January 8th, 2021

The Department of Education & Skills has now directed that as of next week all students will follow a programme of remote learning, in line with the rest of the Government’s restrictions. You can read more about the Department’s decision here education.ie/press-releases/2021.

In Newpark, we are following the normal school timetable for remote learning, for the period of time until we are directed that we are to return to in-school learning. One of the reasons we moved to 60-minute periods this academic year was so that we could pivot to remote learning more effectively when required. Our plan for how remote learning will proceed this term is available here vimeo.com/newpark. All students and their parents/guardians are strongly urged to watch this 7-minute video, so that you feel informed and are aware of expectations.

On Monday 11^th January, staff in the school will be planning and preparing for the start of remote learning from Tuesday morning, 12^th January at 8.50am. Students should use this time on Monday as an opportunity to prepare themselves and to ensure that they have devices ready, can access all their class/subject Teams, to review where they were in each subject before the Christmas break, to organise a space to work from, etc.

Following the normal school timetable means that students must be up and ready to attend remote schooling each morning from 8.50am. Please ensure you are on-time for all classes, as teachers will be taking the roll on VSware at the start of each class. If for some reason a student does not know his/her timetable, it can be accessed by a parent/guardian on VSware. Please remember that Teams is an online learning and teaching platform, not a social media platform; therefore, the normal, appropriate in-class formality applies to interactions on Teams, just as it does when students are attending class in-person.

Questions or queries, as usual, should be addressed to your teacher or Form Teacher in the first instance. Parents/guardians may also like to contact the year leader, if required.

We are mindful of student wellbeing over the coming weeks. This pandemic is trying for all of us, in a variety of ways. Please see stresscontrol.ie  in relation to free stress control classes.

Finally, the school will be open to students to collect locker contents as follows:

• Monday 11^th January, 10am to 1pm for First Year students
• Monday 11^th January, 1pm to 4pm for Second Year students and for students from other year groups with materials stored in the school

Students must follow the usual protocols when on campus (mask, hand sanitising, distancing from others). Please enter via the main school entrance. If parents are dropping students to the school, please remain in your car, students only in the school building please.

May I wish you the best of luck over the coming weeks and I look forward to seeing everyone back on campus as soon as it is deemed appropriate.

Eoin Norton

Principal