Update re school closures 25th March 2020

Dear Parent/Guardian,
 
The Department of Education and Skills have confirmed that, following advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team, all schools will remain closed until the 19th of April 2020. 

​It is a time of great uncertainty and worry for us all. It is important to keep some structure and routine to our days, for everyone’s benefit. Therefore, we hope that the work we have sent home for pupils thus far has been of help in this regard. As this exceptional closure continues, the teachers have created more plans for each class to work on at home. These are in line with their monthly short term class plans. Please try to complete the prescribed activities over the course of the week for which the work is allocated. Plans have been uploaded to the school website www.ballinaprimaryschool.com for pupils from Senior Infants to Rang 6 under the “Class News” section for the respective class group. There is a recommended scheme of work for each class level. However, it is important to remember that each pupil has differing abilities/needs and therefore only complete as much as is reasonable and practical for your son or daughter. Next week’s plans cover work from Monday March 30th to April 3rd. There is then a two week break from school work for the Easter Holidays. Should the school remain closed after April 19th, more plans will be made available on the website. Some have been uploaded already to cover the two-week period April 20th to May 1st. Junior Infants work has been e-mailed directly to parents. 

Please see below an email address for each class teacher should you need to contact them in relation to the work outlined in the plans for the weeks ahead. Also see some further ideas and links with tips for home learning. 

On behalf of all the staff of Ballina Primary School, I would like to wish you well over the coming weeks. Our priority is to keep our pupils and extended families safe and healthy. We especially think of family members, friends, and colleagues who are particularly vulnerable and we will continue to do all that we can to protect them. We have many parents who work in the health service and other front line services. We thank them and wish them well over the coming weeks. 

To the fantastic four hundred and twenty three pupils who are the most important members of our school community I would like to say well done for keeping up with your studies at home over the last two weeks. I know that you will continue to work as hard in the coming weeks. All the staff miss teaching you at this time and we look forward to having you all back in Ballina Primary School as soon as we can! Be kind and helpful to the adults at home and make sure that you do at least one job to help them around the house every day. 

I would like to thank our own staff as they continue to deal very professionally with this unprecedented closure. Thanks also to Múinteoir Adrian who has kindly set up a school Twitter page. If you use Twitter, our handle is @BallinaPrimary. We will be adding to it in the weeks ahead with useful links, websites and activities that may be of value to our school community. We support each other in this uncertain time. 

Príomhoide Bernice.
Email: boconnell@ballinaprimaryschool.com

Tips and Tricks – Home Learning https://www.into.ie/2020/03/18/tips-and-tricks-home-learning/
Online Resources for Children with Special Educational Needs: https://ncse.ie/online-resources 

Junior Infants:
Múinteoir Áine McLoughney: amcloughney@ballinaprimaryschool.com
Múinteoir Ciara Slattery: CSlattery@ballinaprimaryschool.com 

Senior Infants:
Múinteoir Michelle Nicholas: nicholasm2008@gmail.com
Múinteoir Michelle O’ Gorman: michelleogorman20@yahoo.com 

Rang 1:
Múinteoir Patricia: pkinsella@ballinaprimaryschool.com
Múinteoir Laura: ldunne@ballinaprimaryschool.com
Múinteoir Mary Clare: mcoconnell@ballinaprimaryschool.com 

Rang 2:
Múinteoir Yvonne: geaj33@gmail.com
Múinteoir Michelle Ryan: michelleballyroan@hotmail.com 

Rang 3: 
Múinteoir Máiréad: moneill@ballinaprimaryschool.com
Múinteoir Eoin: eoinhaig@yahoo.co.uk 

Rang 4: 
Múinteoir Ciara O’ Sullivan and Múinteoir Cathal (as Múinteoir Fiona begins maternity leave)
4thclassballina@gmail.com 

Rang 5:
Múinteoir David: dhickey@ballinaprimaryschool.com
Múinteoir Claire: cosullivan@ballinaprimaryschool.com 

Rang 6:
Múinteoir Deirdre: drussell@ballinaprimaryschool.com
Múinteoir Michael: michaelhrl3@gmail.com

Múinteoir Róisín’s Class: rhealy@ballinaprimaryschool.com

​Múinteoir Mark’s Class: mosullivan@ballinaprimaryschool.com