A WATERFORD primary school principal has said that are "very excited" about re-opening from next Monday but has warned parents that vigilance is needed at all times to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Brid Golden, principal of St John Of God National School in the city, said the last six or seven weeks has been very difficult for parents, pupils and for teaching staff and she was "welcoming" the return to school of junior infants through to second class from next Monday.
However, she also said there were a lot of "unknowns" at the moment regarding the new variants of Covid in circulation and the last thing anybody wanted was further school closures in the future.
"The big appeal from school management is for everyone to be extra vigilant, be observant and if there any question of symptoms in the family, do not send your child to school," Brid Golden told Damien Tiernan on Deise Today.
"We have to do everything that's possible so can stay open and further take back the other students from March 15."
Yesterday evening, it was confirmed by Taoiseach Michael Martin that junior and senior infant classes in primary, as well as first and second classes, will return to the classroom from March 1, along with Leaving Cert students in secondary.
All years will not be back in class until after Easter, with the final round of students returning on April 12.
St John of God national school is located on Passage Road in Waterford city and has 256 pupils in total.
Brid Golden says she feels for the classes who unfortunately, won't be returning as yet (third class through to sixth class).
She said the period since Christmas had been "difficult" for parents trying to work from home and manage homeschooling. It had also been difficult for pupils trying to engage in remote learning and indeed for teachers preparing online work.
She was satisfied that her school was "ready" for this return now. They had embraced all the latest guidelines re: Covid safety and said schools generally, across the country were working very hard to ensure the risk was kept as low as possible for when they re-open.
She said the new variants seem to be very transmissible and it was hugely important for everyone to abide by all the guidelines in place, including not gathering outside school gates etc.
She said when schools re-opened, they didn't want to close again - or not be in position to take the remaining classes in on March 15.
You can listen back to Brid Golden's interview by clicking below.
You can listen back to hour 1 and hour 2 of Déise Today below.
