How will schools be able to go back in September?

Blondini wrote: »

In the absence of a crystal ball, how do you know what's going to happen in 5/6 weeks, and also how do you know what's going on behind the scenes?

Getting frantic over something that might not even happen.

I'm not remotely frantic. Some in the family have kids ready to go back and they'd like to know, like others on the thread. I do know from project planning, the first version is rarely the best one and it requires reviews, iterations and changes. That's where the problem with the time lies and I don't think it will be ready to go. Would be happy to be proved wrong but it is the DES!

Zahir Bitter Cellist wrote: »

The schools should have been opened before now, given what happened this year they should have opened as soon as things were improving.

You think 2 months summer holidays was warranted under the circumstances?

Just in time for September they won't be able to open again because of case numbers. Every opportunity should have been taken to get kids back to school.

Schools opening a week here or there or 2 days a week or split groups, that all happened to facilitate schools remaining open or even partially open. But here nobody even bothered to try.

As I said earlier on in the thread, if this did happen I'd have expected to be paid for the additional summer work. The Government don't want to put the money into schools - a key part of why they are dragging their heels now.

I do think that we should have done something similar to the UK and opened schools for key worker kids. It's a shame that didn't happen.

Zahir Bitter Cellist wrote: »

Even if we had criteria for handling things for future it would be something e.g if cases rise above a certain level locally (an actual specific number based in the population) in one electorate then localised restrictions happen.

If there's a case in a school all staff and pupils plus contacts are tested swiftly to minimise the duration of further closures and the level of disruption.

No return to school for 14 days for children who've been outside of ROI, nobody should have a problem with this. If you choose to go abroad then you know what your decision involves and the consequences.

Enchanced cleaning and hygiene, robust sick policies, maintain class groups and minimise unnecessary crossover of class bubbles where possible.

Special arrangements for vulnerable students/teachers, be that PPE screened area in classroom or smaller bubbles for these people, I don't know.

Other than these measures what steps would teachers like to be made to make schools "Covid Safe?"

The issue as we all know is that all these measure require funding and education is generally not considered worthy of being funded properly.

Big thing to try and minimise disruption is properly resources and funded cover for absent colleagues. Under no circumstances can classes be split into other classes for the day.

Smacruairi wrote: »

That's fine. We will, and always have said we will, take those and be happy. Now if you could get the dept to provide those, perfect. And when the schools come up with local arrangements for staggering the kids back, you'll support the efforts, rather than allowing the "well Marys school down the road is doing this, and Pauls is doing that, can we have all of that as well please".

That's where the department need to provide clear structure to avoid schools starting a competition. A school in our area started with all this self promotion of look at how good we are(they actually weren't but are very good at making people think they are). Really pi$$ed off every single principal within a 20 mile radius.

Survey on VFT for teachers to fill out.

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Yes its very insulting to parents who care about education . For donkeys years parents ( mainly women ) have worked around the school calendar , not because they use it as childcare but because they children are in school they can work those hours .
I am retired now but work a night shift for years , I could sleep while they were in school and work my shifts around that knowledge. At no point did I consider it childcare and when they were sick or days off I either stayed awake or found someone to look after them .

Exactly. Not to mention that if I decided not to bother with the “free childcare” I’d probably end up in court.

I am starting to get a hunch schools for secondary level won’t be open in September. Unless there is a huge amount of work going on that I’m unaware of? Primary schools possibly in September but secondary schools maybe at a reduced capacity. It’s only 5 weeks away and teachers for post primary will be back the last week of August.

frillyleaf wrote: »

I am starting to get a hunch schools for secondary level won’t be open in September. Unless there is a huge amount of work going on that I’m unaware of? Primary schools possibly in September but secondary schools maybe at a reduced capacity. It’s only 5 weeks away and teachers for post primary will be back the last week of August.

I have no idea. No clue. Usually I have some theory. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. But I can't keep up with them, they could literally do ANYTHING. There appears to be no method.

I'm going to bow out of this thread for a bit. Want to try to relax a little for the next month before having to face back into it all.

As the prospect of either online teaching in September or a dangerous full return without PPE seem to be becoming more and more likely as the days go by, if I spend the next month on here discussing it ad naseum, by end of August I will have cracked up and will need to go on sick leave ..... now there's a thought :pac:*





*joke


Best of luck to everyone: teachers, parents, students, axe grinders(!) Let's hope we are all happy come September

Email yisser principals with questions or concerns now!! It will likely be too late at end Aug.

mcsean2163 wrote: »

I thought that an implicit statement could be followed but let me try again but in a more explicit form.

Garda vetting is a form that must be completed and includes a list of former addresses. Many occupations require Garda vetting not just teachers. The form is returned to the gardai and they assess whether the person is ok by them for the proposed role etc.

Also as you might be aware the Gardai don't carry out garda vetting for individuals, so not just a simple form, they wont do it for parents.

"Garda vetting is conducted on behalf of registered organisations only and is not conducted for individual persons on a personal basis. If you are seeking employment or intending to volunteer with an organisation which conducts relevant work, you may be asked to make an application to be vetted." National Vetting Bureau

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcsean2163 View Post
Garda clearance is basically an application form and that's it. The parents may not be good at teaching but Garda clearance shouldn't be an issue.

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?




Garda clearance is not just a form, it is a method of finding out if a person has a criminal record which would prevent them working in certain areas, like with children. You make it sound like it is a minor inconvenience to be gone through.

Secondly, if the schools are closed for health reasons and to maintain distancing, why do you think it is ok to go against health advice and gather in groups to teach children in a GAA hall? They're closed to prevent the spreading of infection.

Thirdly, just because it is a bunch of children that are carrying out the same maths does not mean they will work together, they will all have different levels of understanding and concentration levels. They might not be even on the same level if in the same class. I just taught 6th class last year and the level I was teaching ranged from 1st class to 6th class in one group.
__________________

Good of you to quote to explain but you never answered this question

Please try not to take this post as condescending, but I can practically feel the stress and frustration radiating from the screen when I open this thread. I suggest everyone take a deep breath and try step back from this situation. Rather than sniping at each other, the following should be recognised:

Education in some form will continue come September, the shape that will take will remain unknown until the Department of Education make an announcement re same.

Everyone is finding this situation and the information vacuum around it difficult and unacceptable.

The fear of death from Covid19 is not the most pressing for many, it's the potential long term health impacts, the fear for vulnerable family members etc. so talking about how few children have died isn't helpful.

The Department of Education are a badly functioning organisation and have been for years, those involved in education are aware of this. Those not are probably only realising the extent of this now and struggling to believe the extent of ineptitude some of us have unfortunately come to expect.

Suggesting teacher's job security/pay and conditions make them less caring about education isn't helpful.

Suggesting parent's concerns regarding theor own jobs/childs development and education is somehow selfish or less important also isn't helpful.

We are all in this situation together at the end of the day.

In practical terms things you can do to try influence the safe and smooth reopening of schools in September are:

-Lobby TDs
-Lobby the Minister for Education
-Contact the media outlining your concerns, in particular education correspondants.
-Contact your local school outlining your concerns (they may not be able to answer you directly but principals can bring up your issues when working towards solutions)
-Contact interest groups and unions relevant to you (so teachers unions for teachers, parents council for parents etc.)


But more than anything if you are speaking to children/teenagers about the return to school, acknowledge you don't have the answers but that a solution will be found and the lack of clarity is due to everyone working hard to find the best solution. Don't add to their fears by expressing your frustration. Reassurance is needed. Them worrying about a situation they cannot change won't help.

Best of luck to everyone and hopefully whatever solution is found for the opening of schools is the one that is most educationally sound and minimally disruptive.