School reopenings -current plan WAS McHugh's plan

I can see primary schools going back in a few weeks(government needs the little ones babysat all day of course!), but I feel like there could be delays with secondary if cases keep rising.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Someone on one of these threads said their kids secondary school has told them opening is already delayed from August 27th to Sept 4th.

It happens every year where some schools face a delay reopening due to work not being completed. Perhaps it’s that?

combat14 wrote: »

why dont all the schools just go back as normal there have been no deaths the last few days ..?

Yikes, the bar is so low.

The rapidly rising cases, the lack of social distancing possible in schools, the no masks. Maybe that's why.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Someone on one of these threads said their kids secondary school has told them opening is already delayed from August 27th to Sept 4th.

We got our date today. I had expected somewhere in the week of 24th Aug but the secondary aren't opening until the 1st September this year for first years, rest in on the 2nd (only 1st, 2nd and 3rd yr in the school). Primary is due back on the 27th August.

will most schools look for staff to check teacher and student temperatures each day before safely entering the building..?

sunbeam wrote: »

Are any concrete plans being made for students who will supposedly be sitting the LC in November?


I know the groups will probably be much smaller than normal, but they will still take up extra space. How will the noise from other classes be controlled? What about the students who would have been dependent on school transport in rural areas-will they still be able to use it?

Has it even been confirmed that the exams will be held in schools?

When are further clarifications due? Sick policy for CV suspected in teachers etc.

sunbeam wrote: »

Are any concrete plans being made for students who will supposedly be sitting the LC in November?


I know the groups will probably be much smaller than normal, but they will still take up extra space. How will the noise from other classes be controlled? What about the students who would have been dependent on school transport in rural areas-will they still be able to use it?

Don't think there's any concrete plan. Prob won't see one til after results issued and after some application process to sit papers. They'll probably have to opt in for that twice too

am_zarathustra wrote: »

Might be similar to the plans for the extra papers due to illness or bereavement. I think the plan there was for regional centres, so one in the Midland, one in north Dublin etc

Given form I assume they will decide in late October....and inform everyone the Friday of midterm

It’s not really practical though. A person sitting an exam due to bereavement is sitting a couple of exams.

This will involve some students sitting the whole lot. Might be easily accessible in Dublin or another city for a student in a rural part of the country will they be expected to travel for exams daily for 2-3 weeks?

Actually anecdotally I heard of calculated grades being sent back to schools for review, anyone here this?

combat14 wrote: »

latest research from US doesnt bode well for the Govt's 'Schools Experiment'

Covid-19 may spread more easily in schools than thought, US report warns

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/covid-19-may-spread-more-easily-in-schools-than-thought-us-report-warns-1.4323634?mode=amp

Without being a viral expert I would assume that schools will generally mirror society in relation to the virus. Georgia and many such states are in a fairly bad way so it's unlikely to my mind that schools would not reflect that.
I never bought into the idea that kids were somehow immune - any teacher will vouch fir how regularly and easily many of them get sick and the number who have underlying conditions which are not normally an issue but will really matter now.

In Ireland my sense is that things will get significantly more difficult with the virus in the coming weeks. Plenty of anecdotal problems coming through even official channels now. In all likelihood schools will reflect that when the time comes. We'll be back but it'll probably be fairly chaotic.

More fear mongering by the media. There's just 6 more people in ICU in the entire country. The media love pedaling fear. We listened to almost 3 years of Brexit this and Brexit that.
Then Covid comes along and it is Covid this and Covid that and barely a word about Brexit. The death rate has been zero or close to zero now for weeks. Where I live kids have spent the summer in camps, visiting each others houses, playing sports and hanging out in large groups. The kids, parents and grandparents all seem do be doing just fine.
Covid is going to be around for along time to come and teachers like the rest of society are just going to have to learn to deal with it. Its just another respiratory disease that we can get and in reality has a mortality rate of close to 0.2%.
Don't worry there's a series of vicious budgets on the way to take everyone's mind off Covid. In the real world the schools have to reopen, parents have to get back to work and the economy has to get going again or there will be no money to pay teachers wages.

treade1 wrote: »

More fear mongering by the media. There's just 6 more people in ICU in the entire country. The media love pedaling fear..

Maybe they do. But it a fact that a few weeks back we had less than 10 reported cases over a few weeks. Yesterday it was 50. These are facts surely. And its grand to talk about ICU beds but they were probably fairly okay on March 12th before lockdown too. I'd far prefer to know the reality and to go back to school in an environment of caution rather than complacency.

treade1 wrote: »

More fear mongering by the media. There's just 6 more people in ICU in the entire country. The media love pedaling fear. We listened to almost 3 years of Brexit this and Brexit that.
Then Covid comes along and it is Covid this and Covid that and barely a word about Brexit. The death rate has been zero or close to zero now for weeks. Where I live kids have spent the summer in camps, visiting each others houses, playing sports and hanging out in large groups. The kids, parents and grandparents all seem do be doing just fine.
Covid is going to be around for along time to come and teachers like the rest of society are just going to have to learn to deal with it. Its just another respiratory disease that we can get and in reality has a mortality rate of close to 0.2%.
Don't worry there's a series of vicious budgets on the way to take everyone's mind off Covid. In the real world the schools have to reopen, parents have to get back to work and the economy has to get going again or there will be no money to pay teachers wages.

Almost 20% are hospitalized.....the issue is how many beds we have. You'll be fine provided you are in the 80% who are mild or asymptomatic. You'll generally live if you are in the 20% are get the correct care in hospital......not a guarantee with high rates. Long term effects are looking serious, damage to heart, depressive disorders from damage to the brain, damage to liver, kidneys etc. The damage is done by cytokine storms in the body, they are termed storms bu scientists for a reason. They wreak havoc across multiple systems.

I'm young, healthy, fit and have been to a doctor twice in my life. I would not gamble with this illness or any illness that has a 1/5th chance of causing this level of unregulated immune response. No one I know with a decent biological science degree would either.