7 Jan.2022

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Happy new year. I hope you and your family had a lovely Christmas break and we look forward to welcoming our pupils back tomorrow.

Please find HSE information below that was sent to schools today to be shared with parents & staff.

Infection prevention and Control Measures:

1) Before attending school:

Symptoms – Please be aware that pupils/staff do not attend school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 infection.

Symptom profiles are available here [https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/symptoms/overview/]. Parents are advised to take a precautionary approach, particularly for children less able to articulate their symptoms, that if a child appears unwell, observe them at home and contact their GP as appropriate.

Close contacts – If staff/pupils have been told by the HSE services that they are a close contact of a case of Covid-19, they need to adhere to the advice on the HSE website in relation to restricted movements and testing. Children under 13 years who are household close contacts must restrict their movements for 14 days and they are offered PCR testing at day 0 and day 10. On receipt of a day 10 not-detected PCR test result, they may exit restricted movements.

It is important that anyone who has been identified as a close contact, is very aware of COVID-19 symptoms, and isolate and undergo testing should they develop any symptoms.

2) Re-enforcing general public health messages

In addition to ensuring that staff and children do not attend school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 infection, please note the importance of abiding by the national public health measures currently in place at all times e.g. vaccination (including boosters), social distancing, use of face masks, hand hygiene, ventilation and minimising social contacts.

With Covid 19 infection levels at the highest since the beginning of this pandemic, we are now, more than ever, relying on each other to act cautiously & responsibly to protect our pupils and staff and keep classes open.