How will schools be able to go back in September?

mcsean2163 wrote: »

I was thinking the same myself. I'm pretty good at math and it would be easier teaching a bunch of primary school kids than one child as the children work together. If the schools are closed it sounds like a good alternative, especially for families living in cities, maybe two parents could teach at the same time for child safety?

But if you could do that why wouldn’t the schools open??

Comparatively speaking, if a solution isn’t found that supports them not going back to school and the schools can’t open, then this generation of children will most likely feel it for a very long time.

I'll be honest if schools do open I only expect 3rd, 5th and 6th years in secondary to be going back at most if at all, it's likely a 2nd wave might put the dampening on thing's and could even delay reopening into October or even November.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

And here you have it folks, the most basic and clear example ever seen on this thread of someone who doesn't understand how vetting and/or school works. Just a form, sure I can add, sure kids will just work together.

It sounds so easy. Maybe this guy could revolutionise the profession!

Anyone any idea what working parents are going to do when the schools don't reopen in September?

If schools don't go back I want a reduction in taxes I pay for education.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

As long as you’ve got NPHET finger wagging on TV that there’ll potentially be 150 cases a day soon and public health advise is that pubs are not safe... I don’t see parents sending their kids to school, regardless of whether they’re open or not.

Just out of interest, if schools reopen fully with hand sanitisers, PPE for teachers but in the middle of a surge in cases, would parents on here send their kids back to school? I understand some parents would have no choice re: work.

I personally wouldn't, but that's to do with my own ability to work from home and also having asthmatics in our house.

mcsean2163 wrote: »

I was thinking the same myself. I'm pretty good at math and it would be easier teaching a bunch of primary school kids than one child as the children work together. If the schools are closed it sounds like a good alternative, especially for families living in cities, maybe two parents could teach at the same time for child safety?

At the risk of sounding extremely arrogant, part of me would love this to happen.

Bananaleaf wrote: »

At the risk of sounding extremely arrogant, part of me would love this to happen.

My initial thought was - you know what this might soften a lot of coughs.

Why is there no plans for any side of the education sector?!? We are waiting months for some guideline and the new minister said during the week that guidelines have been issued?! 32 pages of waffle. No real plan. They said they would issue more guidelines by the end of the month. That now 2 weeks away. Secondary schools will start to open 3 weeks after that. Schools with hundreds of young people and staff. But no concrete plans on how to manage them. All there is is speculation on the internet. It's crazy. Schools want to reopen, teachers and children want to go back to school.

Releasing guidelines to teachers/pupils to "not wear masks" as the wearing of masks is made mandatory on public transport does not fill me with confidence.

The schools will reopen fully for staff.
It's the extent to which they will reopen fully for students.
That's the issue.

NelRom wrote: »

I doubt that any teacher would ask a child to remove a mask. I certainly hope they wouldn't.
If schools do go back I'd say many children will be in masks.
Isn't it just safer to teach online though? Surely that's where the long term return is best spent if we're in for years of this.

As a matter of interest who is going to mind all these children who are being thought online for years? I'm a teacher with a soon to be junior infant and 1st class child of my own. My husband is back to work full time in his office since beginning of June. My parents are our backup childminders when my kids are sick. However my dad has just turned 70 and has heart issues and my mam slightly younger is an asthmatic.

Obviously if my kids get ill with general childhood illness, which is much more likely in September as they have not been mixing in large groups with others (although they were at summer camp this week, and have returned to GAA and dancing) who is going to look after them? If I have to stay home with them who is going to mind my kids in school as classes will not be able to be split, or if my own kids are not in school and we both have to go to work what will I do with them? Put them in front of a tablet and tell them to enjoy school and I'll be home at 3pm!

There is no easy fix for this but a simple start would be to issue guidelines on masks for everyone. Obviously there will be some who can't wear them but there should be no exception for won't. There are 1000s of parents who are facing these issues and our government sticking their head in the sand is not going to fix it. But schools NEED to reopen. So the sooner the government gets on about making this possible the better. Telling people they can't open pubs as they then wont be able to open schools is not good enough. I understand the impacts on the economy with keeping certain sectors closed but which is more important, education or going for a few drinks. I'd rather manage a class of 30 junior infants than try to manage a group of 30 adults after spending the night drinking.

NelRom wrote: »

I doubt that any teacher would ask a child to remove a mask. I certainly hope they wouldn't.
If schools do go back I'd say many children will be in masks.
Isn't it just safer to teach online though? Surely that's where the long term return is best spent if we're in for years of this.

Online teaching part at primary level is no substitute for face to face teaching. Is it the best option during the pandemic possibly but it also raises a lot of difficulties. Just reading this thread alone you can see the disparity in parental expectations. Some have put forward live streamed classes either for the school day or 3 hours a day. How is this going to work in a family of 3 children and both parents working? or indeed with one parent working. Where are families going to access hardware to facilitate 3 school going children to be online for a min of 3 hours a day ? How about those with no laptops / computers are we going to expect children to access education on phones / ipads. Who wants a child staring at a screen for 3 hours solid.
Some parents were happy with the one email a week and work away at your own pace - it suited their family expectations. Some found it extremely frustrating and challenging to keep children motivated.
Some parents found the pre recorded lessons and use of google teams / seesaw / edmodo great others a total headwreak.
How about those children from a disadvantage background or special ed where education encompasses so much more than academics.
How about those in areas where broadband is poor or those who don’t have the technology to access on line learning.
Or those who are not tech savy - one of the eyeopening facets of online learning for me was how I metamorphosed into the resident tech guru for my parents which I found really strange. I had a parent who had to be talked through sending an attachment via email.

Then there are a the cohort of children who online learning is simply not feasible for - be that due to behaviour , sensory issues , anxiety levels , concentration difficulties etc.

I hope this does not come across as inflexible 😉 but online learning is not without it’s drawbacks.

ETA - I’ll probably be slated for this but it’s clear from this thread that a lot of parents don’t actually understand how the education system works. We’ve had suggestions that a standardised programne be implemented so that all children are covering the same topics as if this will guarantee equality of education across the board. While I understand that patents are concerned about the educational impact on their children such a suggestion will do no such thing. Children are not robots outside of academic ability there are numerous factors that impact teaching and learning. Children don’t learn at the same rate or in the same way. Some children need hands on practical tasks in order to absorb learning , others are more visual others more audio others fare better with a mix of learning styles. Intrinsic motivation and application are also important as is how the child feels on any given day - are they tired, had a fight with a sibling, worried about something.
It’s extremely difficult to cater for such a range in an online context especially when parents think that all work set needs to be completed or else it’s a reflection that their children are not learning or not keeping pace with their peers.
It ends up being a stressful situation for children and parents.
Teachers end up being in the wrong either setting too much work or to little - whereas the reality is there is often a wide range of ability in the class and this coupled with the factors outlined above makes it difficult to suit everyone. Which results in parents becoming frustrated and unhappy with the teacher / school. In the classroom differentiation is second nature so much so that children are generally totally unaware that it’s happening.

lulublue22 wrote: »

Online teaching part at primary level is no substitute for face to face teaching. Is it the best option during the pandemic possibly but it also raises a lot of difficulties. Just reading this thread alone you can see the disparity in parental expectations. Some have put forward live streamed classes either for the school day or 3 hours a day. How is this going to work in a family of 3 children and both parents working? or indeed with one parent working. Where are families going to access hardware to facilitate 3 school going children to be online for a min of 3 hours a day ? How about those with no laptops / computers are we going to expect children to access education on phones / ipads. Who wants a child staring at a screen for 3 hours solid.
Some parents were happy with the one email a week and work away at your own pace - it suited their family expectations. Some found it extremely frustrating and challenging to keep children motivated.
Some parents found the pre recorded lessons and use of google teams / seesaw / edmodo great others a total headwreak.
How about those children from a disadvantage background or special ed where education encompasses so much more than academics.
How about those in areas where broadband is poor or those who don’t have the technology to access on line learning.
Or those who are not tech savy - one of the eyeopening facets of online learning for me was how I metamorphosed into the resident tech guru for my parents which I found really strange. I had a parent who had to be talked through sending an attachment via email.

Then there are a the cohort of children who online learning is simply not feasible for - be that due to behaviour , sensory issues , anxiety levels , concentration difficulties etc.

I hope this does not come across as inflexible �� but online learning is not without it’s drawbacks.

ETA - I’ll probably be slated for this but it’s clear from this thread that a lot of parents don’t actually understand how the education system works. We’ve had suggestions that a standardised programne be implemented so that all children are covering the same topics as if this will guarantee equality of education across the board. While I understand that patents are concerned about the educational impact on their children such a suggestion will do no such thing. Children are not robots outside of academic ability there are numerous factors that impact teaching and learning. Children don’t learn at the same rate or in the same way. Some children need hands on practical tasks in order to absorb learning , others are more visual others more audio others fare better with a mix of learning styles. Intrinsic motivation and application are also important as is how the child feels on any given day - are they tired, had a fight with a sibling, worried about something.
It’s extremely difficult to cater for such a range in an online context especially when parents think that all work set needs to be completed or else it’s a reflection that their children are not learning or not keeping pace with their peers.
It ends up being a stressful situation for children and parents.
Teachers end up being in the wrong either setting too much work or to little - whereas the reality is there is often a wide range of ability in the class and this coupled with the factors outlined above makes it difficult to suit everyone. Which results in parents becoming frustrated and unhappy with the teacher / school. In the classroom differentiation is second nature so much so that children are generally totally unaware that it’s happening.

I agree with you on online teaching - it is difficult to suit everyone. However I think prerecorded videos by teachers would hugely help. They could be watched at a time that is convenient for the child and parent. It would be a huge help even to parents to have some guide on how to teach the topic.

Im a parent that would love a standard approach to home schooling. I get there are different abilities within a class but this is no reason not to have a standard approach. There has been huge variations from school to school on how they performed on this before the summer hols. My children's teachers Im sure did cover the curriculum ( we had a huge amount of work to get through) but myself and my husband had to teach it ( while also doing our own jobs). We had no interaction with teachers ( nothing but 1 email per week on what to do this week). We were not even required to send work back to teacher for correction. The thoughts of my kids not going back to school fully and not having a standard homeschooling procedure fills me with absolute dread. I know if there is no definite guidelines on homeschooling and the schools do not reopen my children's principle will just continue the way it was before the summer. Yes myself and other parents complained to the principle but got nowhere. Ultimately it seems there is nobody to complain to.

lulublue22 wrote: »

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you - but if the teacher covered the curriculum why does the thought of not having a standard homeschooling procedure fill you with dread ?

What if how your school delivered the curriculum formed the basis of a standardised homeschooling procedure. If it did not suit your situation initially why would it suit it now ?

or again is it that you would like a standardised homeschooling procedure that you feel is appropriate and meets your needs in terms of your family situation and or expectations. Then we are back to square one as while it might suit your situation it’s not going to suit everyone.

That’s the difficulty with online teaching and learning.

The way the teachers covered the curriculum was expecting parents to teach it. The sent us 1 email per week listing what needed to be covered by us. No notes on how to teach it etc, no phonecalls or interaction of any sort. During lockdown my children received no actual teaching from their teachers! It fills me with dread because it was a nightmare.

I detailed on here the simple approach I would like to see. Im not asking for much. Its not fair that children in one school is getting great help from from their school and others like me get nothing. That's what I mean by standard - every school should be offering the same.