IPPN

Letter from IPPN President Damian White to Primary School Leaders

Published: 06 January 2021

IPPN President Damian White addresses Conference 2020 OPTION 1 250 x 171

Dear Principals and Deputy Principals,

By now you will be aware of the minister's announcement that schools will reopen for remote learning for most pupils from Monday 11th January and that special schools and mainstream schools with special classes will reopen to support pupils with additional needs. This announcement and the DES press release confirm what had been rumoured in recent days but many questions have arisen in relation to it and IPPN will seek clarification for members and provide every support in the coming days.

Last May, when it became clear that schools would not reopen before the summer, I wrote to you by way of acknowledging the wonderful work done by you and your staff in the time since the beginning of the lockdown to ensure that, insofar as possible, children continued to receive the very best education and support through new and innovative ways of working. When we returned to school in September, we had hoped that enforced closure and remote learning were behind us and that, while we got used to new ways of operating our schools, they were temporary measures on the road back to normality.

Our sense of foreboding with the huge increase in the number of positive cases of Covid-19 in the community over Christmas was eerily accurate, as this week we received the news that, once again, schools will close their doors and from January 11th, facilitating remote learning will once again be required.

URGENT – DES announce additional PPE products recall

Published: 30 October 2020

Important2020 Important information has come to light from the Department of Education who have announced changes to the approved list of products on the Education Sector PPE procurement agreement, and subsequent steps schools can take to procure new stock if necessary.

The Department is taking 43 biocidal and 9 other products off the approved list for schools because it has not been possible to satisfactorily confirm their registration status as part of the review. These products will not be included in our approved list for schools until their registration status has been confirmed. The Department has no evidence that these products are unsafe.

You can find the full list of products affected here

Any school that is using products listed on the list should now discontinue the use of these products and should store them securely pending contact from the supplier to arrange for their collection.