nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

How will schools be able to go back in September?

shoppergal

Just wondering if anyone can give any insight into how schools could safely re-open in September?

Everyone I'm talking to is saying they won't be back until September but in my head I'm wondering how they'll re-open even in September? The virus will still be there with a vaccine still months away at that stage.

Find more posts tagged with

schools

rte news

covid

Quick Links

Comments

jazz_jazz

I think visors would be a lot more appropriate for teachers to wear than masks. They won't hide facial expressions and won't muffle the voice.

Boggles

Deeec wrote: »

I agree masks should be worn. After a few days though I can see alot of parents forgetting to give their kids the 3 daily masks.

I imagine the department will be providing masks?

Or am I being completely naive?

Is that why they are making them optional.

Loafing Oaf

The HorsesMouth wrote: »

If I am asked to wear one I will..otherwise I won't as I believe you cannot teach small children properly with a mask on.

I was wondering about this. I sometimes struggle to make myself heard by a shop assistant a couple of yards away, so is not difficult for a teacher wearing a cloth mask to project their voice to the back of a classroom?

wirelessdude01

khalessi wrote: »

Young children wear them in China and there is no reason children cannot get used to wearing them unless there is a particular reason.

Ahh but they are different because they are communists ðŸ™„ðŸ˜‚

khalessi

abacus120 wrote: »

Oh yeah no problem there but for 7 hours a day?

Well sadly for them we were in B&Q for four hours the other day and they kept them on and didnt touch them. I will qualify it and say that they are used to hand hygiene and masks as we have a relative with CF so they have grown up with precautions since they were born. All it is, is practice getting used to them and what I did was have them wear them at time for short periods which gradually got longer as a game when they were younger, so when they needed to wear them it was not a big deal. They are at an age now where the fashion of the mask is part of the fun wearing them, so we look on the web for good masks with valves and cooool colours as they say.

Young children wear them in China and there is no reason children cannot get used to wearing them unless there is a particular reason.

Deeec

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Let them bring 3 masks a day. Can be swapped out at the same time every day in conjunction with hand sanitising.

I don't accept that my colleagues and I should be put in harm's way.

I agree masks should be worn. After a few days though I can see alot of parents forgetting to give their kids the 3 daily masks. Also the masks need to be handled correctly to avoid contamination - thats hard for young kids to do. I can see it being very difficult for teachers dealing with hand sanitising and mask changes.

abacus120

khalessi wrote: »

My kids wear them no bother when we are shopping and both are under 13.

Oh yeah no problem there but for 7 hours a day?

wirelessdude01

The HorsesMouth wrote: »

How can you ask 5 to 7 year olds to do this? Like they will be pulling at them, taking them off and on..rubbing noses underneath..it won't work. I'm a teacher..and will be teaching the younger cohort of pupils this year and I don't think it's reasonable to ask them them to wear masks. If I am asked to wear one I will..otherwise I won't as I believe you cannot teach small children properly with a mask on.

I talking about the kids that are accepted to be as likely as us to spread it.

Personally I think all teachers should set a good example and wear a mask. Should be compulsory for us while indoors at school.

Boggles

CruelSummer wrote: »

T There is research out there that shows masks are ineffective after a certain amount of time.

No there isn't.

There is research for a surgical environment.

Teachers don't preform surgery on children.

CruelSummer wrote: »

Also..what about children who cannot keep on a costume mask, Halloween mask for more than 5 minutes? ?

I suppose Trick if they came to my house. Effort for the treats I'm afraid.

The HorsesMouth

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Let them bring 3 masks a day. Can be swapped out at the same time every day in conjunction with hand sanitising.

I don't accept that my colleagues and I should be put in harm's way.

How can you ask 5 to 7 year olds to do this? Like they will be pulling at them, taking them off and on..rubbing noses underneath..it won't work. I'm a teacher..and will be teaching the younger cohort of pupils this year and I don't think it's reasonable to ask them them to wear masks. If I am asked to wear one I will..otherwise I won't as I believe you cannot teach small children properly with a mask on.

Boggles

blanch152 wrote: »

Do you have any scientific studies to back that up?

Numerous.

One being the South Korean study being cited.

Children under 10 were roughly half as likely as adults to spread the virus to others, consistent with other studies.

khalessi

CruelSummer wrote: »

...are any of the posters on this thread actually teachers or even parents?

Dang, you found us out and we were hopin to keep the gag going till Halloween

Boggles

blanch152 wrote: »

There are no examples in Ireland of children infecting teachers. None. HIQA have looked at it.

What exactly have they looked into?

The schools have been closed, there is no evidence to look at.

There was no scaled up robust testing or tracing system in place on March 12th.

Quite simply the data doesn't exist.

wirelessdude01

CruelSummer wrote: »

The hysterical posts on this thread re masks are ridiculous. No child should be forced to wear one on their faces all day long. There is research out there that shows masks are ineffective after a certain amount of time.

Also..what about children who cannot keep on a costume mask, Halloween mask for more than 5 minutes? They handle, fiddle with them constantly, they find them suffocating at times and that alone would spread Covid easily...are any of the posters on this thread actually teachers or even parents?

Let them bring 3 masks a day. Can be swapped out at the same time every day in conjunction with hand sanitising.

I don't accept that my colleagues and I should be put in harm's way.

lulublue22

[QUOTE=CruelSummer;114..are any of the posters on this thread actually teachers or even parents?[/QUOTE]

No we are just all posting for the craic.

blanch152

Boggles wrote: »

The science has moved on since then.

If they could do it again I imagine they would have tested a hell of a lot more.

All children can get it and spread it, whatever the age.

Do you have any scientific studies to back that up?

Boggles

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

So you think approximately 30 people in cramped conditions for approximately 6hrs a day is a good idea? Sitting them in groups isn't revolutionary and definitely isn't social distancing.

They need to make masks from 3rd class upwards compulsory while indoors.

Well apparently if you have 2 rooms of students.

There is an infected student in each room.

The room where everyone is wearing a mask has the exact same chance of spread as the room wear no one is wearing a mask after 2 hours.

This is the type of "science" you will need get used to going forward.

Icantthinkof1

So if my 5 year old was infected and she gave it to me then I would receive less of a viral load?
But on the flip side then would that then mean if I was infected would I give her a larger viral load as obviously my lungs are bigger than hers so are children under 10 more at risk from adults than their peers?
So should teachers therefore wear masks in the classroom but children under 10 shouldn’t need to?

blanch152

Murple wrote: »

But then surely they can spread it to their peers, especially in a classroom environment where everyone is sitting close together and is at more or less the same height.
We would always be told to get down to the children's eye level to talk to them. It would be common practice for a teacher to sit on a child's chair at a table to work with them, listen to reading, take part in a station etc. Many Junior class teachers would have children sitting on a mat or the floor when doing a lot of teaching. Again, the teacher would be very close to the level of the children heightwise.
Teachers will have to change everything they do and in many cases, stop things that are considered to be best practice or that improve and optimise teacher pupil interactions. I hope both parents and pupils are ready to accept this.

There are no examples in Ireland of children infecting teachers. None. HIQA have looked at it.

Abroad, there is some evidence of children over 10 possibly infecting teachers, but it is a low probability. For some reason, it doesn't seem to happen.

Teachers, so long as they avoid close contact with other teachers, are nearly as safe as someone working from home, even if that sounds bizarre.

CruelSummer

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

So you think approximately 30 people in cramped conditions for approximately 6hrs a day is a good idea? Sitting them in groups isn't revolutionary and definitely isn't social distancing.

They need to make masks from 3rd class upwards compulsory while indoors.

The hysterical posts on this thread re masks are ridiculous. No child should be forced to wear one on their faces all day long. There is research out there that shows masks are ineffective after a certain amount of time.

Also..what about children who cannot keep on a costume mask, Halloween mask for more than 5 minutes? They handle, fiddle with them constantly, they find them suffocating at times and that alone would spread Covid easily...are any of the posters on this thread actually teachers or even parents?

lulublue22

seamus wrote: »

Which is why the plans will apparently recommend social distancing for older primary kids. Because then you don't need masks.

Which would be fair enough if the majority of schools could implement SD. They can’t unless class sizes are reduced. In effect this would mean half attendance for children staff full time. This is at odds with the gov’s repeated insistence of reopening schools full time fir all children. Do people still not realise the physical limitations that schools face. Many classes you couldn't swing a cat in at primary level once you have 30 kids teacher and SNA. It’s all well in good talking about building works and money for same but we are 4 weeks out from opening. What building work will be completed in 4 weeks. If the gov wants full return of all children a plan should have been put into action back in April / May.

Boggles

khalessi wrote: »

They tested 65000 people including children and found that children could spread it too from the ages of 10 upwards

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/health/coronavirus-children-schools.html

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-1315_article

South Korean researchers identified 5,706 people who were the first to report Covid-19 symptoms in their households between Jan. 20 and March 27, when schools were closed, and then traced the 59,073 contacts of these “index cases.” They tested all of the household contacts of each patient, regardless of symptoms, but only tested symptomatic contacts outside the household.

The first person in a household to develop symptoms is not necessarily the first to have been infected, and the researchers acknowledged this limitation. Children are also less likely than adults to show symptoms, so the study may have underestimated the number of children who set off the chain of transmission within their households.

The science has moved on since then.

If they could do it again I imagine they would have tested a hell of a lot more.

All children can get it and spread it, whatever the age.

khalessi

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

So you think approximately 30 people in cramped conditions for approximately 6hrs a day is a good idea? Sitting them in groups isn't revolutionary and definitely isn't social distancing.

They need to make masks from 3rd class upwards compulsory while indoors.

As you say sitting them in groups is not revolutionary and certainly did not prevent the spread of viruses in previous years. Any primary school teacher will have experienced half empty classes as vomitting bug or colds or flu have done the rounds. So how is something we have practised for years going to prevent Covid19?

Murple

the corpo wrote: »

This is one of those funny quirks of science. The logic is 5 year olds aren't spreading to adults, simply because they're short!

So, when a 5 year old coughs, those droplets are at your waist height or lower, not making it into adult airways.

But then surely they can spread it to their peers, especially in a classroom environment where everyone is sitting close together and is at more or less the same height.
We would always be told to get down to the children's eye level to talk to them. It would be common practice for a teacher to sit on a child's chair at a table to work with them, listen to reading, take part in a station etc. Many Junior class teachers would have children sitting on a mat or the floor when doing a lot of teaching. Again, the teacher would be very close to the level of the children heightwise.
Teachers will have to change everything they do and in many cases, stop things that are considered to be best practice or that improve and optimise teacher pupil interactions. I hope both parents and pupils are ready to accept this.

wirelessdude01

seamus wrote: »

Which is why the plans will apparently recommend social distancing for older primary kids. Because then you don't need masks.

So you think approximately 30 people in cramped conditions for approximately 6hrs a day is a good idea? Sitting them in groups isn't revolutionary and definitely isn't social distancing.

They need to make masks from 3rd class upwards compulsory while indoors.

Icyseanfitz

What about computer classes and practical subjects where tools are all shared, how is that going to pan out.

ixoy

Boggles wrote: »

So teachers can mix with plumbers?

This is the type of absolute fúcking nonsense you will hear quite a lot of the next few weeks.

He's clearly talking about mixing with other teachers in the work setting, much in the same way any work colleague shouldn't be mixing with other work colleagues without distancing themselves.

seamus

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Accepted that 10yrs on spread the same as fully grown adults. That can be end of 3rd class on in some, definitely 4th class on.

Which is why the plans will apparently recommend social distancing for older primary kids. Because then you don't need masks.

downthemiddle

I wonder will schools be allowed mixed ability pods????

blanch152

Icantthinkof1 wrote: »

How can a 10year old spread Covid but a 5 year old cant? Sorry but how does that work?

Not clear from the HIQA document, it doesn't seem to distinguish between ages, but perhaps studies elsewhere, and since the 23rd June have found something.

https://www.hiqa.ie/sites/default/files/2020-06/Evidence-summary-for-spread-of-COVID-19-by-children.pdf

"An analysis of Irish notifications of SARS-CoV-2 in the school setting found no
transmission from children.
(12) All notifications occurred in early March, before the universal school closure on 12 March 2020. Prior to this closure, when a case was identified within a school, either all children and staff within the school or all children and staff involved with an individual case were excluded, limiting the potential for further transmission. Three paediatric cases (all aged between 10 and 15 years) and three adult cases of COVID-19 with a history of school attendance were identified, along with 1,155 contacts (1,025 school contacts, 130 other settings). None of the original six cases were infected with SARS-CoV-2 via the school setting. All cases except one had symptoms of either cough or fever. Contacts were exposed at school in the classroom, during sports lessons, music lessons and during choir practice for a religious ceremony, which involved a number of schools mixing in a church environment, although the length of time of these activities is not reported. The three paediatric cases had a total of 822 child contacts and 83 adult contacts within the school setting. No additional cases were identified during the follow-up period (14 days) from last contact with the index case. However, only contacts who developed symptoms were referred for testing, thus asymptomatic secondary cases were not captured. Transmission was observed in one instance outside the school environment, between two adult cases and a further adult."