Dear Parent/Guardian
As we look forward to all students returning we have updated our COVID 19 Plan and for our return to school there are additional pieces of advice for all students and staff for when we return.
The Updated COVID 19 Policy Plan for Return can be found here
Letter from Minister Foley to Parents here
Some Key Points:
- there should be no congregation outside schools during this time. Requests to engage with staff should be made through the school and will be provided by telephone or online.
- importance of keeping COVID-19 out of education facilities by keeping symptomatic children at home. Parents should err on the side of caution in this respect and follow the school’s sickness policy of if sick in any way, stay at home
- Staff and pupils not to return to or attend school in the event of the following:
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- if they are identified by the HSE as a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19
- if they live with someone who has symptoms of the virus
- If they have travelled outside of Ireland; in such instances staff are advised to consult and follow latest Government advice in relation to foreign travel.
- staff and pupils to cooperate with any public health officials and the school for contact tracing purposes and follow any public health advice in the event of a case or outbreak in the school;
4. All students are currently required to complete a HSE declaration which will be sent to parents prior to returning, also available here
This should be emailed to returntoschool@cbcg.ie
The Government website has been updated www.gov.ie/backtoschool with new materials for parents and for students.
These are designed to be age-appropriate and have been developed in consultation with children and young people and parents.
The Minister has asked the important information from the Department and the HSE with regard to returning to school is shared with all parents. Links to each of these are below:
- Video for parents with key information on supporting children to return to school available here and here
- Fliers for parents –are also available for download here. The HSE has prepared material on recognising symptoms, which complements the material from the Department on returning to school. This is available here Much of this is summarised in the parent and student presentation but should be read also,
- Age-appropriate videos for children and young people at different stages. Videos for post-primary students are available here
- Resources in a wide range of languages. Many schools will enjoy a huge diversity among their student and parent community. To support these parents, we have translated guidance for parents at gov.ie/backtoschool
The Covid-19 World Service project has also consulted with the Department and has used our key messages to produce a range of videos in a variety of languageswhich your school community may find helpful – please see more at
https://nascireland.org/covid-19-world-service
The key message is that where there is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 amongst school staff or pupils, schools will be required to follow the public health instruction of the HSE Public Health.
If you have concerns with regard to your re-opening plans, I encourage you to contactamongey@cbcg.ie
We look forward to welcoming some of our students and staff back after the Mid-Term break and in the weeks after.
Mr Mongey
