Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) Mod warning in OP 22/01

Locotastic · 28-02-2021 09:44PM

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Where are schools being closed ?

Here, it's already started. It's going to be another rough few months.

Zaney · 28-02-2021 10:04PM

downthemiddle wrote: »

No it's 180 this year.

My daughter’s teacher will work 180 days, but my daughter will not receive 180 days worth of education.

Three extra days off whilst teachers prepared for remote learning in January and two more this week just gone as they prepare to return.

I could probably deduct the initial fortnight of remote learning that consisted of little. It wasn’t until parents complained that things got remotely close to some level of daily engagement.

And I could go on but what’s the point, as long as the teacher is working who cares what standard of education is being delivered?

Icyseanfitz · 28-02-2021 10:19PM

Zaney wrote: »

My daughter’s teacher will work 180 days, but my daughter will not receive 180 days worth of education.

Three extra days off whilst teachers prepared for remote learning in January and two more this week just gone as they prepare to return.

I could probably deduct the initial fortnight of remote learning that consisted of little. It wasn’t until parents complained that things got remotely close to some level of daily engagement.

And I could go on but what’s the point, as long as the teacher is working who cares what standard of education is being delivered?

Icyseanfitz · 28-02-2021 10:19PM

Best luck tomorrow everyone, stay safe and stay sane

Zaney · 28-02-2021 10:20PM

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

Honestly I think it’s frustration and I’ll admit to that.

What is being planned to help kids catch up?

Hold My Hand · 28-02-2021 10:35PM

I’m happy to be going back tomorrow. I remember as a child watching Skippy and being jealous of Sonny getting homeschooled. It looked so fancy! The reality is very different. Met a few families on my walk today and they are all buzzing to be going back to school. If the weather is like today, it will help. Hope it goes well for everyone!

History Queen · 28-02-2021 10:39PM

Locotastic wrote: »

Here, it's already started. It's going to be another rough few months.

What schools have been closed?

History Queen · 28-02-2021 10:44PM

Zaney wrote: »

Honestly I think it’s frustration and I’ll admit to that.

What is being planned to help kids catch up?

Schools on an individual basis will do what they deem necessary for their own students. The spiral curriculum at primary level will help the majority I would think, but if you're looking for a national plan you'll have to ask the Department of Education. Based on prior experience I would imagine they've planned nothing.

Edit: if you have an area of particular concern it might be worth flagging it with your child's teacher.

Locotastic · 28-02-2021 10:45PM

History Queen wrote: »

What schools have been closed?

I'm surprised it hasn't been reported in the media yet, maybe in the morning. Only the start of it I'd imagine.

History Queen · 28-02-2021 10:47PM

Locotastic wrote: »

I'm surprised it hasn't been reported in the media yet, maybe in the morning. Only the start of it I'd imagine.

The start of what? You keep alluding to schools being closed and avoiding answering direct questions. What are you at? Are you trying to scare people? If not, why not answer?

PeterPan92 · 28-02-2021 10:52PM

Zaney wrote: »

Honestly I think it’s frustration and I’ll admit to that.

What is being planned to help kids catch up?

I have already been in contact with the teacher the next class up from me. I have asked this teacher to compile a list of essentials areas to cover to help the children progress with minimum interruption and difficulty. The areas they deem most important will be done first, and any other areas of the curriculum that will be more easily bridged will be done if time allows.

Our school also did parent-teacher meetings during the school closure. I have taken a list of areas that parents are worried about and will also focus on these. Coincidentally, the areas most commonly cited by parents were also those mentioned by the teacher I consulted with.

Question for you, as you seem concerned about your child missing out academically during the closure. Would you, as a parent, be okay with teacher's reducing (or eliminating) the time spent on non-core subjects (1 hour drama, 1 hour music, 1 hour art, 1 hour PE, etc.) and reallocating this to other areas to help kids catch up?

Locotastic · 28-02-2021 10:53PM

History Queen wrote: »

The start of what? You keep allufing to schools being closed and avoiding answering direct questions. What are you at? Are you trying to scare people? If not, why not answer?

You hardly expect me to name schools when that information hasn't been published?

My nieces school was ordered to close last night due to outbreaks.

lulublue22 · 28-02-2021 10:55PM

Locotastic wrote: »

You hardly expect me to name schools when that information hasn't been published?

My nieces school was ordered to close last night due to outbreaks.

School or class - big difference between the two.

History Queen · 28-02-2021 10:58PM

Locotastic wrote: »

You hardly expect me to name schools when that information hasn't been published?

My nieces school was ordered to close last night due to outbreaks.

So you know of one school? Your posts suggest you know of many. Why didn't you just say that your niece's school had been ordered to close instead of posting in a way that suggested you had knowledge of several schools closing?

I hope your niece isn't affected and those that are make a full and fast recovery.

I hadn't realised that schools were now being ordered to close. I wonder what the criteria is? This appears to be a departure from the pre-Christmas attitude of keep school's open at all costs.

khalessi · 28-02-2021 10:59PM

Locotastic wrote: »

I'm surprised it hasn't been reported in the media yet, maybe in the morning. Only the start of it I'd imagine.

Well Prof Nolan said today on NT that new safety measures weren't needed as they worked so well last year, it was "hard to find confirmed case of transmission in schools." In response the interviewer cornered him on B117 and other variants and he replied something along lines of we have hope and optimism.

So there ya have it folks, NPHET have bet school health on hope and optimism not updated guidance like that published by CDC today

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/ventilation.html

khalessi · 28-02-2021 11:09PM

History Queen wrote: »

So you know of one school? Your posts suggest you know of many. Why didn't you just say that your niece's school had been ordered to close instead of posting in a way that suggested you had knowledge of several schools closing?

I hope your niece isn't affected and those that are make a full and fast recovery.

I hadn't realised that schools were now being ordered to close. I wonder what the criteria is? This appears to be a departure from the pre-Christmas attitude of keep school's open at all costs.

I reckon it is optics, look we are doing something, but will stop once majority schools are back as otherwise people mignt ask questions as to why so many schools closed as they are safe.

I really hope I am wrong but Dept have form for the oul media optics.

KerryConnor · 01-03-2021 09:10AM

This headline is a bit worrying.. I initially thought, great they're using antigen tests to mass test schools.. but if they're being used around outbreaks they're being used for close contacts , that's less support that before!

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/rapid-covid-19-tests-to-be-used-in-monitoring-school-outbreaks-1.4497580

average_runner · 01-03-2021 11:20AM

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...030-4/fulltext

"Importantly, we have found no evidence of more severe disease having occurred in children and young people during the second wave, suggesting that infection with the B.1.1.7 variant does not result in an appreciably different clinical course to the original strain. These findings are in keeping with early national data. Severe acute respiratory COVID-19 remains an uncommon occurrence in children and young people."

Schools are back, its great news. Our school were delighted this morning, teacher couldn't be happier, same with our neighbours that are teachers.
Next we need to get the kids back to sports, hopefully start of April.

JP100 · 01-03-2021 11:33AM

1,403 Covid 19 cases in children under 12 years old over the past two weeks.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0301/1199998-covid19-ireland/

average_runner · 01-03-2021 11:39AM

khalessi wrote: »

Well Prof Nolan said today on NT that new safety measures weren't needed as they worked so well last year, it was "hard to find confirmed case of transmission in schools." In response the interviewer cornered him on B117 and other variants and he replied something along lines of we have hope and optimism.

So there ya have it folks, NPHET have bet school health on hope and optimism not updated guidance like that published by CDC today

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/ventilation.html

There is no scientific evidence to show this any different than before. Scare mongering people is not the right approach to take

Richard tea · 01-03-2021 12:14PM

Young lad in 2nd year. This is his home schooling lately. All last week he had 1 -3 lessons which didn't start until 2pm. Today his first class is 12:30. Teaching consists of a 25 minute zoom call. He is rarely instructed to read a passage and answer questions etc. 90% of the time he is not required to take notes etc. Shocking to think when be actually returns to school he will only have 6-7 weeks left before the summer holidays. Don't suggest getting onto the teachers or school because realistically what would be required is a minimum of 5 hrs a day actually teaching and correcting work to catch up. Is it totally at the schools discretion if a parent requests a child repeats a year?

History Queen · 01-03-2021 12:31PM

Richard tea wrote: »

Young lad in 2nd year. This is his home schooling lately. All last week he had 1 -3 lessons which didn't start until 2pm. Today his first class is 12:30. Teaching consists of a 25 minute zoom call. He is rarely instructed to read a passage and answer questions etc. 90% of the time he is not required to take notes etc. Shocking to think when be actually returns to school he will only have 6-7 weeks left before the summer holidays. Don't suggest getting onto the teachers or school because realistically what would be required is a minimum of 5 hrs a day actually teaching and correcting work to catch up. Is it totally at the schools discretion if a parent requests a child repeats a year?

If you don't get on to the school they can't respond to your issues. Are you sure he isn't getting work for the classes that aren't live? I wouldn't be worried about a lack of note taking though.

As regards repeating a year, unless there are concerns about his attainment repeating is generally seen as detrimental. If you have concerns speak to the school. Yearhead would be a good starting point.

Locotastic · 01-03-2021 12:36PM

JP100 wrote: »

1,403 Covid 19 cases in children under 12 years old over the past two weeks.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0301/1199998-covid19-ireland/

Less than the previous fortnight?

penny piper · 01-03-2021 12:39PM

Richard tea wrote: »

Young lad in 2nd year. This is his home schooling lately. All last week he had 1 -3 lessons which didn't start until 2pm. Today his first class is 12:30. Teaching consists of a 25 minute zoom call. He is rarely instructed to read a passage and answer questions etc. 90% of the time he is not required to take notes etc. Shocking to think when be actually returns to school he will only have 6-7 weeks left before the summer holidays. Don't suggest getting onto the teachers or school because realistically what would be required is a minimum of 5 hrs a day actually teaching and correcting work to catch up. Is it totally at the schools discretion if a parent requests a child repeats a year?

I'm not sure about the repeating of the year....I have a feeling it's up to the school.....do you reallly think your son has missed that much since christmas that he won't catch up?......if you don't ask about his education to his teacher/school not much point in complaining...........maybe you could encourage him yourself to read extra and give him some questions on what he's doing...it's just a thought..it won't be long till they all go back anyway good luck..

khalessi · 01-03-2021 12:46PM

average_runner wrote: »

There is no scientific evidence to show this any different than before. Scare mongering people is not the right approach to take

What there is, is research to show cases were incorrectly recorded as community cases and as unknown and obfuscation was used to camouflage the data. This has been shown here and in other countries. I might point you in the direction of Deepti Gurdasani and Dr. Zoe Hyde to start with, who have done research on this and of course the Irish research by Olive O Connor but sure why let facts get in the way of you having a rant.

Enjoy your day.

Richard tea · 01-03-2021 12:48PM

History Queen wrote: »

If you don't get on to the school they can't respond to your issues. Are you sure he isn't getting work for the classes that aren't live? I wouldn't be worried about a lack of note taking though.

As regards repeating a year, unless there are concerns about his attainment repeating is generally seen as detrimental. If you have concerns speak to the school. Yearhead would be a good starting point.

I will speak with the school at some stage. From the get go the school decided to follow the normal timetable. So I don't know what happens that the first class is not until the afternoon. Don't think he had more than 4 classes in a day. Usually one or two. I would have much preferred each teacher set out a weeks worth on a Monday and he could tip along during the week. I've 3 others in primary one of which is on the spectrum so it's though dedicating time to the eldest.

Mrsmum · 01-03-2021 12:56PM

Richard tea wrote: »

I will speak with the school at some stage. From the get go the school decided to follow the normal timetable. So I don't know what happens that the first class is not until the afternoon. Don't think he had more than 4 classes in a day. Usually one or two. I would have much preferred each teacher set out a weeks worth on a Monday and he could tip along during the week. I've 3 others in primary one of which is on the spectrum so it's though dedicating time to the eldest.

I have two at secondary. LC one is back today and JC one's classes begin at 11.50 all this week, so three classes per day. I'm presuming it must be due to LCs being back in school. They are both off Thurs. I have to say my reluctant student, the JC one, works way better following the timetabled classes. He was a total disaster during the first lockdown. They are all so different. Sounds like you have alot on your plate.

lulublue22 · 01-03-2021 12:58PM

Richard tea wrote: »

I will speak with the school at some stage. From the get go the school decided to follow the normal timetable. So I don't know what happens that the first class is not until the afternoon. Don't think he had more than 4 classes in a day. Usually one or two. I would have much preferred each teacher set out a weeks worth on a Monday and he could tip along during the week. I've 3 others in primary one of which is on the spectrum so it's though dedicating time to the eldest.

If your school uses vsware - have a quick check in the behaviour section - it maybe a case where he should be logging in but isn’t. If the school is supposed to be following a full timetable but certain teachers aren’t I’d be very surprised that parents wouldn’t have flagged this issue by now. I know my teenager missed a few PE and SPHE classes at the start as she mistakenly thought those type of classes would not be flagged on vsware.

History Queen · 01-03-2021 01:05PM

Richard tea wrote: »

I will speak with the school at some stage. From the get go the school decided to follow the normal timetable. So I don't know what happens that the first class is not until the afternoon. Don't think he had more than 4 classes in a day. Usually one or two. I would have much preferred each teacher set out a weeks worth on a Monday and he could tip along during the week. I've 3 others in primary one of which is on the spectrum so it's though dedicating time to the eldest.

Again, I think you need to check with the school or ask your son to show you his teams/google classroom. I appreciate it must be difficult to keep on top of things for four children. So I'm not criticising you at all. However, just because your son doesn't have a live class until the afternoon doesn't mean he doesn't have work to do.

Now I could be completely wronging your son I just know there have been a few cases of kids skipping classes in our school that weren't live and parents not realising there was work for them to do for other classes. There will be less live classes in our school this week due to some teachers travelling to school to teach Leaving Certificate students. Those classes will still have work it just won't be live.

Edit:obviously if the above isn't the case and the school has cut classes with no explanation that isn't good enough and you should contact the principal to complain

Mrsmum · 01-03-2021 01:12PM

@ Richard Tea, you know thinking about it there, if you didn't get any notification from school regarding classes beginning in the afternoon, it sounds a bit random for it to be happening. Could your child have gotten the wrong end of the stick ? We were told from the school re new timetable for this week.

Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) **Mod warning in OP 22/01**

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Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) Mod warning in OP 22/01