Hope you and your family are keeping safe and well.

As you are aware the Taoiseach announced on Friday that all schools will remain closed until September. I’m sure this announcement greatly disappointed our pupils, as it did the staff. We were hoping to return to school and see the pupils before the summer but we need to follow the advice given, which is in the best interest of the general public.

We understand that you may feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of the school closure continuing – this is absolutely normal. I want to reassure you that distance learning will continue to take place and we will support you to help your child’s learning from home. Children are very adaptable and resilient and often respond to change better than adults.

The teachers have posted the content for this week on the padlet and will continue to do so weekly. If you have any query regarding your child’s school work, please email the teacher directly.

We want all our pupils to be safe when using online sites. In so far as possible, children’s internet usage should be supervised. Webwise offers free information, advice and resources to help parents and students address internet safety issues. You may like to check out their resources for parents available at https://www.webwise.ie/. Our school has an Internet Acceptable Use Policy, which addresses how children use the internet while in school. A summary of this policy is included at the end of this post.

We would like to remind you about the resource, RTE Home School Hub, which broadcasts lessons and activities suitable for pupils in 1st to 6th class daily on RTE 2.

Kind regards,

The Staff of St. Louise’s

Summary of AUP (Acceptable Use Policy)

• Internet sessions will always be supervised by a staff member.
• Pupils will observe good “netiquette” at all times and will not undertake any actions that will bring the school into disrepute.
• Pupils will not visit internet sites that contain obscene, illegal, hateful or otherwise objectionable material.
• Pupils will use the Internet for educational purposes only.
• Pupils will never disclose or publicise personal information.
• Face to face meetings with somebody organised via the school’s Internet will be forbidden.
• Pupils will be aware that any usage, including distribution or receiving information, school – related or personal, may be monitored for unusual activity, security and / or network management reasons.
• Pupils will not send or receive any material that is illegal, obscene, defamatory, or that is intended to annoy or intimidate another person.
• Pupils may be given the opportunity to publish projects, artwork or schoolwork on the World Wide Web.
• Personal information including home and contact details will be omitted from Web pages.
• Photos displayed on the school’s website will focus on group activities and generally have no names of the children included.