maximum number of students in a standard classroom will be 24. Class group larger than this will avail of the larger classes which we are fortunate to have in our fine building.
Other changes include the obligatory use of hand sanitisers which will be located at the entrances and outside every classroom. All pupils and staff must wear face coverings in line with current health guidelines. Face masks should be cloth masks, not disposable. It is recommended that students begin to wear these for prolonged periods so as to become accustomed to wearing them for a full school day.
Parents/guardians are asked to ensure that pupils are au fait with COVID-19 etiquette., i.e. wash hands/use sanitiser, cover mouth and nose with tissue/sleeve when coughing or sneezing and maintain physical distance. It is vitally important that parents/guardians do not send pupils to school if they are show any symptoms of COVID-19
Details of further changes will be made available as soon as they are confirmed.