Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) **Mod warning in OP 22/01**

am_zarathustra

No harm being cautious and sending stuff home, cautious schools have been proven right a few times over the last 12 months. Saying that I can't see them not bring the kids back, the leaks aren't the usual kite flying from actual l sources, they seem more random than that. But if people go mad over Easter the numbers may force another decision. I'd imagine LCs will be back anyway.

I'd be more concerned about feasibility of staying open. Not vaccinating teaching staff may become a massive issue, small scale closures are already happening due to lack of staff and that's with maybe 1/3 of the staff in any given school back and it primarily being classes who can be left alone for a few minutes while you figure it out or are old enough to just go and get coffee for an hour and come back. There are no subs in the greater Dublin Area. S and S will only cover so much and may not be left in a lot of schools depending on how their first term went.

Msbookeeper

Personally I don't expect a change in return to schools, however the longer this goes on the more concern will grow for the tourism and hospitality industry which are pinning their year on a relatively open Summer, I would think the government will be under pressure from all sides for that to happen. If the case numbers start going up, I wouldn't be surprised to see schools closing again. They do have the "at least we tried" to open schools card. Ultimately politicians are motivated by votes and if they feel the groundswell of their voters prioritising a normal summer over students education I'd say they go with it.

appledrop

Well that didn't take long.

Irish Times article today stating that 'government sources are not surprised at increase in numbers and expect it to continue as week goes on due to Mother's Day, St. Patrick's Day and due to nice weather'

Not one word of a mention about schools, an absolute disgrace. I would have loved to see my Mother on Mother's Day but like everyone else haven't seen her since Christmas. A disgrace ,government blaming increase in numbers on this.

I knew they would pull this stunt.

am_zarathustra

appledrop wrote: »

Well that didn't take long.

Irish Times article today stating that 'government sources are not surprised at increase in numbers and expect it to continue as week goes on due to Mother's Day, St. Patrick's Day and due to nice weather'

Not one word of a mention about schools, an absolute disgrace. I would have loved to see my Mother on Mother's Day but like everyone else haven't seen her since Christmas. A disgrace ,government blaming increase in numbers on this.

I knew they would pull this stunt.

Genuinely hilarious, do they honestly think people are idiots,, 35 kids unmasked in a room all day, no problem......Johnny sees his mam in the garden with a mask on....pandemic outbreak.

alexonhisown

penny piper wrote: »

A north dublin creche confirms multiple positive covid 19 cases and an urgent letter has been sent home to parents..
HSE have stated that this is unrelated to previous cases at the creche.

The creche is remaining open for children who were not close contacts and any children/staff who were in the same "pod" as the positive case will be contacted by the HSE on what the next steps are to be taken..

I collect grandkids from creche everyday and i have noticed pods are mixing, mostly in the outside play area, but there have been a few times where i have seen 2 pods in the same room also. Its easy to notice when 2 kids go to same creche. I thought maybe the rules around creches had relaxed a little. But probably not, its probably just this particular creche.

Locotastic

LittleBrick wrote: »

Principals in numerous schools have said to send home absolutely everything this Friday, as rumours are schools are closing until September. As much as I hope this isn't true, 90% of rumours and leaks to date have been.

What schools?

Icyseanfitz

am_zarathustra wrote: »

Genuinely hilarious, do they honestly think people are idiots,, 35 kids unmasked in a room all day, no problem......Johnny sees his mam in the garden with a mask on....pandemic outbreak.

they do and to be fair i think we are at this stage

LittleBrick

am_zarathustra wrote: »

Genuinely hilarious, do they honestly think people are idiots,, 35 kids unmasked in a room all day, no problem......Johnny sees his mam in the garden with a mask on....pandemic outbreak.

Not idiots, but people are willfully ignorant. It is convenient to believe that schools are safe, and so they will believe the government. They know logically it cannot be true, but it is more convenient for them to believe it so they ignore logic.

Locotastic

appledrop wrote: »

Well that didn't take long.

Irish Times article today stating that 'government sources are not surprised at increase in numbers and expect it to continue as week goes on due to Mother's Day, St. Patrick's Day and due to nice weather'

Not one word of a mention about schools, an absolute disgrace. I would have loved to see my Mother on Mother's Day but like everyone else haven't seen her since Christmas. A disgrace ,government blaming increase in numbers on this.

I knew they would pull this stunt.

But that's not 'like very one else' you must realise by now that many people on an increasing level are doing what they like due to the complete lack of any foresight, action or communication from government.

We can't stay under restrictions forever, experts have said that lockdowns only work as a short term measure and its rather pointless to use them to the extent that they have been here.

Icyseanfitz

Locotastic wrote: »

But that's not 'like very one else' you must realise by now that many people on an increasing level are doing what they like due to the complete lack of any foresight, action or communication from government.

We can't stay under restrictions forever, experts have said that lockdowns only work as a short term measure and its rather pointless to use them to the extent that they have been here.

the big issue is with the lack of vaccinations happening and the increased contacts from reopening schools we could very well be headed for another christmas situation where loads of people end up dying or getting very sick.

The complete lack of any direction or hope from the government is deafening, schools need to be open for certain children, I wont argue that, but a plan should have been put in place to prioritize those that need to be in while keeping those that dont at home as much as possible, instead they've pushed them all back in a "phased/full" manner (under the pretense that they will judge whether each phase can happen safely) while completely denying that schools impact community transmission in any way shape or form.

deliege

Belgium, facing rise in cases and now cases ending in hospital, is considering closing schools again (maybe not long-term but for an extended Easter break).

Declaration of Belgian Prime Minister on the 19th of March:

"Schools are at this point one of the main vectors of contamination. Children and teenagers catch the virus at school, bring it home and spread it there"*



* to be honest it's nothing really new: about half the cases I know amongst my friends and family in Belgium were strongly suspected to be brought in the families via school. What seems to have changed the narrative (and the dynamic of contamination) is that at this point more than half the cases are due to the UK variants, not even to mention other variants (Brazil, SA) also present in the country.

km79

LittleBrick wrote: »

Which is rubbish? That my colleagues have been told to send home books because of rumours? I can assure you that part is true.
As for schools closing, I certainly hope they do not. I am back barely a week, and I have no intention of taking off any time soon! I am only sharing what principals are saying. IT may be cautiousness.

That there are rumors in schools that they’re closing until September from Easter .
Absolute rubbish .
No principal or teachers I know of (and I know plenty ) have said or are thinking any such thing

Deeec

I think schools could stay open if everyone still remembered we are in level 5. The problem is when schools reopened people started to behave like everything is back to normal and started moving around more. For us its home and school for the kids and thats it. We seemed to be in the minority last week by not doing something social for St Patricks day. I can only imagine what people have planned for Easter. Also I am hearing of hairdressers etc doing plenty of home visits.

I think if a strict lockdown had been enforced from January we would be in a much better place now. This has'nt been the case though - it has been a very half arsed level 5.

Icyseanfitz

Deeec wrote: »

I think schools could stay open if everyone still remembered we are in level 5. The problem is when schools reopened people started to behave like everything is back to normal and started moving around more. For us its home and school for the kids and thats it. We seemed to be in the minority last week by not doing something social for St Patricks day. I can only imagine what people have planned for Easter. Also I am hearing of hairdressers etc doing plenty of home visits.

I think if a strict lockdown had been enforced from January we would be in a much better place now. This has'nt been the case though - it has been a very half arsed level 5.

to be fair everything this current government has done has been half arsed politics playing ****e

penny piper

Deeec wrote: »

I think schools could stay open if everyone still remembered we are in level 5. The problem is when schools reopened people started to behave like everything is back to normal and started moving around more. For us its home and school for the kids and thats it. We seemed to be in the minority last week by not doing something social for St Patricks day. I can only imagine what people have planned for Easter. Also I am hearing of hairdressers etc doing plenty of home visits.

I think if a strict lockdown had been enforced from January we would be in a much better place now. This has'nt been the case though - it has been a very half arsed level 5.

Problem is people know full well we are in level 5 lockdown but a certain section of society are choosing to forget this....that's always the case when schools re-open ...the economy is re-opening and people will start to believe everything is back to "normal"... we have a weak government /shambles of a vaccination programme.....
Students/Teachers/staff have been completely ignored re: health/safety issues where are the unions on this?

Maybe it would be a good idea if schools were put back to remote...and let the general public see what happens if level 5 is ignored...imo

Hurrache

average_runner wrote: »

Well the lagged is due to the testing and results. We still have no appointment.
So say the parent got positive result Tues. Thursday test for kid and result sat.

You should get them quickly enough once the appointment has been made. One class I know were notified the weekend, tested the Tuesday and results the next day. Same for the second test, results within 24 hours.

Deeec

penny piper wrote: »

Problem is people know full well we are in level 5 lockdown but a certain section of society are choosing to forget this....that's always the case when schools re-open ...the economy is re-opening and people will start to believe everything is back to "normal"... we have a weak government /shambles of a vaccination programme.....
Students/Teachers/staff have been completely ignored re: health/safety issues where are the unions on this?

Maybe it would be a good idea if schools were put back to remote...and let the general public see what happens if level 5 is ignored...imo

If schools have to close again I would prefer if education was paused until September. There is no way we could go back to remote learning in our house. I work fulltime in a busy role - remote learning required me to sit down with my young children for 3/4 hours per day doing school work. There is no way my employer would tolerate this happening again. I was working round the clock to accommodate this which had a knock on affect on my health also. In theory remote learning sounds great - practically though it doesnt work.

NIMAN

Deeec wrote: »

I think if a strict lockdown had been enforced from January we would be in a much better place now. This has'nt been the case though - it has been a very half arsed level 5.

It has been a very strict lockdown for many, just become some chose to ignore it doesn't mean that the majority haven't been suffering since Jan.

The kids going back to school has brought some sort of relief and a little bit of normality to their lives, and helped me as a parent a bit too, but out flaunting the rules and ignoring restrictions I certainly haven't been.

I WFH and since last April it's basically been work, supermarket twice a week and a daily walk or cycle. Rinse and repeat.

Deeec

NIMAN wrote: »

It has been a very strict lockdown for many, just become some chose to ignore it doesn't mean that the majority haven't been suffering since Jan.

The kids going back to school has brought some sort of relief and a little bit of normality to their lives, and helped me as a parent a bit too, but out flaunting the rules and ignoring restrictions I certainly haven't been.

I WFH and since last April it's basically been work, supermarket twice a week and a daily walk or cycle. Rinse and repeat.

Absolutely I agree - It has been wonderful for the kids to be back at school and having social interactions. Its frustrating though that due to the care free attitudes of some people schools may have to close again if numbers rise.

combat14

‘We hoped to be in a better place now’ - experts warn Ireland is in ‘real danger’ of Covid-19 fourth wave

‘There’s a real danger of another surge’
Professor Martin Cormican


https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/health/we-hoped-to-be-in-a-better-place-now-experts-warnireland-is-in-real-danger-of-covid-19-fourth-wave-40224447.html


will be negligent if send more school kids back in april if numbers not down by then

average_runner

combat14 wrote: »

‘We hoped to be in a better place now’ - experts warn Ireland is in ‘real danger’ of Covid-19 fourth wave

‘There’s a real danger of another surge’
Professor Martin Cormican


https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/health/we-hoped-to-be-in-a-better-place-now-experts-warnireland-is-in-real-danger-of-covid-19-fourth-wave-40224447.html


will be negligent if send more school kids back in april if numbers not down by then

All these professors wants media time and preach doom.


Uk has given so many home kits to the kids for school, a friend is sending some over to us.


Why can't we have home kits to use 3 times a week?


70-75 will be getting their vaccine within the next 10 week days, that is great news and the older group will be safe.


Get the next weak group done and we can open up. Virus is a minor impact on most.

shtpEdthePlum

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40249040.html

Sounds very bad, I heard from parents there that cases just absolutely exploded there today and the school had to be basically evacuated. They got a text saying "please collect your child immediately".

penny piper

Deeec wrote: »

If schools have to close again I would prefer if education was paused until September. There is no way we could go back to remote learning in our house. I work fulltime in a busy role - remote learning required me to sit down with my young children for 3/4 hours per day doing school work. There is no way my employer would tolerate this happening again. I was working round the clock to accommodate this which had a knock on affect on my health also. In theory remote learning sounds great - practically though it doesnt work.

I appreciate what you are saying but I'm sure if schools had to go back to remote learning (which I don't believe will happen to be honest) there are alot of other parents would prefer remote education as opposed to nothing.....
What do you want to do with teachers then? put them on pup? I have two children (adult) who both continued to work from home with remote.....now back to face to face/remote....

NIMAN

shtpEdthePlum wrote: »

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40249040.html

Sounds very bad, I heard from parents there that cases just absolutely exploded there today and the school had to be basically evacuated. They got a text saying "please collect your child immediately".

Cases exploded in the school?

Has the school got it's own rapid testing ability?

Evacuated?

I think maybe a little bit of social media hysteria around that story.

Theboinkmaster

NIMAN wrote: »

Cases exploded in the school?

Has the school got it's own rapid testing ability?

Evacuated?

I think maybe a little bit of social media hysteria around that story.

Yeah bloody hell, this isn't ebola FFS.

More hysteria/doom merchants.

average_runner

penny piper wrote: »

I appreciate what you are saying but I'm sure if schools had to go back to remote learning (which I don't believe will happen to be honest) there are alot of other parents would prefer remote education as opposed to nothing.....
What do you want to do with teachers then? put them on pup? I have two children (adult) who both continued to work from home with remote.....now back to face to face/remote....

In fairness, if it goes to remote, it has to be paused, ie kids can't be expected to move to 6th year after 3 months of 5th year etc.


Teachers can instead use the rest of the year as a revision one. It will help the students.

Deeec

penny piper wrote: »

I appreciate what you are saying but I'm sure if schools had to go back to remote learning (which I don't believe will happen to be honest) there are alot of other parents would prefer remote education as opposed to nothing.....
What do you want to do with teachers then? put them on pup? I have two children (adult) who both continued to work from home with remote.....now back to face to face/remote....

I think teachers should still be paid if it did come to this. Remote learning is unworkable for alot of families - you really need 1 parent not working to make it work. Its fine for a few weeks but not for months like we had in Jan/Feb/Mar.

penny piper

Atleast 20 people have tested positive @ a creche in Tullamore. Offally....12 children and 8 staff have all tested positive...The owner of the facility is said to be distraught after having followed all government guidelines...

average_runner

penny piper wrote: »

Atleast 20 people have tested positive @ a creche in Tullamore. Offally....12 children and 8 staff have all tested positive...The owner of the facility is said to be distraught after having followed all government guidelines...

But one of the parents didn't follow the guidelines!!!!!!!!!!!

average_runner

So all the tests are back for my daughters class, no positive test cases, virus didn't spread