How will schools be able to go back in September?

Peter Flynt wrote: »

Yea well. . . I won't be providing a service if I consider at the end of August that the situation is too dangerous.
I'll resign and resume working when the virus has cleared.

Well, I guess it is up to you to make a decision regarding what you feel is in your best interests.

hollymartins wrote: »

My child has been back in preschool for 4 weeks. They are split into play pods, there's stringent handwashing and the day finishes early (4.30) to allow staff deep clean the premises. We have to wash hands, check temp before morning drop off and the children/ teachers don't wear facemasks.

If any of us have Covid symptoms we can't send them in.

If it works for preschoolers and their teachers why are some claiming primary/secondary teachers & students require more protection?

Adult to student ratio would be far smaller, and on top of that seems that pre school is doing a lot more to safe guard than what was outlined in the 'plan'

lulublue22 wrote: »

What will capacity and turn around be like then and will schools be prioritised?

It should be fine to be honest. Our testing capacity is still large, and we would expect that traditional seasonal illnesses will also be way down because the hygiene procedures for Covid also reduce the incidence of these illnesses too. The very low level of international travel will also reduce the circulation of any novel viruses too.

In all reality this will probably be the winter with the least amount of illness that any of us have ever experienced.

seamus wrote: »

It should be fine to be honest. Our testing capacity is still large, and we would expect that traditional seasonal illnesses will also be way down because the hygiene procedures for Covid also reduce the incidence of these illnesses too. The very low level of international travel will also reduce the circulation of any novel viruses too.

In all reality this will probably be the winter with the least amount of illness that any of us have ever experienced.

I would also hope the uptake on flu vaccine will be much higher this year. Flu symptoms are similar to corona so I would imagine people would want to avoid the flu at all costs instead of self isolation/ testing hassle.

I wonder will they make it free for all this year.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

What's the child to adult ratio?

I don't know exactly but which to be fair I imagine it's significantly less, probably half, than in schools.

The day for preschool teachers is longer? Ours is open from 8 to 4.30 since reopening (extending to 6pm in Sept for those parents who need it) whereas primary school have more students but finish in the afternoon? Unless that's all changed now if there's staggered times?

Bobtheman wrote: »

I find posts like this surprising. Isn't this issue EU wide? Other countries have opened their schools. Why can't we? Each person must make up their own choices in the end.

What's surprising? That I love my family and want them to be as safe as possible? I'm horrible!

Rest of the EU doesn't have schools in the state ours are in, they also put protections in place for workers and students returning to school, our government haven't.

Alrigghtythen wrote: »

Why would a 16 year old need a play pod?

To play in ?

hollymartins wrote: »

My child has been back in preschool for 4 weeks. They are split into play pods, there's stringent handwashing and the day finishes early (4.30) to allow staff deep clean the premises. We have to wash hands, check temp before morning drop off and the children/ teachers don't wear facemasks.

If any of us have Covid symptoms we can't send them in.

If it works for preschoolers and their teachers why are some claiming primary/secondary teachers & students require more protection?

I think a bigger sample than one preschool over a month would be required to prove the safety of this approach

Bobtheman wrote: »

I was emphasising that you can't compare playschool with a secondary school. Hours and space etc

I know post was in reference to the poster who didn’t seem to understand that a pid of 6 pre school children is very different to a school situation.

Bobtheman wrote: »

Look. It's an individual choice. Not every school in Ireland is old. So it will depend school to school. Depends on your health.
It's way way too soon to call it in terms of saying our workplaces are unsafe. A huge amount of money being thrown at this. The only advice id give is see what happens. If you think your school will not be ready then delay going back until it is but to simply resign now is premature.

To be fair my school isn't that old, it just wasn't built with something like covid-19 in mind there will be 700+ students and 60+ staff all in at the same time, with small rooms and narrow corridors. And if schools follow the guidelines given there will be no effective social distancing, no ppe gear, no preventative measures such as temperature checking etc.

While it is a bit preemptive to be talking about not going back, there is only a few short weeks to go and schools will be hard pressed to do much in preparation in such a short time. Hopefully schools and ETBs are given a strong level of autonomy with issues such as splitting student numbers for different days, ppe gear, procedures for sick staff and kids etc.

Bobtheman wrote: »

Suddenly a lot of people who have not been to a union meeting in years are relying on mother union again. Amusing.

So what? The union is supposed to be working for its members, not the other way around.

hollymartins wrote: »

It's certainly very different, the level if intimate care a preschool teacher has to provide to a small group of young children who don't socially distance, from 8am to 5pm

Yes but if research is to be believed younger children don’t transmit the disease to the same extent as older children 10+. Preschools are also not dealing with potentially 600 - 700 pp students all day everyday. They also are in pods of 6 that do not mix. Subject choice in pp make that very difficult to achieve. Pre schools also don’t include children who are bused to school via school transport. There are also children who require intimate care in the mainstream school setting and considerably more in special schools.