COVID 19 Campus Closure
LAtest Update
Today is Friday 3rd April, 2020 .
St. Ultans remains closed along with every other school and childcare facility in the country, as part of the government’s strategy to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus.
We are hoping to reopen on 20-04-20, subject to confirmation from the government.
03-04-2020
Yesterday’s food deliveries went very well. There are a small number of issues being sorted out today, but we learned a lot and are very grateful to the drivers and other staff who made it happen. We are aiming to increase the number of deliveries next week, so please encourage any families you may be speaking with to avail of the service. All children who come to St. Ultan’s are entitled to this service.
One new plan we are looking at is to send school workbooks and some stationery home to families after the Easter Break.
We will also update families about Communions and Confirmation as soon as we have guidance from the Archdiocese.
More details will follow……
02-04-2020
Today is our first big delivery day for school meals after yesterday’s trial run. We have learned a lot already about how best to organise the delivery routes and I’m sure we’ll learn even more today.
The cut off point of Wednesday for parents to make contact has been well and truly exceeded as more requests continue to come in. Our initial order of 200 packs is largely filled and we will order considerably more next week, which we are delighted to do.
We received an unexpected bonus this week from an organisation called Difference Days. They organised for 200 bags of vegetables to be delivered which added greatly to the packs.
Finally, regarding the work that’s being sent home on Class Dojo, the teachers are keen not to add to the stress that families are experiencing at this time, so we have decided that for the next two weeks, we will not send homework as the children would have been on Easter break during this time, but the teachers will instead be available to give support or advice on Class Dojo.
We will also continue with daily updates and will include suggestions for activities to keep children learning and entertained.
01-04-2020
This morning we put the finishing touches to this week's food deliveries. The picture shows the contents of the basic package. We will make most of the deliveries early tomorrow afternoon. If you would like to be added to the list for next week, please get in touch.
Also....Jennifer's 8th Positivity update is now up on our campus website at Jennifer's Positivity page. Best wishes, from all the team in St. Ultans.
Today's update is a reminder that we are now gathering names for our School Meals delivery programme. The first delivery will be this Thursday, so please get in touch by 4pm today if you wish to be included on the list.
You can call or text me on 0868360017, or message privately here on Class Dojo or Facebook.
Also, don't forget about Jennifer's Positivity Page on https://www.stultanscampus.ie/jennifers-positivity-page She is celebrating one full week of positive messages today .
Best wishes from all the team in St. Ultans.
30th March. Gary here with today's message from St. Ultans.
I’ll start with some great news, which is that we have been identified by the Dept. of Ed as one of the schools that should continue in the School Meals Programme. What that means is that bagged parcels of food will be delivered to St. Ultans each week. It will be basic kitchen essentials like bread, milk, fruit and pasta and we will try to distribute them to our families on Thursdays.
Today, we want to start identifying which families will receive food……….so if you have been finding it difficult to manage the shopping since the school has closed we’d be only too happy to help out.
If you would like to take part, then please send me a private message on Class Dojo or Facebook after this video.
I’m very aware that there’s some parents who may not be able to check in on Dojo or Facebook, so I’m asking everyone who’s watching this video to think if they know anyone who may be in that situation. If you do know someone, please let them know this service is available from St. Ultans and you can give them the followng numbers to make contact:
Gary Jones (Principal & Campus Manager): 0868350017
Sue Menton (Care & Campus Manager): 0861638513
John Scanlon (Building & Campus Manager): 0868581473
Also today……
A great new page on the website has been developed by the Early Years and ECCE staff with activities parents can follow to teach their children at home. It will be updated regularly. Here is the link https://www.stultanscampus.ie/early-years-blog
Another great new webpage has been developed by Múinteoir Maria called Supporting Students. It outlines the supports that are available to parents at this time, including help for children with additional learning needs. Here is the link https://www.stultans.ie/supportingstudents
Jennifer has continued her wonderful Positivity updates. There are now three new videos waiting on https://www.stultanscampus.ie/jennifers-positivity-page
Finally, School on Tv started today on RTE2. It will run daily episodes at 11am and 4:30 pm and the proucers want children to engage by sending in pictures of their work.
Best wishes, from your campus managers.
Good morning everyone,
It’s Friday 27th March. Gary here with today’s update from the Campus Managers. We hope you’re all doing well this morning.
It came to our attention yesterday that the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght is temporarily moving all its services to Our Ladies Hospital in Crumlin, as well as Temple Street and Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown during the Covid 19 crisis. Here is the link from RTE: https://www.rte.ie/news/health/2020/0326/1126496-tallaght-childrens-hospital/
The World Health Organisation have just issued a new video that gives guidelines for how to keep well during this time. The video is included below this post.
Finally, Jennifer and Ken have both been busy again this morning. Jennifer’s 3rd positivity update is now available on https://www.stultanscampus.ie/jennifers-positivity-page and Ken’s workout on Facebook was a huge success this morning. Over 90 people were tuned in at the same time to take part and get a great workout!!
Have a lovely weekend.
Click the link to go to Kenneth O’Driscoll’s Facebook page in advance of tomorrow’s live exercise srream: https://www.facebook.com/cherryorchard.runningclub
Click the link to go to Jennifer’s Positivity Page: https://www.stultanscampus.ie/jennifers-positivity-page
Wednesday 25th March
Good morning everyone.
Gary here with today’s update from the campus managers.
Yesterday’s update from the Taoiseach confirmed that schools, early years providers and creches are all to remain closed until at least 19th April. We’re very sad about this, but will continue our regular communications with parents and want to remind you that in addition to teachers, our Care workers and Early-Years practitioners are linking in with parents to give support at this time. We will continue to post videos and other ideas for activities to keep your children stimulated and learning.
It’s an exciting day in a different way, as we are posting the first of a new series of positivity videos from Jennifer, who is a member of our Care Board of Management and is a familiar face around Cherry Orchard through her work in The Bungalow. She will make videos regularly that I will post to https://www.stultanscampus.ie/jennifers-positivity-page . She has a sensible and calming way of thinking that focuses on the positives that are to be found in these uncertain times.
Best wishes to you all from Gary, Sue, John & Gay
Parents’ Message
23-03-2020
Good morning everyone and welcome to our second week of closure. I hope you all managed to enjoy the lovely bright weekend in a way that kept you safe and well.
Gary here with some short messages from the Campus Managers today.
1. Our staff are continuing to adapt to the new teaching and learning situation and are trying to make work that is as suitable as possible. Homework will be sent to all school children today. We are listening to all feedback from parents, so please let us know how you and your family are getting on.
2. We want to re-state our support for the government policy on social distancing. Please try your best to stay at home where possible and to keep as much distance between yourself and others if you have to go out.
3. Following on from the success of Cosmic Yoga last week, here is a link to Cosmic Mindfulness for children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5K3pP2IUQ
Best wishes and keep safe,
Gary, Sue, John & Gay
19-03-2020
Good morning everyone,
Gary here again on behalf of the Campus Managers. We hope everybody is coping well as the closure days build up and want to remind everyone that we are in daily contact with our Chairperson Gay Mitchell to review the ongoing situation.
Today, we would like to give some feedback about how yesterday’s homework went. We would also like to tell you about an idea to keep your children occupied and we will finish with some words of encouragement to keep everyone’s spirits up.
1. Homework: Yesterday’s homework was generally well received, based on the feedback that’s come through so far. Well done to all the teachers who designed the work so thoughtfully. What was very apparent was that lots of parents were happy to have a bit of structure and routine back. We spent a lot of time helping parents whose Class Dojo accounts weren’t working properly and we’ll continue to do that today, so please get in touch if you need help. We’re on the case 😁👍
2. Activities: A national writing competition has been launched by the writer John Boyne. It’s for children aged 6-18 and there is a prize fund of €3,600 in book tokens for the winners. Go to https://johnboyne.com/short-story-competition/ for all the details.
3. Encouragement: The continued focus on Coronavirus in all news bulletins and social media has increased our collective anxiety levels to no end!!
Luckily, there’s an antidote…….. at 7pm last night, I decided to mute all notifications on my phone (with the exception of calls) and I put it away from me. I chose not to look online for the evening and instead I watched a nature documentary. My mind went Coronavirus free for the whole evening. It’s the best thing I’ve done to relax during this whole situation and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Lastly, if you're suffering from Cabin Fever, take a look at the list of Nature activities that I'll send after this message. They're great for our health and are all appropriate in this time of social distancing.
Until tomorrow, best wishes to you all from Gary, Sue, John & Gay.
17-03-2020
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig Oraibh go Léir —- Happy St. Patrick’s Day to Everyone.
It’s certainly going to be an unusual St. Patrick’s Day this year with all the parades being cancelled, but here’s a suggestion to get into the spirit and help your child to continue learning Irish while school is closed.
Sign up to the Duolingo App for free and choose Irish (or any other language that catches your eye) and spend a few minutes each day going through the lessons. It’s easy, attractively made and very effective.
One extra special tip that comes all the way from our Canteen & Services Supervisor Paul McLoughlin is to add an element of competition to the learning…..so if you have more than one child at home, encourage them to push on to learn more than the other. Paul has done this at home at has noticed huge improvements in how his son is getting on with Irish …and if you don’t have anyone to go into competition with you son or daughter,why not sign up yourself!!
Go n’éirí an t-ádh libh go léir —- Best of luck everyone!!
from Gary & all the team.
Sign up for Gaeilge lessons here https://www.duolingo.com/course/ga/en/Learn-Irish
Communications
Each of the Campus Managers are available to answer questions and give support during this difficult time. You can contact them on the following numbers.
Gary Jones (Principal & Campus Manager): 0868350017
Sue Menton (Care & Campus Manager): 0861638513
John (Building & Campus Manager): 0868581473
