Saturday 2nd January 2021
Dear Parents, Guardians and Pupils,
I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year. On Thursday we received new guidance from the Education Authority and we have spent the past couple of days trying to figure out the best way forward for our school community.
Due to Mr Weir’s announcement following arrangements will be put in place.
• Years 8-11 will be taught remotely using Google Classroom until the 29th of January.
• Mr Weir has decided that Monday the 4th of January should be a staff training day. Remote learning for Years 8-11 will begin on the 5th of January.
• St Joseph’s will be open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. The definitions of these groups has been outlined by the Education Authority. We can facilitate “supervised learning” as instructed and normal timetables will not be in place. Could you please contact the school office on Monday the 4th of January before 3pm if you need to avail of supervised learning.
• To my utter dismay Year 12 GCSE exams are to go ahead as normal on the 11th and 12th of January. With this in mind we will facilitate study sessions for Year 12 students on the following days:
Monday 4th of January
Maths 10am to 3pm
Tuesday 5th of January
English 10am to 12pm
Wednesday 6th of January
Maths 10am to 3pm
Thursday 7th of January
English 10am to 12pm
Monday 11th of January
English 11am to 12pm
• In additional guidance the Education Authority have made it COMPULSORY for all pupils in classrooms to wear a face covering.
Year 12 pupils who attend the SRC on Fridays is operating as normal until advised otherwise.
I would like to thank you all for your help and patience last year and we will continue to try and keep St Joseph’s as safe a learning environment as possible.
Best wishes
Declan Murray
Principal