Latest News

Return of P4-P7 (R4-R7) pupils

Fri 19 Mar 2021

We are delighted that P4-P7 (R4-R7) pupils join P1 to P3 (R1-R3) will return to full-time face-to-face teaching from Monday 22^nd March. Staff are looking forward to returning to more normal interactions with their classes, however, we are all mindful of the need for vigilance so that we can finally end this lockdown.

Drop-off and Collection arrangements

Pupils should not be on the school grounds before 9.00am;
If children are travelling by bus, it is recommended that they wear a face mask and sit with family members.
If you are taking children by car; to ease congestion, we ask parents to park in the chapel carpark. Please enter the carpark from Rocktown Rd and leave via Creggan Rd from 9.00am and collect the children from the playground from 3.00pm to 3.15pm;

On arrival, children walk directly to their classrooms via the Emergency doors;
Children wash their hands upon arrival in the classroom;
Parents escorting children to classes are asked to follow Social Distancing guidelines and wear masks.
Children using Camowen Partnership will be collected by their staff in front playground.
Bus children will be escorted to the buses by staff.

School Meals

School meals will be available, provided that they have been booked online and paid in advance. If a child’s meal isn’t paid in advance, parents are asked to provide a packed lunch. If you have forgotten to book dinner for a day, please ring the office, notify Fiona and send the money with your child on the day dinner is being taken No arrears on dinners is permitted by the EA.

If you have arrears and have been notified about them, these arrears must be paid in full before any further dinners can be booked. In this instance parent should provide their child/ren with a packed lunch.
DE advise that All Free School Meals pupils in P/R4- P/R7 MUST bring a Packed Lunch as payment has already been made directly to parent.

Children WHO ARE UNWELL

Children should not attend school if they display any symptoms of the virus, including a high temperature, a continuous cough and or a loss of taste or smell. If a child is ill in school, he/she will be taken to an isolation zone and parents will be asked to collect them. They must have a Covid test and if negative, stay off school for two days after the symptoms have subsided. If positive, parents must inform the school immediately and we will take the necessary actions. (See details overleaf)

Regarding ‘tummy bugs’, where a pupil displays gastrointestinal symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhoea, they should not attend school until after their symptoms have resolved for at least two days (this means they should not have been sick or had diarrhoea for at least two days before they return.

Updated information is on the school website/ Key information /covid-19.

Carrickmore Youth Centre: Jumping Clay programme

Fri 05 Mar 2021

Carrickmore Youth Centre are offering a new 4 week Jumping Clay programme for young people aged 5-8 years old online via zoom. Over the course of the 4 week programme young people will take part in fun, engaging and creative online sessions where they will enjoy making and moulding jumping clay figures.

The aim for this programme is to encourage young people to become more creative and to focus on positive well-being and mental health.

There will be two groups for this programme with alternative time slots to choose from. This programme will be starting on Friday 12th March:

Session one from 5.30 - 6.30 pm and Session two from 7 - 8 pm.

Please note there are limited spaces available for this programme and applicants with be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

If you would like to register your child/young person for this programme, please complete the registration form using the following link;

https://ruddye.wufoo.com/forms/carrickmore-youth-centre-jumping-clay-programme/<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fruddye.wufoo.com%2fforms%2fcarrickmore-youth-centre-jumping-clay-programme%2f&c=E,1,jDqHC04n9dasf-0oCOYiJwrrNJwTJPqIC24jLwP5QmMbkOnuxKXHROqfDWhTdCPpT4vmahUFKg6n3U5DL5WE-RGC0_bKd97NAbA89sxNbAY,&typo=1>

March newsletter available

Mon 01 Mar 2021

Please use this link to access the latest newsletter.

https://www.stcolmcillescarrickmore.co.uk/stream/newsletters/full/1/-//

Parents’ Survey: Remote Learning, Key worker support and Engage programme: Summary

Mon 01 Mar 2021

A special thank you to all the parents who responded to our second online survey about Remote Learning, Key worker support and Engage programme. As a school, we took stock of the views of different partners during the first lockdown and put revised strategies in place to support the children through remote and connected activities since January.

Please see the summary of parents’ responses to the recent survey. We really appreciate the many positive statements about parents’ appreciation for the commitment of staff for remote learning, keyworker support and the Engage programme. The survey represents a very strong endorsement of the:

school’s remote learning strategy,
targeted nature of individualised programmes of work for children of different abilities,
balance between pre-prepared written packs and online guidance and tutorials via Seesaw,
high quality communication between teachers and parents,
creative strategies used to keep children motivated,
support for keyworker families as well as SEN and children with special circumstances,
consideration for underachieving children through the engage programme.

The survey also highlights that:

Internet connectivity remains a significant issue for over 27% of our families. This has increased from 12% in the first survey. Perhaps this is because expectations have increased or we are using video links more which exposes the extent of the connection issues locally,
access to devices remains an issue for 20% of families, however, this has decreased from 31% in the previous survey,
parents report that 63% of children are coping well with the restrictions of the lockdown, this is lower than the previous survey when 79% were coping well with the restrictions.
over 50% of parents feel that their children require less help from them during this second lockdown because of the support from teachers,

There was praise also for the quality of teachers’ feedback and different views about the potential for ‘live’ sessions. There is a longing for the return to face-to-face’ teaching by everyone and a number of suggestions about how we can further improve our online learning strategies should the period of remote learning be extended.

There were many supportive comments from parents with the following words used frequently: outstanding, amazing, excellent, fantastic, supportive, well-though out, phenomenal, brilliant and absolute professionalism.’

There was praise also for the quality of teachers’ feedback and different views about the potential for ‘live’ sessions, a longing for the return to face-to-face’ teaching, are a number of suggestions should the period of remote learning be extended.