How our community of students and staff have been adjusting to our new circumstances.

06/05/2020 Joeys Alumni

How our community of students and staff have been adjusting to our new circumstances.

To all Joey's Alumni,

I hope that you and your families are well. Since the school closed up our doors on March 12th, our community of students and staff have been adjusting to our new circumstances. A great credit must be emphasised to not only the students for their resilience in the face of so much uncertainty, but also to their parents. Whether the crisis has affected work circumstances, childcare, or simply confinement to homes, the care we have seen shows incredible strength.

Some of the updates on how the school has been engaging with students and their parents are described below. The teachers and staff in the school have always gone above and beyond, but this is magnified when we are 'blazing a new trail'. We continue to put our students' welfare first, and this care is our first concern in our planning. Some of the things underway in the school now include:

Weekly Care Team meetings of middle and upper management
Year Heads phoning individual homes
PPU support on digital resourcing
Information Package on Mental Health and Wellbeing
Whole Staff training in Distance Teaching
Regular communication re. Junior and Leaving Certificate Exams
Daily classes on Google Classroom and/or Zoom
Planning for 6th Year and TY Graduation
Planning for virtual Sports Day
Easter Eggs sent by post to students in mentoring programme

Feedback from homes has been positive that the school has been very supportive during the past two months. While academics are important, we must also remember the reality of the difficulties that we all face. In many ways, the support of the school in terms of contact and keeping a sense of engagement is as important as the teaching that is underway. While in no way critical of the Government who are working through a problem in the best way they can, the uncertainty and regular changes in announcements around State exams has added stress to students' lives, and made planning for teachers near impossible. 3rd year students now face no State exam, but await news on whether they will have end of year school exams. Our Leaving Certs currently await a set of exams in which they don't know what shape they will take, or whether they will be in school beforehand. The greatest anxiety comes from the unknown. If these could be resolved, our students and staff have long shown the strength of community that would guide us through the remainder of the year.

Finally, thank you to the Alumni Committee and all past pupils for your support. Offers of digital resources in the forms of devices, planning for future financial supports, and keeping in touch are very much appreciated.

We will continue to keep you updated on how the school is progressing.

Mise le meas,

Seán Stack

Kind regards,

Seán Stack,

Deputy Principal,

St. Joseph's CBS,

Fairview,

Dublin 3

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