Dear Parents,

We would like to welcome everyone back to school and extend a warm welcome to our ten new junior infants who started their school journey for the first time. We hope you all enjoyed it.

We would like to reassure you that St. Finian’s NS is following all the HSE and Department of Education guidelines in relation to Covid-19.  You are aware that we are now operating out of two different campuses, juniors to second class remain in St. Finian’s and third to sixth classes are now located in the Waterville GAA clubhouse.  Following an inspection this morning from Department Officials they confirmed that we will not be receiving additional teachers.  The current arrangements we have in place will remain. We recognise that some parents may have to drop children to both locations, please do whatever suits you in terms of dropping and collecting and don’t be under any time pressure. Roll Call is 10am every day.

For week 1, junior infants will start at 9:30am and finish 12:30pm. On week 2 juniors will start at 9:00am and finish at 12:30pm. Please ensure that they have a snack and a drink for t 5ese weeks. From Monday 14^th September, junior infants will attend from 9:00am – 1:45pm, they will need a full lunch from this date on. Due to social distancing guidelines, children will need to be provided with lunch items that they can open/ peel by themselves. Photographer Alan Landers, took a photo of our new junior infants today so keep your eyes peeled in the Kerry’s eye in two weeks time.

Please ensure your children have enough drinks and lunch for the day, including spoons etc. as the school will be unable to provide these items to the children.

We would like to remind the school community to please drop your child to the school gate no sooner than 9:00am and move on as quickly as possible away from the gate to ensure social distancing. We would ask you to remain in your car up until the temperature check has been completed. Each class will have been show today where to line up and how to enter and exit the school. When dropping children at the GAA grounds, please remember the access road is quite narrow so give way to oncoming traffic from the village.

Please ensure that the school has up to date contact details and phone number and be mindful to have your phone with you at all times. As access to the school grounds is for emergencies only, there will be a drop off box located outside the front door at St. Finian’s and at the back door on the access ramp at the GAA buildings, if your children forgets lunch or an important item.

Book Money can be paid online through the link on our website.

If you have any queries, please contact the school office on 066 9474685 or email watervillens@hotmail.com. For all the up to date information please see www.stfiniansns.ie (password: stfinian).

Kind Regards,

Gearoid Moran