How will schools be able to go back in September?

ForestFire · 02-06-2020 12:49PM

Most kids in large estate here in Galway outside playing with each other with absolutely no distancing....
In fact they were playing games were you need to tackle people to the ground in packs!!!

Whats the point in trying to introduce any measures in schools, when this is whats going to happen as soon as they get out the door???

With the current data and risk to children and their potential to spread, it should be school as normal in September....

(With the exception of the teachers in isolation pods to protect themselves!!)

Dravokivich · 02-06-2020 01:50PM

Seems my sons creche is going to be open up fully at the end of the month. Not sure if that's based on how they plan to organise the kids, or if it's something being looked at overall with other creches.

ldy4mxonucwsq6 · 02-06-2020 02:08PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

Seems my sons creche is going to be open up fully at the end of the month. Not sure if that's based on how they plan to organise the kids, or if it's something being looked at overall with other creches.

That's interesting, it was supposed to be only for essential workers from 29th of June but they've now broadened eligibility for children returning to creches.

Children can now attend across the board if it is needed for parents returning to work or education.

If the creche has capacity issues then preference will be given to children of frontline workers.

All positive steps in the right direction, be good to see how the Norwegian pod model pans out here.

Shybride2016 · 02-06-2020 02:37PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

Seems my sons creche is going to be open up fully at the end of the month. Not sure if that's based on how they plan to organise the kids, or if it's something being looked at overall with other creches.

There should be more info from DCYA this week about how crèches will reopen so keep an eye out (announcements are usually made on a Friday late afternoon).

The reopening has now extended to all families with priority being given to frontline workers.

Edgware · 02-06-2020 02:40PM

ForestFire wrote: »

Most kids in large estate here in Galway outside playing with each other with absolutely no distancing....
In fact they were playing games were you need to tackle people to the ground in packs!!!

Whats the point in trying to introduce any measures in schools, when this is whats going to happen as soon as they get out the door???

With the current data and risk to children and their potential to spread, it should be school as normal in September....

(With the exception of the teachers in isolation pods to protect themselves!!)

If they get it in school through inadequate safety measures, Kerching, kerching! Big compo claim

Eoinbmw · 02-06-2020 02:42PM

Edgware wrote: »

If they get it in school through inadequate safety measures, Kerching, kerching! Big compo claim

Try proving that you caught an airborne virus in a specific place!

thenetherrealm · 02-06-2020 03:08PM

extra ie/2020/05/31/must-see/im-waking-up-worrying-secret-principal-outlines-fears-about-schools-returning-in-august?fbclid=IwAR1cCgS5o8rYD3LIXiAkHPZ_Wp57GgiDwnqS_kBsVJWekjAtaECOtZfJXuE

(please but a full stop in the space after extra)

A good piece that gives the insight from a principal/teacher perspective.

As a teacher, I want to go back. But to say social distancing isn't necessary in schools is very short sighted. They very fact that children and young people can carry and spread the disease without showing symptoms is worrying. You say there is no need for social distancing for this reason, but what about teachers, SNAs, secretaries, caretakers, and all the other adult staff in a school who could catch is, and be more seriously affected by it than children? Where do those children go after that they might be able to carry it, undetected? Granny's house? Activities? Supermarkets?

I want schools to be back to normal ASAP, but we need to bring schools back in a safe, controlled way. If that means half classes, we will adapt. If it means PPE, we will adapt. If it means blended learning, we will adapt. We will adapt like we have since March 12th. We will adapt without help from the Government. But we must adapt in line with healthcare guidelines, and not throw the rules out the window because parents want babysitter.

uli84 · 02-06-2020 06:30PM

Ugh going to collect my sons belongings from school tomorrow, should be getting him ready to go back instead...4 weeks would do wonders for him, looks like he’ll finish the 1st class unable to write/spell

jrosen · 02-06-2020 06:34PM

thenetherrealm wrote: »

extra ie/2020/05/31/must-see/im-waking-up-worrying-secret-principal-outlines-fears-about-schools-returning-in-august?fbclid=IwAR1cCgS5o8rYD3LIXiAkHPZ_Wp57GgiDwnqS_kBsVJWekjAtaECOtZfJXuE

(please but a full stop in the space after extra)

A good piece that gives the insight from a principal/teacher perspective.

As a teacher, I want to go back. But to say social distancing isn't necessary in schools is very short sighted. They very fact that children and young people can carry and spread the disease without showing symptoms is worrying. You say there is no need for social distancing for this reason, but what about teachers, SNAs, secretaries, caretakers, and all the other adult staff in a school who could catch is, and be more seriously affected by it than children? Where do those children go after that they might be able to carry it, undetected? Granny's house? Activities? Supermarkets?

I want schools to be back to normal ASAP, but we need to bring schools back in a safe, controlled way. If that means half classes, we will adapt. If it means PPE, we will adapt. If it means blended learning, we will adapt. We will adapt like we have since March 12th. We will adapt without help from the Government. But we must adapt in line with healthcare guidelines, and not throw the rules out the window because parents want babysitter.

Parents dont want baby-sitters. We want an education for our children. The one they are entitled too. Because what they have had the last couple of months is far from it and unless something drastic changes they wont be getting much of one come the new school year either.
As a country we also need people back to work. This will cripple the economy. The reality is without child-care and schools parents will not be able to return to work. People plan and have childcare that works around their work schedule and school schedule. Families have been operating this way for years. We dont have enough childcare facilities to take on all the additional kids that will possibly need to be looked after.

I work with the public, as do many of my friends and family. We will all return to work and for some of us, myself including physical distancing is impossible once my job resumes. So if I have to go back to work, if I have to manage the public and physical interactions then why are teachers any different? With my job I will come into contact with different people every day. I will have nothing more than their word that they have had no contact with a covid patient, that they have not traveled. So if thats good enough for thousands of people like me, why isn't it good enough for teachers?

ldy4mxonucwsq6 · 02-06-2020 07:00PM

jrosen wrote: »

I work with the public, as do many of my friends and family. We will all return to work and for some of us, myself including physical distancing is impossible once my job resumes. So if I have to go back to work, if I have to manage the public and physical interactions then why are teachers any different? With my job I will come into contact with different people every day. I will have nothing more than their word that they have had no contact with a covid patient, that they have not traveled. So if thats good enough for thousands of people like me, why isn't it good enough for teachers?

I'm the same, I'd typically come into contact with about 40-50 people through work each day. That's approx 250 different people on an average week.

That's nothing compared to the numbers that supermarket workers must encounter but its still a large amount of people in close quarters, enough to make my contact list a nightmare if someone had to do contact tracing on me.

Where I work there's been a few changes around hygiene, hand sanitiser, PPE, temperature checks and some minor measures have been taken to maximise the available space and minimise any unnecessary contact.

I can think of hundreds of occupations where this would also be the case and there are thousands of people returning to work every week now.

It is a risk but personally I feel I'm OK with it, the fear of the virus goes away very fast once you're interacting with so many people on a daily basis, my other option is to find myself unemployed so I just have to get on with it.

uli84 · 02-06-2020 07:02PM

jrosen wrote: »

Parents dont want baby-sitters. We want an education for our children. The one they are entitled too. Because what they have had the last couple of months is far from it and unless something drastic changes they wont be getting much of one come the new school year either.
As a country we also need people back to work. This will cripple the economy. The reality is without child-care and schools parents will not be able to return to work. People plan and have childcare that works around their work schedule and school schedule. Families have been operating this way for years. We dont have enough childcare facilities to take on all the additional kids that will possibly need to be looked after.

I work with the public, as do many of my friends and family. We will all return to work and for some of us, myself including physical distancing is impossible once my job resumes. So if I have to go back to work, if I have to manage the public and physical interactions then why are teachers any different? With my job I will come into contact with different people every day. I will have nothing more than their word that they have had no contact with a covid patient, that they have not traveled. So if thats good enough for thousands of people like me, why isn't it good enough for teachers?

Spot on, totally agree, the teacher won’t be able to enforce the distancing and what not anyway unless they want to chain the kids. Blended learning is a nonsense, the kid needs a weekly routine, who would be able to support that in any case, parents do need to work.

jrosen · 02-06-2020 07:04PM

If we are asking other workers to continue working with little more than hand washing and a mask we are accepting the benefits outweigh the risks. So why then would that logic not apply to the schools?

Surely there comes a point we need to accept there will always be a risk and we can indefinitely continue to keep kids home from school.

thenetherrealm · 02-06-2020 07:12PM

I understand the need for an education, and like I said, I WANT to go back to school. This fully online teaching isn't teaching. However, some parents are repeatedly suggesting that "social distancing is not necessary in schools", when it is. Yes, children are not super spreaders, as first suggested. Yes, cases are falling here, which is fantastic. However, we need to proceed with caution. Children can and do spread COVID. To suggest anything else is false and wholly misleading.

You say that you work with the public, and cannot social distance. That is much the same as schools. However, in many schools, you have 30+ children, plus a teacher (and in some cases, and SNA or two as well) in one (poorly ventilated) classroom for hours on end. It isn't short meets (less that 15 minutes contact) as it is in the likes of supermarkets, banks, etc. It is over 5 hours a day with the same population in the classroom.

These children then go from a cramped classroom to a cramped yard, where they mix with other children from other classes (stagger lunchbreaks, easy solve... until you have parents complaining that their children aren't on yard with siblings/friends from another class, that the children are eating too early/too late, that children are entitled to more yard time they are not getting - because of course you could not give every class 45 minutes of yard time a day on staggered breaks).

Finally, you say that every child is entitled to an education, a fact I have never and would never dispute. I can confidently say that if I had half my class for a week, with the increased time (not being diverted to behavioural issues) and resources (not being divided among as many children) I would get a significant amount taught in a week with half the class. Consolidatory material could then be sent home while the other children were in. I am not saying this will happen, I am just saying IF it were to happen, the children would still receive a rich, rounded education - they would not be deprived of this.

As such, the issue reverts to childcare. Parents needs schools to look after their children while they go to work. For many (not all) parents, this is the crux of the issue. They want schools to open so that the children have a place to go to be minded.

Again, I do not want schools to stay closed in September. I do not want to continue with this online teaching thing at all. The best part of my job - spontaneous interactions with my kids and the staff - has been taken away. I want it back. I just want it back in a way that minimises that risk of COVID to me, my staff members, and my students.

youandme13 · 02-06-2020 07:12PM

uli84 wrote: »

Ugh going to collect my sons belongings from school tomorrow, should be getting him ready to go back instead...4 weeks would do wonders for him, looks like he’ll finish the 1st class unable to write/spell

My sons finished first class aswell and as a parent we have to also teach them, it's not just the school!

Blondini · 02-06-2020 07:13PM

uli84 wrote: »

Ugh going to collect my sons belongings from school tomorrow, should be getting him ready to go back instead...4 weeks would do wonders for him, looks like he’ll finish the 1st class unable to write/spell

Really, unable to write or spell?

It's a pity that there's nobody at home with the skills/time to help him.

Deeec · 02-06-2020 08:11PM

This is my first post on boards.ie. I have been following the discussion on this over the last few weeks and have been getting more annoyed by the day. I have always been supportive of teachers and the great job (most) teachers do. I am not a teacher basher!!

I feel I need to get a parents view across. Im so annoyed at certain teachers opinions that parents use school as a babysitting service. I can tell you I do not need a baby sitting service - I do however want my children to be educated and it is the job of teachers to educate our children! I am aware some teachers have done great work teaching their pupils over the last few months, however some schools have done very poor on this ( as in my experience).

I have 3 children (9,6 and 2). My husband has being going to work as normal and working long hours. I work in finance and have been working from home. I have been expected to work at least 6 hours per day. For the first initial 3 weeks of the school closure we did'nt hear anything from our childrens school. The school then decided that after the Easter holidays they would send weekly emails to us parents detailing work to be done by the children. It was emphasised not to send completed work back to the teachers. Being honest the work sent was more work than the children would get through in a normal week of school. My child in 3rd class also received new topics to study which were previously not covered. No online tutorials or engagement from the teachers was offered. The teaching had to be done by me ( senior infants and 3rd class), I also had to do my job which requires high accuracy and look after all the childrens needs aswell. It was and is an impossible task. I complained by email to the principal as did other parents - we didnt even receive a reply ( I have never complained about anything school related before). My employer is not going to pay me if I dont do my job however it seems acceptable for teachers not to do their job and get fully paid. I estimate the amount of work the teachers in my school have put in is 15 mins per week - thats how long it would take to type the email to send to parents. Schoolwork has been the biggest stress in my house over the last few months because of lack of engagement from my childrens teachers. I am anxious that my children keep up with their schoolwork.

The level of engagement has varied from school to school as I understand from other parents. The department of education should have made it clear to schools what was expected of each school . Parents have nowhere to complain to. I fully understand the issues facing schools and teachers with going back to school in September. If home schooling is to continue in September thats fine by me but I would expect that proper procedures are put in place to educate our children. One email per week is not good enough. This does not need to be made complicated - Even something as simple as a video of the teacher teaching a subject would work. Parents do not want to hear excuses such as GDPR, lack of technology, lack of teacher training, broadband as an excuse come September. Any teacher that refuses to engage with their pupils online should be placed on €350 per week.

History Queen · 02-06-2020 08:20PM

Deeec wrote: »

This is my first post on boards.ie. I have been following the discussion on this over the last few weeks and have been getting more annoyed by the day. I have always been supportive of teachers and the great job (most) teachers do. I am not a teacher basher!!

I feel I need to get a parents view across. Im so annoyed at certain teachers opinions that parents use school as a babysitting service. I can tell you I do not need a baby sitting service - I do however want my children to be educated and it is the job of teachers to educate our children! I am aware some teachers have done great work teaching their pupils over the last few months, however some schools have done very poor on this ( as in my experience).

I have 3 children (9,6 and 2). My husband has being going to work as normal and working long hours. I work in finance and have been working from home. I have been expected to work at least 6 hours per day. For the first initial 3 weeks of the school closure we did'nt hear anything from our childrens school. The school then decided that after the Easter holidays they would send weekly emails to us parents detailing work to be done by the children. It was emphasised not to send completed work back to the teachers. Being honest the work sent was more work than the children would get through in a normal week of school. My child in 3rd class also received new topics to study which were previously not covered. No online tutorials or engagement from the teachers was offered. The teaching had to be done by me ( senior infants and 3rd class), I also had to do my job which requires high accuracy and look after all the childrens needs aswell. It was and is an impossible task. I complained by email to the principal as did other parents - we didnt even receive a reply ( I have never complained about anything school related before). My employer is not going to pay me if I dont do my job however it seems acceptable for teachers not to do their job and get fully paid. I estimate the amount of work the teachers in my school have put in is 15 mins per week - thats how long it would take to type the email to send to parents. Schoolwork has been the biggest stress in my house over the last few months because of lack of engagement from my childrens teachers. I am anxious that my children keep up with their schoolwork.

The level of engagement has varied from school to school as I understand from other parents. The department of education should have made it clear to schools what was expected of each school . Parents have nowhere to complain to. I fully understand the issues facing schools and teachers with going back to school in September. If home schooling is to continue in September thats fine by me but I would expect that proper procedures are put in place to educate our children. One email per week is not good enough. This does not need to be made complicated - Even something as simple as a video of the teacher teaching a subject would work. Parents do not want to hear excuses such as GDPR, lack of technology, lack of teacher training, broadband as an excuse come September. Any teacher that refuses to engage with their pupils online should be placed on €350 per week.

I'm a teacher and agree with most of your post . The only part I want to comment on (just to offer perspective not to disagree,) is about GDPR/lack of technology/training/broadband being used as exuses. These are legitimate issues for many (not all) however , I do accept that once flagged there is no reason why they cannot be overcome by September . I'm sorry that you and your children have had such a poor experience.

Deeec · 02-06-2020 08:34PM

Thank you history queen. I take your point re GDPR etc. I live in a rural area and I would describe it as affluent with good broadband etc. While I know technology broadband may be an issue for some schools I don't its an issue for the school my children attend. Parents were never asked for their opinion.I actually blame the principle of my childrens school and not the teachers. As I understand it the principle decides the level of engagement and is allowed by the department of education to do so.

jrosen · 02-06-2020 09:29PM

We all know classrooms are busy places, some classrooms are cramped. But there are other jobs were people are in close contact too and they are just having to get on with it.

I do not deny there needs to be supports for a September return, schools need to have additional funding to ensure hand hygiene can be maintained. But imo schools have to find a way to move forward with all students because the alternative standard of learning does not cut it.

political analyst · 02-06-2020 09:30PM

The pandemic will fizzle out by the end of August.

Sammy2012 · 02-06-2020 09:40PM

I'm a teacher and I'm hoping that by September we will be able to go back to school as normal. I'm looking at it as a parent too as I also have a child starting junior infants. Not sure what we will do for childcare if mine are not in school full time.

As a teacher I have had enough of online learning. I do engage daily with kids and parents and send video tutorials for Maths and Irish but to me it's not teaching. The kids send me back the work they do and I correct it but it's nothing like the classroom and I am under no illusion that the parents are doing the vast majority of the work with the kids.

My principal asked me to send out an email today explaining to the parent who chose not to engage with me that blended learning will ne the way forward and they need to be ready to go in September. As far as I'm aware no such information has been issued from the department so I feel uncomfortable doing so. But I'll hold off for a few days and see what happens. We have done a great job with the virus but the situation is changing every day and who knows what it will be like in 3 months time. I want to go to work and get to doing my job properly.

wirelessdude01 · 02-06-2020 09:47PM

Sammy2012 wrote: »

I'm a teacher and I'm hoping that by September we will be able to go back to school as normal. I'm looking at it as a parent too as I also have a child starting junior infants. Not sure what we will do for childcare if mine are not in school full time.

As a teacher I have had enough of online learning. I do engage daily with kids and parents and send video tutorials for Maths and Irish but to me it's not teaching. The kids send me back the work they do and I correct it but it's nothing like the classroom and I am under no illusion that the parents are doing the vast majority of the work with the kids.

My principal asked me to send out an email today explaining to the parent who chose not to engage with me that blended learning will ne the way forward and they need to be ready to go in September. As far as I'm aware no such information has been issued from the department so I feel uncomfortable doing so. But I'll hold off for a few days and see what happens. We have done a great job with the virus but the situation is changing every day and who knows what it will be like in 3 months time. I want to go to work and get to doing my job properly.

Look at 3rd level for what they see coming down the tracks. They are pretty much moving to blended learning for all courses.

Being realistic if there are still social distancing requirements still in place come back to school time then we will have a mix of online and in-class teaching. No other way around it.

I've also had to have that chat with a few parents. Pretty much that they need to realise that this will possibly be the way of things for a few months of the next school year and that they and their children need to engage. I still have one who still thinks I'm some sort of idiot with the excuses that she comes up with. She'll realise too late that it's only her child that she is denying.

Sammy2012 · 02-06-2020 09:57PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Look at 3rd level for what they see coming down the tracks. They are pretty much moving to blended learning for all courses.

Being realistic if there are still social distancing requirements still in place come back to school time then we will have a mix of online and in-class teaching. No other way around it.

I've also had to have that chat with a few parents. Pretty much that they need to realise that this will possibly be the way of things for a few months of the next school year and that they and their children need to engage. I still have one who still thinks I'm some sort of idiot with the excuses that she comes up with. She'll realise too late that it's only her child that she is denying.

I honestly think they are doing the work with their kids but are just not using the online part of it. It's up to them to decide how much they want their kids to engage at the end of the day. We are using seesaw and I dont think going forward its going to be enough if this blended learning is to continue. I don't feel I am teaching effectively by sending out emails and correcting what's sent back to me. And it's also very hard for the children to give feedback aswell.

From a parent point of view I dont think my soon to be junior infant daughter will benefit at all from school if it is like that. To be honest she'd learn more by being home playing with her older sister. Technology is great when used right but theres no substitute for kids playing and mixing together and it's been mentioned here numerous times how will it be okay for my kids to go dance classes or GAA but not to school. We live rurally so there's no kids to mix with but nothing to stop me bringing them to a friends house to play.

paulmcdonald · 02-06-2020 10:24PM

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Look at 3rd level for what they see coming down the tracks. They are pretty much moving to blended learning for all courses.

Being realistic if there are still social distancing requirements still in place come back to school time then we will have a mix of online and in-class teaching. No other way around it.

I've also had to have that chat with a few parents. Pretty much that they need to realise that this will possibly be the way of things for a few months of the next school year and that they and their children need to engage. I still have one who still thinks I'm some sort of idiot with the excuses that she comes up with. She'll realise too late that it's only her child that she is denying.

I'm a teacher and have been reading this thread for the last while.

I'll be honest and say I cannot believe what I am reading in this post.

''Blended Learning''

For primary school children??????

Any teacher who thinks they are teaching properly or that a child is being 'denied' as you put it by missing out on 'blended learning' needs to think again.

We can deliever content fair enough, but you cannot teach primary school children properly online or remotely.

For the record 3rd level is compeletely different in all ways, not least because lecture halls would effectively be indoor mass gatherings. Every aspect of third level learning is completely different to primary school in fact.

Let's not be under any illusion, no matter how many hours teachers put in or how dedicated they are, remote learning at primary level depends on the parents doing the teaching.

Teachers have worked hard to adapt but you cannot teach primary level in any meaningful way - remotely.

Any learning that occurs at home is completely dependent on the ability of the parent to teach and motivate the child and this leads to huge disadvantages for some children.

Anyone with a different opinion is living in lala land and apologies but we have to be honest.

If it is the case that children will not be back in school full time then work completed at home will be the equivalent of homework in a normal school week.

The teaching and learning will occur in the classroom time.

Also I believe most teachers can't wait to get back to work and once it is deemed safe to do so will be glad to get back to work and teach.

Many students in DEIS schools can not access online or remote learning or it is not suitable for them. Teachers want to get back to what we do best, once it is deemed safe we will be back.

cazzer22 · 02-06-2020 10:29PM

Deeec wrote: »

This is my first post on boards.ie. I have been following the discussion on this over the last few weeks and have been getting more annoyed by the day. I have always been supportive of teachers and the great job (most) teachers do. I am not a teacher basher!!

I feel I need to get a parents view across. Im so annoyed at certain teachers opinions that parents use school as a babysitting service. I can tell you I do not need a baby sitting service - I do however want my children to be educated and it is the job of teachers to educate our children! I am aware some teachers have done great work teaching their pupils over the last few months, however some schools have done very poor on this ( as in my experience).

I have 3 children (9,6 and 2). My husband has being going to work as normal and working long hours. I work in finance and have been working from home. I have been expected to work at least 6 hours per day. For the first initial 3 weeks of the school closure we did'nt hear anything from our childrens school. The school then decided that after the Easter holidays they would send weekly emails to us parents detailing work to be done by the children. It was emphasised not to send completed work back to the teachers. Being honest the work sent was more work than the children would get through in a normal week of school. My child in 3rd class also received new topics to study which were previously not covered. No online tutorials or engagement from the teachers was offered. The teaching had to be done by me ( senior infants and 3rd class), I also had to do my job which requires high accuracy and look after all the childrens needs aswell. It was and is an impossible task. I complained by email to the principal as did other parents - we didnt even receive a reply ( I have never complained about anything school related before). My employer is not going to pay me if I dont do my job however it seems acceptable for teachers not to do their job and get fully paid. I estimate the amount of work the teachers in my school have put in is 15 mins per week - thats how long it would take to type the email to send to parents. Schoolwork has been the biggest stress in my house over the last few months because of lack of engagement from my childrens teachers. I am anxious that my children keep up with their schoolwork.

The level of engagement has varied from school to school as I understand from other parents. The department of education should have made it clear to schools what was expected of each school . Parents have nowhere to complain to. I fully understand the issues facing schools and teachers with going back to school in September. If home schooling is to continue in September thats fine by me but I would expect that proper procedures are put in place to educate our children. One email per week is not good enough. This does not need to be made complicated - Even something as simple as a video of the teacher teaching a subject would work. Parents do not want to hear excuses such as GDPR, lack of technology, lack of teacher training, broadband as an excuse come September. Any teacher that refuses to engage with their pupils online should be placed on €350 per week.

Your experience kind of breaks my heart a little. So sorry you've had this experience and one email a week seems very little.

Everyone has had to adapt as best they can and it seems you haven't been receiving much support. I do think videos of us teaching has been quite successful (with regards to teaching online) and I've been correcting and receiving work every day, but it isn't ever going to be as effective as face to face teaching.

I do feel that the frustration should lie with with the Dept, as you outlined. Because there has been no guidance, some schools have been unsure what to do or what to set and some of us are conscious not to overwhelm parents either. I really feel the Dept have let both parents and teachers down. It's completely unacceptable.

I really feel for younger children, who are just not at the stage of being able to work independently. Let's keep everything crossed for September, that we can all return safely, in some capacity.

Sammy2012 · 02-06-2020 10:38PM

paulmcdonald wrote: »

I'm a teacher and have been reading this thread for the last while.

I'll be honest and say I cannot believe what I am reading in this post.

''Blended Learning''

For primary school children??????

Any teacher who thinks they are teaching properly or that a child is being 'denied' as you put it by missing out on 'blended learning' needs to think again.

We can deliever content fair enough, but you cannot teach primary school children properly online or remotely.

For the record 3rd level is compeletely different in all ways, not least because lecture halls would effectively be indoor mass gatherings. Every aspect of third level learning is completely different to primary school in fact.

Let's not be under any illusion, no matter how many hours teachers put in or how dedicated they are, remote learning at primary level depends on the parents doing the teaching.

Teachers have worked hard to adapt but you cannot teach primary level in any meaningful way - remotely.

Any learning that occurs at home is completely dependent on the ability of the parent to teach and motivate the child and this leads to huge disadvantages for some children.

Anyone with a different opinion is living in lala land and apologies but we have to be honest.

If it is the case that children will not be back in school full time then work completed at home will be the equivalent of homework in a normal school week.

The teaching and learning will occur in the classroom time.

Also I believe most teachers can't wait to get back to work and once it is deemed safe to do so will be glad to get back to work and teach.

Many students in DEIS schools can not access online or remote learning or it is not suitable for them. Teachers want to get back to what we do best, once it is deemed safe we will be back.

Sums up my feelings perfectly.

Scruff101 · 02-06-2020 10:42PM

Deeec wrote: »

This is my first post on boards.ie. I have been following the discussion on this over the last few weeks and have been getting more annoyed by the day. I have always been supportive of teachers and the great job (most) teachers do. I am not a teacher basher!!

I feel I need to get a parents view across. Im so annoyed at certain teachers opinions that parents use school as a babysitting service. I can tell you I do not need a baby sitting service - I do however want my children to be educated and it is the job of teachers to educate our children! I am aware some teachers have done great work teaching their pupils over the last few months, however some schools have done very poor on this ( as in my experience).

I have 3 children (9,6 and 2). My husband has being going to work as normal and working long hours. I work in finance and have been working from home. I have been expected to work at least 6 hours per day. For the first initial 3 weeks of the school closure we did'nt hear anything from our childrens school. The school then decided that after the Easter holidays they would send weekly emails to us parents detailing work to be done by the children. It was emphasised not to send completed work back to the teachers. Being honest the work sent was more work than the children would get through in a normal week of school. My child in 3rd class also received new topics to study which were previously not covered. No online tutorials or engagement from the teachers was offered. The teaching had to be done by me ( senior infants and 3rd class), I also had to do my job which requires high accuracy and look after all the childrens needs aswell. It was and is an impossible task. I complained by email to the principal as did other parents - we didnt even receive a reply ( I have never complained about anything school related before). My employer is not going to pay me if I dont do my job however it seems acceptable for teachers not to do their job and get fully paid. I estimate the amount of work the teachers in my school have put in is 15 mins per week - thats how long it would take to type the email to send to parents. Schoolwork has been the biggest stress in my house over the last few months because of lack of engagement from my childrens teachers. I am anxious that my children keep up with their schoolwork.

The level of engagement has varied from school to school as I understand from other parents. The department of education should have made it clear to schools what was expected of each school . Parents have nowhere to complain to. I fully understand the issues facing schools and teachers with going back to school in September. If home schooling is to continue in September thats fine by me but I would expect that proper procedures are put in place to educate our children. One email per week is not good enough. This does not need to be made complicated - Even something as simple as a video of the teacher teaching a subject would work. Parents do not want to hear excuses such as GDPR, lack of technology, lack of teacher training, broadband as an excuse come September. Any teacher that refuses to engage with their pupils online should be placed on €350 per week.

This has also been my exact experience with our school.

mirrorwall14 · 02-06-2020 10:44PM

I’m a secondary teacher with no childcare and a toddler with a death wish and junior infants child of my own . If I got an email from the school this week telling me I needed to engage more with blended learning I would honestly flip my lid.

I have been torn in two trying to cater for online classes and not getting anywhere near the work and new sight words and multiple activities being sent daily by the school (which they originally stressed were optional). I’m drowning in guilt that he is falling behind and I have never been more relieved that once the farce of predicted grading is done with I might actually be able to start working properly through the new material with him. Heck maybe if I get some childcare at the end of the month we might actually get to do it without the toddler climbing g all over us trying to help.

However parents who are working in other professions don’t have that luxury. I have friends and family in that situation who are cracking under the strain. Right now I can only imagine they are all praying for June 29th so they might be able to breath at work and life again.

The whole thing is a complete mess. I wish I could just wake up and the world would be normal and I would be back in school correcting tests, doing reports and wishing all my exam classes the best of luck- supporting them all the way to the end. Instead what ended up being our final live class was interrupted because the minister was due to cancel the LC (after having leaked to the press in advance AGAIN).

The thoughts of more of this in September makes me feel depressed and anxious and stressed. I want everyone to be safe. But I also want my life back including my classroom

Sammy2012 · 02-06-2020 10:52PM

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I’m a secondary teacher with no childcare and a toddler with a death wish and junior infants child of my own . If I got an email from the school this week telling me I needed to engage more with blended learning I would honestly flip my lid.

I have been torn in two trying to cater for online classes and not getting anywhere near the work and new sight words and multiple activities being sent daily by the school (which they originally stressed were optional). I’m drowning in guilt that he is falling behind and I have never been more relieved that once the farce of predicted grading is done with I might actually be able to start working properly through the new material with him. Heck maybe if I get some childcare at the end of the month we might actually get to do it without the toddler climbing g all over us trying to help.

However parents who are working in other professions don’t have that luxury. I have friends and family in that situation who are cracking under the strain. Right now I can only imagine they are all praying for June 29th so they might be able to breath at work and life again.

The whole thing is a complete mess. I wish I could just wake up and the world would be normal and I would be back in school correcting tests, doing reports and wishing all my exam classes the best of luck- supporting them all the way to the end. Instead what ended up being our final live class was interrupted because the minister was due to cancel the LC (after having leaked to the press in advance AGAIN).

The thoughts of more of this in September makes me feel depressed and anxious and stressed. I want everyone to be safe. But I also want my life back including my classroom

This is why I dont think I should be hounding parents about engaging. I know some of them are both working and trying to muddle through so I dont feel like I should be pressuring them into it now. It's like 2 weeks to holidays.

As a parent of a senior infant I have to say we have been engaging very little with the online learning. I also hate the term blended learning. But rather than spending hours doing school work I have been reading with my daughter, doing oral maths and Gaeilge while we are out for walks, using board games to teach fine motor skills, spellings and problem solving! She had also spent hours playing lego and engaging in imaginative play with her sister. My daughter does enjoy sending her teacher notes about the most random things but I'd say she hasn't done 2 of the actual activities that have been set. But that's my choice as a parent.

KerryConnor · 02-06-2020 11:49PM

I totally agree with you. I'm a primary teacher and think much of the typical workbook style exercises primary school children do is designed to help a teacher manage 30 children in a room together. If you have the luxory of adult attention in a home setting I don't think you need the workbooks but can instead read, audiobooks, conversations, walks, chatting about maths, stuff like learning how to touch type, potting plants, cooking the dinner together etc that are hard to replicate in a classroom. I know this might be easier if you're used to teaching and for many harassed working parents this is also v hard or impossible to manage. But I am harassed enough myself with work/home and find it easier and quicker than trying to do the bookwork being sent (I have 3 scatty dyslexic children at home). So I have abandoned the assigned work as I was finding it literally impossible to keep them all going (I'm also having moments of self doubt and despair when I think I am doing it all wrong !) I would have issue with teachers in June hounding parents to engage in blended learning.

I'm hopeful that we ll continue to suppress virus to very low numbers in this country and social distancing will become less and less necessary. So please god we'll be back operating close to normal with full classes by September.

Sammy2012 wrote: »

This is why I dont think I should be hounding parents about engaging. I know some of them are both working and trying to muddle through so I dont feel like I should be pressuring them into it now. It's like 2 weeks to holidays.

As a parent of a senior infant I have to say we have been engaging very little with the online learning. I also hate the term blended learning. But rather than spending hours doing school work I have been reading with my daughter, doing oral maths and Gaeilge while we are out for walks, using board games to teach fine motor skills, spellings and problem solving! She had also spent hours playing lego and engaging in imaginative play with her sister. My daughter does enjoy sending her teacher notes about the most random things but I'd say she hasn't done 2 of the actual activities that have been set. But that's my choice as a parent.

How will schools be able to go back in September?

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