Dear Parent/Guardian,
I hope you and your family have enjoyed the summer holidays so far and are looking forward to starting the new school year. When your child returns to Long Tower, new routines will be in place to help your child learn and follow COVID-19 protocols around the school. We appreciate that the return to school will be a challenging time for all our school community; however, we wish to reassure you that your child’s health and emotional well-being is at the forefront of all we do at Long Tower. Our staff will strive to ensure that your child feels comfortable returning to school and is aware of the new routines in place.
We are currently making preparations for your child’s return. Following advice from the NI Executive and Department of Education, we will be returning to school in full classes with protective “bubbles” for each class, to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid 19. Classes will have separate breaks and lunchtimes and hygiene procedures will be carefully followed. We will be in touch over the next two weeks, with guidance in relation to drop-off/collection times, school meals etc. Please ensure you are following our school Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as the school website, to keep up to date.
Until then, we would ask parents to purchase school uniforms as normal. Children will also require their own stationery items which should be kept in individual, transparent pencil cases and will remain in school. Children may bring lunch boxes to school. School bags will not be required upon initial return to school and we ask that you do not send any other personal items to school with your child. To ensure lost property is kept to a minimum, please ensure all items are labelled with your child’s name and class.
Please note that there will be no after school clubs, breakfast clubs, class assemblies, swimming or educational visits until we receive further guidance on these activities.
Primary 7 children will return on Monday 24th August and all other classes will return for induction days during that week also. (dates will be confirmed shortly). We will provide more precise information in the coming weeks in relation to your child’s return and information from the Department of Education will be disseminated as and when we receive it.
We look forward to a safe return for all pupils this month and thank you for your continued support.
Kindest regards,
J. Logue
