Dear Parent / Carer,  

Firstly Happy New Year to you all! Let’s hope that 2021 is a better year for all of us.  

In Ardnashee School and College our main priority has always been the health and safety of our pupils and the whole school community.  

The Minister of Education, Mr Peter Weir, has stated in his most recent correspondence that we are currently in the middle of ‘extreme public health circumstances’. The Government have also put into law the ‘Stay at Home’ message as they believe this is the only way to control the increasing transmission of the virus and keep everyone safe. In short it is clear that the safest place for everyone is at home, if this is possible.  

All schools apart from Special Schools have now been closed for face to face learning.  

Ardnashee School and College is therefore open for pupils but during these extremely challenging circumstances it has already become evident that we will be facing significant staff shortages when we reopen. If we cannot provide adequate staffing to ensure the safety of our pupils’ then we may have to close class bubbles and be unable to receive those pupils into school. We will let you know as soon as possible if this is the case. We will of course provide remote learning for these pupils if required.  

The Minister has stated clearly that Special Schools will open this week as planned but have advised that the first day back could be used as a planning day, to ensure that everything is in place for the safe return of our pupils. As a result of this Ardnashee will now be open to pupils from Friday 8th January unless we are told otherwise by the Department of Education.  

If you are planning for your child not to attend school for a period of time could you please inform your Class Teacher via SeeSaw or by phone on Thursday morning. Teachers should be in touch with you on Thursday to discuss this. Could I also ask you to inform your bus driver directly, to avoid unnecessary journeys.  

Can we also reassure you, if your child is not able to attend school because of concerns regarding Covid, they will still be marked as present using a DE supplied Covid code.

New directives from DE are encouraging all Post Primary pupils to wear a face covering in class as well as shared spaces and we would ask our secondary to adhere to this, from Friday onwards unless they have a medical exemption.  

We have also written to Arlene Foster, Michelle O’Neil, Peter Weir and Robin Swan directly to ask for our pupils and staff to be vaccinated as a matter of urgency, to enable our school community to return to more normal times.  

We look forward to better times in 2021 and the opportunity for things to return to normality for everyone in the Ardnashee family.  

Many thanks, 

Raymond McFeeters and Alan Bates Acting Principal and Chair of the Board of Governors