St John’s Primary School helping pupils and families in lockdown

The structure of having school work is proving to be a Godsend for many parents, who struggle to keep their little ones entertained.

One of the city’s schools has shared their experience with the Journal of how they have been working hard to ensure all their pupils have access to work and apps to enable them to continue their learning online.

Geraldine O’Connor, Principal of St. John’s Primary School in Creggan, said the job of being a teacher had been ‘thrust’ on parents and staff are ‘supporting them in every way they can’.

“We were very fortunate to have an ICT co-ordinator, Rachel Doherty, and an ICT technician, Mark Gallagher. We had the resources in place and all our staff at a level where we were able to access all the necessary apps to deliver online classes.

“The pandemic has heightened the awareness of the need for competency in that particular area.”

The school is using an app called Seesaw to deliver work to younger pupils, while Microsoft Teams is being utilised by Year Four up.

The staff also follow up with regular phone calls to check in on their pupils and their families and a staff member is always in the school to respond to queries.

St John’s Primary School places a huge emphasis on pastoral care and their website and social media pages are used to provide advice and signposting to the pupils’ parents during this difficult time.

Mrs O’Connor said that teachers will put up videos on social media to stay connected with their pupils and she will often put up a short message or say a prayer.

Staff also carry out socially distanced home visits to deliver education packs for those who do not have access to the necessary apps and have supplied some children with iPads to ensure they can complete their work.

Anne Canning, the school’s special needs co-ordinator, has been instrumental in getting resources to pupils with special educational needs, as well as meeting their pastoral needs with weekly, and in some cases daily, contact.

Mrs O’Connor said the global pandemic and the lockdown has highlighted a huge digital divide among school pupils.

“There is a massive digital divide emerging, right across the North as far as I can see. We have tried to support some families and were able to provide them with iPads we had.

“There are families with multiple children who all need computers to do their work and some just do not have the connectivity or devices. Some pupils may only have a mobile phone, which is fine for the Seesaw app but the older children will not be able to access their work.

Mrs O’Connor is full of praise for how the Creggan community is dealing with lockdown.

“What is going on in Creggan is absolutely amazing. All the different bodies are pulling together to do the best for the people that live here. It is a wonderful impetus for change and it is great to see the whole community pulling together.”

She added that the engagement of the pupils with their online school work has been ‘superb’, with 95 percent of P1 - P3 pupils engaging and over 80 per cent of P4 - P7.

The Principal said the lockdown situation has been particularly difficult for P4 and P7 pupils who are missing out on ‘many rites of passage’ including First Communion and Confirmation, a residential trip and leavers’ ceremony.

She said it is hard to envisage what things will be like when school resumes, but that she hopes to be able to allow pupils to remain with their current teacher for a short time to provide them with a ‘sense of security and closure’.