The Thomond Times

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March - April Edition 2020

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A Note from the Principal

The Year Ahead The New Normal - From a Distance…

School Closures On March 12th we received the instruction that schools were to close until the end of March, due to
the increasing health risks associated with a new Coronavirus –named Covid-19. This news initiated a
All schools were closed on flurry of activity in Thomond Community College including the ICT teachers organising a whistle-stop tour
public health grounds at of MicroSoft Teams for 3rd & 6th yrs and staff!!, whilst other teachers were flat-out photocopying and
6pm 12 March and assigning work for students for what we initially hoped would be a short period of school closure.
remain closed until Students and staff gathered their books, copies, and folders and left the school on that Thursday
further notice. afternoon, a little in disbelief, but hopeful of a quick return.

However, it quickly became apparent that schools would remain closed

until after the Easter holidays at least and that we would have to learn
a new way of communicating with our students. Teachers set up Teams
on Office 365 and a whole new teaching & learning experience evolved.
The resolve of our staff, students and parents/guardians to engage in
this steep learning curve in working from home is truly admirable. We
are very proud that our staff and so many students worked very hard
in the run up to Easter to minimise disruption to teaching and learning.
Everyone in our school community has embraced this new term called
‘Distance Learning’. We have held meetings with groups of teachers,
including a whole-staff meeting, online. We held 3rd & 6th Yr assemblies
Access our Online
and received very positive feedback from students. We know from
Learning Platform feedback from our staff and interactions with students, that students and
Microsoft Teams teachers alike, miss school-life, meeting friends and attending classes.

During the Easter holidays came the news that the closure is extended
to May 5th. We were also informed of the postponement of the Leaving
Certificate exams to late July and the replacement of the Junior Cert exams
with school-based exams in September. This news has caused a variety of
emotions and further clarity is needed to allay anxiety. We will continue to
engage with our school community to make the best of this unprecedent-
ed situation. So, from now until whenever we return, all students should
continue to engage with online learning and complete work assigned by
teachers who will give you feedback.
You now have a greater responsibility to take charge of your own learning.
Myself and Ms Hogan, your Teachers, Year Heads, Guidance Counsellors,
Chaplain, indeed all staff, are available to help you. Please let us know if
you are experiencing difficulties with work or anything else that might be
bothering you.

We will come through this, it will take some time but when all is ok again,
you’re going to look back on this period of your life and be so glad that you
stuck with it. You will have learnt a lot more than you think!

Very best wishes, stay safe, stay at home.

Norma O’Brien

Supporting Students with Additional Education Needs

The National Council for Special Education has developed resources for parents of children with addi-
tional needs who may benefit from specific advice during the period of school closure. All resources are
available on the NCSE website and publicised through education partners and Twitter. The NCSE visit-
ing teacher service continues to provide direct telephone/skype support to families and students. The
NCSE resources can be accessed at: www.ncse.ie/online-resources or by clicking on the image below and
include:

• Resources for parents and teachers such as class\age level activities.

• Practical advice on how to take care of Assistive Technology in the Home and a suite of
Occupational Therapy.
• Speech and Language Therapy resources (including a
social story animation on attending a Covid-19 test Centre
prepared by the HSE).
 Getting through COVID-19 Together
Protect yourself and others
from getting sick
Wash your hands
• after coughing or sneezing
• when caring for the sick
• before and after you
prepare food
• before eating
• after toilet use
• when hands are visibly dirty
• after touching cuts, blisters or
any open sores
• you can use alcohol hand rub,
if hands are not visibly dirty

andhygiene
www.hse.ie/h

Everyone needs to stay at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
You should only leave your home to:

• Shop for essential food and household goods

• Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products
• Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social
family visits
• Exercise outdoors, within 2 kilometres of your home and only with people from
your own household - keeping 2 metres between you and other people
• Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice physical
distancing.
Follow this advice to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

Video on how to protect yourself and

others with good Hand Hygiene

Minding our Mental Health during COVID-19

Mental Health Ireland has shared five simple actions we can all take to protect our mental health and maintain
positive wellbeing during uncertain and challenging times. They have created the above the tips sheets and have
several videos and articles that can be accessed by clicking their logo.
 Personal Protective Equipment Food Parcel Deliveries
Donation to St Camillus’

Thomond Community College donated Personal Protective Equipment to St Thomond Community College delivered food parcel to families in March
Camillus’ Hospital which was very gratefully received. just before the Easter Break and will send out another consignment in
early April.

Senior Cycle options evening Corpus Christi Visit

There was a huge turnout for the Senior Cycle Options presentation on the 2nd
of March. We’re excited to be adding Computer Science and Physical Education
as new exam subjects or 5th yrs this September.

Supports for Students

Supports for Students including Internet Connections and Data Bundles on
Mobile Providers. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and
Environment Richard Bruton T.D. announced on Wednesday, 15th of April 2020
that all major telecoms providers have committed to a number of measures
to help people stay in touch and work from home during Covid-19. All major
providers have signed up, including BT Ireland, Eir, Pure Telecom, Sky Ireland,
Tesco Mobile Ireland, Three Ireland, Virgin Media Ireland and Vodafone. These
commitments will be implemented by operators as soon as possible. Each
service provider will provide details and implementation updates on their own
website. The commitments will remain available to consumers until 30 June
2020 and will be reviewed in advance of that date if needed.
Students working things out at local
The Covid-19 Consumer Commitments are as follows:
1. Any fixed broadband customers who do not have unlimited usage already
Family Resource Centre
as standard will be given the opportunity, if they require, to upgrade their
package (which may be on a temporary basis), with their current service
provider
2. Any customer who does not have fixed broadband and who relies solely
on mobile access to the Internet will have the opportunity to avail of
affordable unlimited mobile data access/package from their service
provider
3. Fair usage policies will not be automatically applied to unlimited fixed and
mobile data packages
4. Service providers may implement appropriate permitted traffic manage-
ment measures to avoid network congestion
5. Access to healthcare and educational resource websites identified by
the Government will be zero-rated for all customers where technically
feasible.
Over the last few months, students from Thomond Community College
Customers experiencing issues should contact their service provider in the
took part in a Parents Plus Working Things Out Programme at the
first instance, before contacting ComReg’s Consumer Care Team at consumer-
Northside Family Resource Centre. There were lots of interesting topics
line@comreg.ie or 01 8049668 (from 8.00am to 8.00pm Monday to Friday and
covered and most importantly they all had fun!
9.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday, excluding public holidays.
 French Fashion Show

A selection of photos from the inaugural French Week Fashion Show. Students and staff took part, with each person representing a different
element of French culture. It was a fitting finale to another fantastic French week.

Contact Details : Thomond Community College, Moylish Park, Limerick. Newsletter Coordinator: Mr. O’Connor
Phone: 061 - 452422 www.thomondcommunitycollege.ie Printed by: Limerick Printing - 061 - 422 300