BLESSINGTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

WELCOME BACK TO ALL STUDENTS

On Tuesday, September 7, Blessington Community College was delighted to welcome back all students for their first full day of normal classes. During the previous week each year group had been taken in individually for their special induction. It was necessary this year to give extra time to the induction so that everybody would be able to follow the new protocols introduced to combat the spread to Covid 19.

The school day has been redesigned to ensure the greatest safety for students and staff alike. Each class group now has a base classroom and instead of the students moving, teachers are moving from one room to another. This happens for all subjects except the practical classes, where the purpose built rooms are needed.

Lunch and break times have also been staggered to ensure social distancing. All students and staff are required to wear face masks.

The staff room and the Gym have both been repurposed as classrooms. Ensuring that all available space is utilised.

Full credit goes to all the students who have taken on all their new responsibilities without complaint and at the end of the first full week of normal classes everything is running smoothly.

SPECIAL WELCOME TO NEW FIRST YEARS.

BCC was especially delighted to welcome 130 new first year students. This is the largest enrolment the school has had and shows how the school has been consistently growing over the last number of years with most parents opting to stay local when choosing a school for their children.

The group has been divided into five class groups with Ms Driver acting as their Year head. A great deal of work was put into getting them settled and before any tuition began they had two days in the school to get used to their new surroundings.

LEAD WORKER REPRESENTATIVES

Ms Harbourne and Mr Logan, two of the schools Science teachers were appointed during the summer as Lead Worker Representatives. This means that they have specific responsibilities in implementing safety guidelines regarding Covid 19.

Both teachers have completed the HSA Lead Worker Representative Course. They have been working since the middle of the summer on the new protocols which the school must observe in order to follow health guidelines.

The staff and students feel very secure in the knowledge that both teachers are from the Science department and even more so by the fact that Ms Harbourne has had experience working in Infectious Disease Control for the HSE in the past. Both teachers are available in the school to advise staff and students on the most optimal methods to use in keeping Covid 19 out of the school.

THANK YOU TO THE CARETAKING TEAM

The staff and students of Blessington Community College would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Caretaker Donal Rossiter and the Caretaking team Ann Ricdardson, Angela Richardson and Pauline Fitzsimons, who have been working tirelessly to ensure that the school buildings are maintained to the highest possible levels of hygiene.

The work load they have to face each day is enormous as they are following a rigorous program of sanitising all rooms. Particular thanks goes to Donal, for all the work in setting up the new classrooms and making sure that everything is in working order.