Information for Incoming First Years
Unfortunately this year we were not able to hold an evening for parents of incoming students and I am aware that you have several questions which I will try to answer for you.
Students will return/begin at the end of August. The final dates will be posted on the website but it looks like First years will come in on Mon 31st August. This will probably be for a half day and they will return later in that week.
Class groups are all mixed ability and we have the largest first year group in years so it will take a little while to settle them all down. However we want to make joining their new school as enjoyable as possible.
As we operate a Book Rental Scheme you do not need to start buying books. On the first day back your child will be given a Book and Sundries Bill. This covers book rental, locker, 24 hour insurance, postage, text messaging, use of devices, mock exams, ID cards, CAT testing, etc . This amount is usually in the order of €150 -€220 except for Transition Year where additional costs apply)
So what will September look like?
Well very definitely school will be different. To date I have not received any direction from the Department of Education but at any rate we have to begin the preparation for opening and complying with the social distancing regulations which exist today.
Bathrooms, classrooms, lunch halls,changing rooms, text books, copies, sharing of equipment, PE, practical subjects, food provision and school transport are among the challenges which face us.
Certainly our delivery in the classroom will be a combination of online and traditional teaching methods. ( Blended Learning ) Over the years we have purchased a large number of Chromebooks which are used throughout the day by students The sanitising of these between each use will present us with a problem as we do not have enough for each student and sharing has been our practice.Through recent research we have discovered that a very large proportion of our students already have their own Chromebooks and in September we will be encouraging students to bring these in as it will prevent sharing and thereby limit the possibility of any infection.
If you are in a position to or are considering purchasing a device we recommend the Chromebook which is one of the cheapest devices and is available from most computer suppliers and even stores like Argos. The retail price is of the order of 250 euro and the device would be of great benefit to students both in school and at home. We are looking at how best we can share out the resources which we have.
Following that week the number of students in attendance will depend on the social distancing in force at the time. Again this is only my conjecture but if social distancing remains at 2metres then classrooms will only be able to accommodate one third of the students in a class and if distancing is reduced to 1m it will mean that half of the class group will be able to attend.
If either of these situations are to be enforced then in the short term at least we could see students attending every second or third week initially. While this situation is a vast improvement on how we ended in June it does involve a considerable amount of work from home so also a device and internet connection would be of great benefit.
We are fortunate that Athy College has been selected as the only Google Reference School in Ireland which gives us added advantage in delivering education through Google Classroom and Google Meet. Also many of our teachers have qualified as Google Educators in order to deliver the very best of education on line.
It will be difficult for us in the normal school day to enforce social distancing with teenagers but in the interest of their safety and the teachers safety we will be making every effort. If any student presents as sick we will be asking that in the first instance they do not attend school but if they do that we have a contact number where arrangements can be made immediately for their removal from the school. We will have an isolation area as a short term measure.
Strict regulations will be enforced on toilet use and any sort of horseplay or jostling in the circulation area will be restricted.
We are transferring all of our payment systems (Book Rental, etc) to an online system (Way to Pay) which can operate through mobile phones. This will both limit the handling of cash and limit the visits to the building which parents formerly had to make.
We are establishing a regular cleaning and disinfecting regime and hand sanitisation will be available in all classrooms, at the front door and all social areas.
Drinking water fountains will be turned off and students are asked to provide their own personal drinking water bottles.
For those who are joining us for the first time we want August/September to be a positive and friendly experience and we will make every effort to ensure this. However safety will be paramount
For those who would like to join us in 21/22 our enrolment can now be done on line from our enrolment section of our web page
Students will return/begin at the end of August. The final dates will be posted on the website but it looks like First years will come in on Mon 31st August. This will probably be for a half day and they will return later in that week.
Class groups are all mixed ability and we have the largest first year group in years so it will take a little while to settle them all down. However we want to make joining their new school as enjoyable as possible.
As we operate a Book Rental Scheme you do not need to start buying books. On the first day back your child will be given a Book and Sundries Bill. This covers book rental, locker, 24 hour insurance, postage, text messaging, use of devices, mock exams, ID cards, CAT testing, etc . This amount is usually in the order of €150 -€220 except for Transition Year where additional costs apply)
So what will September look like?
Well very definitely school will be different. To date I have not received any direction from the Department of Education but at any rate we have to begin the preparation for opening and complying with the social distancing regulations which exist today.
Bathrooms, classrooms, lunch halls,changing rooms, text books, copies, sharing of equipment, PE, practical subjects, food provision and school transport are among the challenges which face us.
Certainly our delivery in the classroom will be a combination of online and traditional teaching methods. ( Blended Learning ) Over the years we have purchased a large number of Chromebooks which are used throughout the day by students The sanitising of these between each use will present us with a problem as we do not have enough for each student and sharing has been our practice.Through recent research we have discovered that a very large proportion of our students already have their own Chromebooks and in September we will be encouraging students to bring these in as it will prevent sharing and thereby limit the possibility of any infection.
If you are in a position to or are considering purchasing a device we recommend the Chromebook which is one of the cheapest devices and is available from most computer suppliers and even stores like Argos. The retail price is of the order of 250 euro and the device would be of great benefit to students both in school and at home. We are looking at how best we can share out the resources which we have.
Following that week the number of students in attendance will depend on the social distancing in force at the time. Again this is only my conjecture but if social distancing remains at 2metres then classrooms will only be able to accommodate one third of the students in a class and if distancing is reduced to 1m it will mean that half of the class group will be able to attend.
If either of these situations are to be enforced then in the short term at least we could see students attending every second or third week initially. While this situation is a vast improvement on how we ended in June it does involve a considerable amount of work from home so also a device and internet connection would be of great benefit.
We are fortunate that Athy College has been selected as the only Google Reference School in Ireland which gives us added advantage in delivering education through Google Classroom and Google Meet. Also many of our teachers have qualified as Google Educators in order to deliver the very best of education on line.
It will be difficult for us in the normal school day to enforce social distancing with teenagers but in the interest of their safety and the teachers safety we will be making every effort. If any student presents as sick we will be asking that in the first instance they do not attend school but if they do that we have a contact number where arrangements can be made immediately for their removal from the school. We will have an isolation area as a short term measure.
Strict regulations will be enforced on toilet use and any sort of horseplay or jostling in the circulation area will be restricted.
We are transferring all of our payment systems (Book Rental, etc) to an online system (Way to Pay) which can operate through mobile phones. This will both limit the handling of cash and limit the visits to the building which parents formerly had to make.
We are establishing a regular cleaning and disinfecting regime and hand sanitisation will be available in all classrooms, at the front door and all social areas.
Drinking water fountains will be turned off and students are asked to provide their own personal drinking water bottles.
For those who are joining us for the first time we want August/September to be a positive and friendly experience and we will make every effort to ensure this. However safety will be paramount
For those who would like to join us in 21/22 our enrolment can now be done on line from our enrolment section of our web page
Welcome to students joining us this year. Below are some pieces of infomation which might be of use to you. R. Daly
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General Information
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Book Rental
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To Purchase
- correct student Uniform (please note particularly shoes and jacket)
- standard schoolbag, rucksack type recommended
- 1-2 doz standard ruled copies (some subjects may require hard backed copies later)
- Pencil case with selection of pens, pencils, etc
- If in a position to do so a Chromebook is recommended for online learning both at home and in school
Lockers
How to open your combination lock
