This Week’s Newsletter

Broadbridge Primary School       Thursday 11th March 2021         Note 19

Diary:

School Holidays – Wednesday 17th March – School Closed for St. Patrick’s Day.

The school will NOT be closed on the 18th & 19th March as originally planned.

Easter Holidays – School will close at 12 Noon on Wednesday 31st March. The school will be closed from  1st April to 9th April. Both days inclusive.

COVID-19 Update – Parents are reminded that the school must be contacted if there is a positive case in  your household. Please ring 7181 0520 or email info@broadbridgeprimaryschool.com stating your  child/ren’s class and a brief outline of the case.

Adults are reminded that they must maintain a social distance at the gates of the school. We would  encourage the use of masks at these points due to the large gatherings at any one time!

Return to School – We are awaiting a decision by the Northern Ireland Executive in line with Mr Weir’s  wishes that all primary school pupils return to school on the 22nd March. However, as it stands at present,  P1-P3 would return to remote learning on the 22nd March and there has been no confirmation of the return  to school for P4-P7 pupils after the Easter Holidays. For those pupils that are not back at school as yet we  ask that they keep fully engaged in the Google Classroom platform provided. We are really looking forward  to the return to school for all pupils, we can only hope that the correct decision for all comes through today.

Returning Resources – Please send back as soon as possible all reading books and resources that were assigned to your child during lockdown. The school has spent a small fortune updating these resources due  to parents not returning books and resources from the first lockdown in 2020 and has not the finances  available to do so again. Year groups that are continuing with online remote learning may bring back books on their return to school. Thank you for your co-operation with this matter.

Devices at School – There is no longer a need for any child to bring a device to school such as a tablet/laptop  to access online remote learning. Parents are reminded that all devices that have the ability to take  photographs, take and receive phone calls/text messages are not permitted in school. If a child needs to  have such a device the class teacher must be informed. The device should be kept in the child’s school bag  until they leave the school premises. Mobile phones are not permitted in school, however if there are exceptional circumstances it may be allowed, providing the mobile phone is given to the class teacher on  arrival at school.

Fr Michael Keaveny – Congratulations to Fr Michael Keaveny who celebrated 70 years a priest on  Wednesday 10th March. His Platinum Jubilee Mass was celebrated by Bishop Donal Mc Keown on  Wednesday night at Star of The Sea.

ParentPay – Please read the guidelines on ParentPay at Broadbridge Primary School overleaf.

Post Primary Admissions – This year’s application process for Primary 7 parents closes at 4:00 p.m. on  Tuesday 16th March 2021. Please use the following link https://admissions.eani.org.uk/postprimary/Register to make your application before the portal closes.

‘Community Information – McGinnis Group’ 

The McGinnis Group has provided up to date details on their planning application for new houses off the  Ballygudden Road in Eglinton. This is being done to ensure the local community has access to the latest  information. The plans have been revised to take into account of the latest flood maps for the area so they  will not affect flood risk; http://www.gravisplanning.com/current/view/170/farmleigh-residential development. Your feedback or questions are welcomed – please forward to info@gravisplanning.com.

ParentPay

From Monday 8th March until the return from Easter holidays, we are  phasing in the new cashless payment system ParentPay.

The first phase will be the booking of School Meals and the second phase will be the booking of Morning Club and 2-3 pm  Club. All parents/guardians should have received their letter to activate their accounts on the system, if you  have not yet activated your account please do so as soon as possible. If you have misplaced the activation  letter containing your initial Username and Password, please contact the School Office and a replacement  letter can be issued for you.

Phase 1 – School Meals – Monday 8th March-Wednesday 31st March

As of Monday 8th March 2021, all payments for School Meals MUST be paid for using ParentPay, any cash  sent to school to pay for dinners will be returned home. If you would like your child/children to take dinner, please take note of the following:

• bookings must be made in advance before 8.45 am on the day that dinner is to be taken. ∙ parents of children entitled to free school meals must also book online using ParentPay, no fee will be  incurred for these bookings.
•  dinners can be booked up to 3 weeks in advance of the date needed.
• if you have booked and paid for dinner for a particular day and your child is absent an adjustment will  be made at the office and no fee will be applied for that day.

Bookings and payments for Morning Club and 2-3 pm Club can also be made through ParentPay during  Phase 1 but we will also facilitate cash for these payments during this period.

Some parents have reported difficulty booking meals this week, this fault with the system has now been  rectified by ParentPay. As we introduce this new system we do envisage that we will encounter some initial  issues, please be patient during this transition. If you have any issues using ParentPay or logging in, please  contact the school office and we will do our best to work through any problems with you.

Phase 2 – Morning and 2-3 pm Club – Monday 12nd April

From Monday 12nd April 2021 all payments for Morning and 2-3 pm Clubs MUST be made through  ParentPay, no cash should be sent to school from this date. If you would like to book your child/children  into either of these Clubs please take note of the following:

• all bookings for Morning Club and 2-3 pm Club must be made in advance and before 12 noon on the  Friday of the previous week.
• Morning and 2-3 pm sessions can be booked up to 3 weeks in advance.
• if you have booked and paid for a session for a particular day and your child is absent, an adjustment  will be made at the office and no fee will be applied for that day.

Payment for other items such as school trips, school hoodies, swimming, music fees etc will also be paid for  through ParentPay from Monday 12th April. These will be added as and when needed to the system and  parents will be notified about the cost of these items through the class teacher and/or the school note. The  only exception will be Mr Logue’s St Vincent de Paul, children will be able to buy these tickets with cash.

As a result of the current lockdown, it has not been possible to send out letters regarding credit/outstanding  amounts for Morning and 2-3 pm Clubs for December, January and February. Any amounts owed or in  credit will be added to ParentPay in due course and letters explaining these amounts will be distributed to  children who are currently at school. For those families who do not have children attending school at  present these letters will be available at the School Office.