Dear Parents,
The past few weeks have been exceptionally busy and we wish to continue to inform you of the protocols and measures we have put in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our school community.
School Books
Thank you to all our parents and students for your cooperation with our policy of no school books since we retuned in September. As indicated previously, it is our intention to begin the phased re-introduction of school books after our initial reopening stage. The outline plan is as follows:
- Week Beginning Monday 21 September: students will be allowed to bring books for Irish, English and Maths only.
- Week beginning Monday 28 September: students will be allowed bring books for Irish, English, Maths and their option subjects.
- Week beginning Monday 5 October: students will be allowed to bring books for all subjects as required.
- Week beginning Monday 12 October: some limited photocopying and printing
Parents and students are asked to note that we have no short or medium term plans to make lockers available to students. Consequently, we have asked our teachers to be conscious of the weight of school bags particularly in Junior Cycle. We have also asked our teachers, where possible, to use E-books so that students are not carrying books to school unnecessarily. It is also important that students continue to familiarise themselves with E-books and Google Classroom as the Roadmap for Reopening Schools clearly advises all schools to be prepared for a situation where a school may be faced with closure for a period during which the curriculum will need to be delivered remotely. Therefore, it is important for both teachers and students, that their work continues to regularly involve engaging with our online platform.
Briefing for Current 1st Year Parents
As per our calendar Monday 28 September 2020 is the scheduled date for our traditional briefing session for parents of current First Year students. In so far as is possible, it is our intention to continue with our annual calendar of events despite the ongoing restrictions. With over 200 students in 1st Year we cannot hold a meeting in person as we have normally done, therefore, the school is planning to hold a virtual information session starting at 7.30pm and finishing no later than 8.30pm. Further details will follow next week to the 1st year parents on how to access the live stream and submit any relevant questions.
Google Apps
Please click on the link to view a list of apps that students should have on their devices in order to engage fully with Google Classroom:
School Canteen
This week has been the first week of our online purchasing system. We have had a number of difficulties and have been working with our provider O Crualaoi’s to try and rectify these. It has been a major undertaking to move from 2 separate ‘pay on the day’ canteens in the school to a fully online system available to over 1000 students. The very tight timeframe for the introduction of the system has also not been helpful. We anticipate that most of the issues that are arising will have been resolved by today and that service will be operating efficiently from next week on. We thank you for your patience in bearing with us as we introduce this essential service.
For any food related enquiries please email Cecelia@ocrualaoi.com stating the name of the school and the year the student is in. For other issues such as log in problems please email support@debitrak.com.
When logging onto the system a reminder to ensure that you have ticked GCC as your school. A number of issues with orders placed this week arose because users had ticked the wrong school.
School Car Park
Please note the school car park is for staff only. Parents are asked not to drive into the school grounds when dropping and collecting students in the mornings and afternoons. Students who drive to school must leave their cars outside the school grounds. We would appreciate your full cooperation with this please.
Covid-19 Updates
Covid Response Plan
We are currently in the process of finalising our Covid-19 response plan. All the elements of this plan have been already shared with staff, students and parents since the beginning of August through our regular updates and will now be drawn together into one comprehensive document.
Parents/Visitors to the School
Please note parents and visitors can only enter the school by prior appointment/arrangement. No unplanned visits or entry to the school are permitted under the protocols for all schools. We are still, however, receiving large numbers of parents who are calling to the school without a prior arrangement. To minimise the number of unplanned visits please contact the office by phone or email with any of your queries. All visitors must wear a face covering. If you have an appointment to visit the school please wait in the foyer area in the B-Block.
Signing Out
Students who need to leave school, for example, for medical appointments must have a written note from parents (in their journal) to show to their class teacher at registration in the morning. The student must also show the subject teacher from whose class they are leaving, before being allowed to proceed to the office to sign out.
For students who become sick during the school day and need to go home, they must get the permission from their subject teacher to come to the school office and our office staff will contact home. Students are not allowed to use their mobile phones to contact parents directly.
Facemasks
A reminder that face masks are compulsory for all students when in class. Students may use a visor when on the corridors (for example transitioning between class rooms) or in the outdoor areas at break times. A reminder to students that, when in the outdoor areas at break times, students must put back on their face mask or visor once they have finished eating their lunch.
Sanitizing Wipes
A reminder that students must bring their own wipes to school and will be required to wipe down their desk and chair each time they enter a classroom. This will ensure that the desk/chair is properly sanitized by the student himself/herself before the class begins. We anticipate that a small packet of wipes (between 30-50 wipes) should be sufficient for the week and we are confident that this procedure will ensure proper cleaning of surfaces in classrooms.
Board Of Management
Please click on the link below to view the Agreed Report from the Glanmire Community College Board of Management meeting on Monday 14th September 2020:
Agreed Report BOM Meeting 14 September 2020
The school is now reopen for 3 weeks and we are up and running with reasonable success thanks to the cooperation of all of us in the school community. As we begin to reintroduce ‘normal’ elements of our schooling (such as textbooks) it is important that the basic steps around social distancing, hand sanitizing, face masks etc. are maintained. We will continue to work together in the days and weeks ahead.
We hope you have a nice weekend.
GCC Senior Management