Piper's Hill College

Letter from the Principal 29/01/21

29-January-21
Letter from the Principal 29/01/21

29th January 2021

Dear Parent/ Guardian,

As another week draws to a close I hope you and your families are safe and well.

This morning we received a letter from the Department of Education and Skills regarding the reopening of school buildings. It confirms that as the levels of community transmission of Covid 19 are high and the government wishes to minimise the movement of large numbers of people, school buildings will remain closed for now. The Department continues to work towards the phased and safe reopening of school buildings.

Consequently we will continue with online teaching and learning for now.

There has been no update on plans for Leaving and Junior Certificate but as soon as we receive information from the State Examinations Commission we will share that with you. In the meantime students should concentrate on working with their teachers as we await decisions about the exams.

We have now been online for three weeks and the feedback from parents and students is generally positive. There is a broad range of student engagement with teaching and learning and we have several layers of support in place for students. Please emphasise to your son /daughter that doing their individual best is important but so too is managing anxiety and avoiding stress. Encourage regular outdoor exercise and breaks from screen time which will help them to cope at this time.

As we are at a distance your input and feedback is more important than ever. We surveyed parents/guardians before the Summer and the feedback was invaluable when we were planning for opening in September and also planning for how we are working currently.

We will be sharing another survey with you shortly and would ask that you take the time to complete it. Your responses will assist and inform how we move forward, and I thank you in advance for taking the time to respond.

Our new school website went live this week and I encourage you to check in there regularly for news and updates. It is easy to navigate and contains lots of information about our school. A link to the App has been shared with you also this week and we encourage you to sign up. We will be using the App to communicate more effectively with you.

While ensuring teaching and learning continues effectively we are also very aware that this time of Level 5 restrictions is very challenging and, ensuring the wellbeing of all is also really important. So, we have a challenge for students, teachers and families. We encourage you to sign up for the Piper’s Hill College February Fitness Challenge via our website. This is open to the entire school community and will involve 3 weeks training in preparation for completing a 5km walk or run on February 21/22. Training plans will be posted weekly on the website to assist and encourage you. We are hoping for a huge response to this initiative and we thank Ms. Fiona Collins for organising it.

As ever please feel free to contact us at info@phcol.ie or 045 897885 if we can assist you in any way.

We are conscious that many students may feel anxious, isolated, under pressure at this time and we remind you that our school counselling service is available and open to all students. Please make contact if you think this would be helpful.

We wish you a safe and restful weekend and encourage you again to sign up for our February Fitness Challenge and get training!

All good wishes,

Caroline Herity

Principal

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Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland
045 897885
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