How will schools be able to go back in September? (Continued)

My kids are asthmatic and cough from Oct-March every year. How much school/Afterschool are they gonna miss? We are taking huge precautions at the moment and sticking by the rules, I’m just concerned that my kids are gonna miss weeks of school if they can only go when not coughing :-/

OrlaFS2017 wrote: »

My kids are asthmatic and cough from Oct-March every year. How much school/Afterschool are they gonna miss? We are taking huge precautions at the moment and sticking by the rules, I’m just concerned that my kids are gonna miss weeks of school if they can only go when not coughing :-/

Make sure the school are aware of it and it should be ok. We have set up a desk or two at 2m distance in each class for any of the kids with respiratory or immune illnesses. Might be worth asking if it's possible, though it will depend on space. It's much more complicated for kids in this situation and of course you

am_zarathustra wrote: »

Make sure the school are aware of it and it should be ok. We have set up a desk or two at 2m distance in each class for any of the kids with respiratory or immune illnesses. Might be worth asking if it's possible, though it will depend on space. It's much more complicated for kids in this situation and of course you

Thanks-would be good to get clarification from the school-I don’t envy all the preparations for schools.
Can’t wait for all this to be a distant memory!

It's a more reliable indication someone is sick than a cough, people can have persistent coughs for many reasons. It will also keep other viruses out of schools, which may be vital given the precarious staffing levels that are likely to happen.

Good of the principal to have a vote, sounds like they are on the ball

OrlaFS2017 wrote: »

My kids are asthmatic and cough from Oct-March every year. How much school/Afterschool are they gonna miss? We are taking huge precautions at the moment and sticking by the rules, I’m just concerned that my kids are gonna miss weeks of school if they can only go when not coughing :-/

That must be worrying. The only consolation is that you won't be alone so hopefully some plan will have to be put in place for lots of kids like yours. My husband has a work colleague who has a permanent cough. He says they don't even consider that your man's coughs are anything but the norm for him and not Covid whereas if someone who never coughs started doing so, he/she would be looked at more carefully. To be honest, going into the winter, I can't see everyone with a cough leaving work or school immediately. I think it will be more a combination of symptoms.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

You really aren't up to date are you?

Each school has to have an isolation room where children who display symptoms during the school day are to be kept while the parents/guardians are requested to come take them.

Can i ask what the isolation room would be like in a primary school . ? I can imagine it could be frightening for a child to be brought to a room ? But presumably it will be comfy with books etc ?

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

No it's gonna be a cell with no windows and a metal door

For Gods sake I asked a simple question . No need for that .

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Can i ask what the isolation room would be like in a primary school . ? I can imagine it could be frightening for a child to be brought to a room ? But presumably it will be comfy with books etc ?

No one knows. Most schools don't happen to just have a spare room available. We've cleared out a storage closet as it is the only space we can earmark.

What will be more frightening for children is when some parents/guardians screen calls from schools and don't pick up the call. All schools have this issue.

I’ve been following this degenerative thread since the beginning of lockdown.

I’ve thought long and hard about the worthiness of posting here.

I think both sides have lost the run of themselves, running down a rabbit hole of endless vitriolic point scoring comments. Mixed in with trolls that just want to stir sh1t. Honestly speaking, after reading some of the comments here, it has made me question why I should stay in my profession if this is the level of hatred that exists towards teachers, when I give so much of my own life to educate yours while I neglect my own.

I think in the heat of the arguments we have lost sight of the bigger picture.

I don’t know the credibility of this journalism but according to Reuters, one person is dying every 15 seconds in the world from Covid. I can’t post a link but just Google it.

I wish all sides would just take a single minute to really think of the the human cost involved before they continue in their ‘debates’. One person is dying every 15 seconds, due to Covid.

There are a myriad of programs on RTÉ, BBC and Channel 4 to name but a few to educate us about the actual hard hitting, utterly heart wrenching reality of the lonely and horrifying death our loved ones face with Covid.

I don’t know how many of you reading this tonight have unfortunately had to deal with the real cost of this virus. The cost of losing a loved one.

Fortunately , I have not, yet, lost someone I love to the virus. But I have stood by while close friends and neighbours bade farewell to their own Daddies and Mammies, brothers and sisters. Unable to say goodbye, unable to give them a reassuring hug. Unable to mourn in a way that gave them closure.

I love my job. I long for and crave my silly morning singing and dancing phonics routines with my first class. I love teaching Maths. I love hearing children laugh and have the craic. Do I love holidays cry the trolls? Yes, who doesn’t. But this isn’t a holiday. This isn’t a happy, joyous time.

Both I and my students, want, crave and need stability, structure and routine. We all, regardless of sides in this ‘debate’ want and need to get back to reality.

I am a parent but as a teacher, I understand the inner workings of schools. I have no belief in the roadmap. It gives absolutely no advice on the day to day practicalities of classroom life. Do what suits seems to be the attitude from the Department.

When September comes, I won’t be visiting my mother, in laws or my 98 year old grand mother. It breaks my heart but that is the reality of opening our schools.

Open our schools, get our children back to education, yes, they have missed a lot academically. No doubt.

Open our schools, get our children back to education, yes, they have missed a lot socially and emotionally. No doubt.

Open our schools, get our children back to education. Safely. Without repercussions to our loved ones.

Open our schools, our economy has suffered. A lot of our families have lost incomes.

Open our schools. But, What price are we willing to pay.....my family are everything to me... I don’t want to lose them unnecessarily.

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Thanks for the reply . I can’t even imagine a young child being asked to wait in a storage closet ? It would take a lot of parents time to get to them even with the very best of intentions .

The document mentions keeping them in the same room but 2m apart from others but that just isn't possible. 2m apart isn't possible in the vast vast number of Irish classrooms.

Anyway I doubt any teacher wants anyone with a suspect case of covid in their room. I voiced my opinion very strongly with regards to this to my principal.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

The document mentions keeping them in the same room but 2m apart from others but that just isn't possible. 2m apart isn't possible in the vast vast number of Irish classrooms.

Anyway I doubt any teacher wants anyone with a suspect case of covid in their room. I voiced my opinion very strongly with regards to this to my principal.

Well if ever I get a call to pick up my grandchild as I am closer to the school I will run on my gammy ankle if she is to be put in a cupboard

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Can i ask what the isolation room would be like in a primary school . ? I can imagine it could be frightening for a child to be brought to a room ? But presumably it will be comfy with books etc ?

Tbh no one here can answer that as it totally depends on the individual school and the resources available to them - rooms, staff etc.

I can't see it being a playroom or library type setup. As it is many schools are having to rethink the class libraries - you couldn't really let a child with Covid symptoms use the shared materials, it makes a mockery of the restrictions (which are nonsensical themselves but that's a whole other story).

Now at the same time no school will be out to frighten the kids. I think the easiest thing to do would be to give the kid some blank paper and let them write/draw away with their own materials.

pwurple wrote: »

Why in god's name have you been visiting them up to now, but September is different?

I have kept my distance from my parents since February.

I have very rarely visited them. Once, in fact through the glass with my 98 yr old gran. She hasn’t held my 10 month old baby since lockdown. So find another reason to troll on.

Point and case why I haven’t posted here.

Sickening what people get their kicks off.

I think it's a fundamentally bad idea reopening schools as is, but the tide of public opinion will have it no other way. *awaiting the usual suspects on this thread to rubbish studies and browbeat their points so as to silence any dissension*

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2020/07/31/new-evidence-suggests-young-children-spread-covid-19-more-efficiently-than-adults/?fbclid=IwAR0SKOPoWe55CHgjeaxnYAykxMO-n01C4B0DjOTa5tPUpTdQg1_8MaXhrng#31f3c3a619fd