khalessi wrote: » Thank you Scoondal for your input, thoroughly enlightening. As you know most EU countries have partial openings and teachers here for the most part are doing more than 2 hours a day, mind you some are on holidays now while I am waiting until the end of the month.
Scoondal wrote: » Most other EU countries already have students back in class. But Ireland is different because, but but this and that (oh and the teachers are on full salary for two hours work per day).
Scoondal wrote: » I have had e-mail contact with my son's teacher and school principal. My responses were either "ooh we feel your pain" or just nothing. I want definite proposals from the school about how my child can return to his constitutional right to be educated.
Scoondal wrote: » EU schools are open. Irish schools are closed. Why ?
addaword wrote: » We all know why, deep down. It is not good for the kids to be away from a school environment for 6 months. Society cannot function properly when working parents often struggling to pay mortgages, struggle with the double whammy of wfh and trying to look after kids at home at the same time.
Dickie10 wrote: » why? its mid june, what on earth would be the point of opening for less than 2 weeks then closing again, thats madness,
downthemiddle wrote: » According to the same constitution parents are the primary educator of the child. You are clearly enjoying your constitutional rights.
sideswipe wrote: » There’s a difference between ‘primary educator’ and the Constitutional right to formal education in a school setting. Parents are not ‘teachers’ When it come to the school curriculum.
morebabies wrote: » We have medically vulnerable family members, my main concern is directed at the Department - thankfully I am in a position to school from home, but with 2 in secondary school, how do we navigate the Classroom Based Assessments and the coursework at Junior and Leaving Cert level? At the moment they could sit exams as external candidates but would have to forfeit the marks from project and coursework.
addaword wrote: » Open now for a month so. Elsewhere many schools do not go on holidays until mid July. The kids could do with some structure and education , parents wfh need to get some work done too. It would be a great learning experience and preparation for Sept, but hey lets take the easy option for some.
double jobbing wrote: » Good luck with getting the unions to agree to that one. Teachers would have the class thought by pre recorded DVD's if they could get away with it.
JDxtra wrote: » Anything less than full time in-school education from September onwards will not be acceptable. Parents in large numbers have worked full time from home in addition to caring for and educating their children. Many are working longer hours to facilitate this. Some even have had forced pay cuts from their employers. Children are missing a formal education and their circle of school friends. Teachers are on full pay. Each week we get an email with work to be completed. It’s poorly put together and often cannot be followed. I’d be surprised if the primary school teachers of my children spend more than 30 minutes per week on compiling this. No video messages, no online collaboration, no personal contact to students whatsoever. So, you can see why parents have had enough. The threat of the virus in the community is greatly diminished now, let alone after another 2.5 months of low numbers. Enough of the excuses. We have to live with the virus from now onwards. Schools will reopen.
khalessi wrote: » Regarding your input from your child's teacher, they are working, but if you feel it is insufficient contact the school. I received similar with no indication how to do particular aspects of the curriculum so I got in touch with the school and said it. Meanwhile I have already done 3 hours work today and will be online with students until about 430 then answering emails later.
screamer wrote: » Yes many of us parents have had a tough time during the lockdown but my kids at least have a great teacher who is setting and correcting work with them on a daily basis and is always contactable via the school app. I can’t say enough good things about her commitment to the kids and their education, so from the education point of view I don’t have an issue at all.
screamer wrote: Yes many of us parents have had a tough time during the lockdown but my kids at least have a great teacher who is setting and correcting work with them on a daily basis and is always contactable via the school app. I can’t say enough good things about her commitment to the kids and their education, so from the education point of view I don’t have an issue at all. Safety concerns are a different issue and I would not expect my workplace to call us all in “as normalâ€. I expect safety guidelines, reduced numbers in the office, adequate space for distancing and deep cleaning of the office spaces. I would not expect anyone to work in worse conditions, and I don’t think it’s right to force teachers to work in such conditions just so parents can go back to work. I also don’t want my children’s health put at risk.
wirelessdude01 wrote: » Who will impose these fines? I know full well that the type of parent who would do this won't pay the fine anyway. Also they won't answer the phone when the school number comes up. I had a child puke all over the place one day,said they had been sick before they came in but that mammy had given them a tablet and told them that they would be fine at school. Didn't answer repeated phone calls from the school. Granny had to be rang then. Granny dumped mammy in it when she came to collect the poor child. Said straight out that mammy wasn't working that day. Found out through a different parent later in the week that the mammy in question had been sat at the hairdresser and looked at her phone and put it away. The parent that said it to me was in the chair beside her!!!!!!
FishOnABike wrote: » Simple protocol would be that each school has a supervised quarantine area with a higher level of protection, greater distancing, protective barriers, improved air extraction, .... Any pupils showing up with potential symptoms should be immediately moved to the quarantine area, parent(s) contacted to arrange transport home and the pupil should not be readmitted to school until they have either a negative test result or 14 days, or whatever appropriate quarantine period, has elapsed. This is the sort if guidance, and resources to put it in place, that should be coming from the Department of Education and Skills.
Murple wrote: » You see it seems like a simple solution but most schools would then need to ask who supervises this quarantine area as few schools have an adult available to sit in such an area. Usually a child who is unwell is only a few feet from the rest of the class so the class teacher can maintain supervision. And it may not be just one child. You'd be surprised how many children could be unwell on a given day. Also do you automatically quarantine any siblings that are in the school as well? That could lead to a situation where you may have 6 or 7 children from 3 different families needing to be quarantined for possibly several hours as it can often be that long before a parent comes to collect them. You can't put them all together as one child may just have a tummy bug, another could just be starting a head cold and another may actually have this virus. So that would mean needing several quarantine areas, away from other children and supervised by staff who would also need to be protected.
