Our Lady Immaculate Junior National School Aoife Breen

Our Lady Immaculate Junior National School Aoife Breen Home School Community Liaison Coordinator

The Role of the Home School Community Liaison Coordinator Working with other agencies Courses and classes for parents Supporting Parents Transition programmes (Pre school to Primary/Primary to Post Primary) Role of Home School Community Liaison Staff development Home Visitation Working with other local HSCL’s

Daily tasks in my role during COVID 19: q Contacting parents via • Phonecalls • Text messages • Parents facebook page ❏ Making and delivering work packs for individual families ❏ Linking in with support agencies where necessary ❏ Organising food packages

School Meals Programme ❏ Food package collection once a week ❏ Allocated time slot for collection ❏ Collection in line with the HSE social distancing guidelines ❏ Delivery of some food packages

Challenges COVID 19 presents for parents: ❏ Children with special educational needs-finding change of of routine difficult ❏ Home schooling • • • Varying ages and abilities Working and schooling Parent’s level of education ❏ Financial worries ❏ Concern/worry for specific children in the family

Challenges COVID 19 presents for HSCL coordinators: ❏ Gauging how a child/parent is over the phone ❏ Organising supports-slower process ❏ Difficult to plan ahead ❏ Maintaining a balance of support without bombarding parents ❏ Contacting families each day

Overall experiences q Overall parents are eager to engage with their children’s learning q This is a stressful time for many households, the child’s wellbeing and mental health is paramount. ❏ During these extraordinary times, families of the school are very appreciative of this support. Relationship between families and schools are being strengthened.