Coronavirus- All schools to close? [MOD NOTE POST 346

Bobtheman

I just think it will be mass closures not school by school. They won't wait until a case arise in a school

TheValeyard

The way things are going I'd say schools will close the week before the Easter break. All depends on numbers. If we do close a week early, we will be back a week early in August.

km79

Bobtheman wrote: »

I just think it will be mass closures not school by school. They won't wait until a case arise in a school

I agree

Tomrota

Don’t understand why that wouldn’t be an option. It’s a good idea and I think it would be effective. The government in Ireland tend to make it seem like the biggest deal in the world if a child misses a day of school when in actual fact you don’t miss that much.

km79

TheValeyard wrote: »

The way things are going I'd say schools will close the week before the Easter break. All depends on numbers. If we do close a week early, we will be back a week early in August.

Being back a week early in August will make no difference to this years exams classes!!!!
If we close teachers will be expected to work from home as much as is possible. So still working.

I can see all schools closing week after paddys week for those 2 weeks and easters 2 weeks
and then hope for the best!

Treppen

Bobtheman wrote: »

I just think it will be mass closures not school by school. They won't wait until a case arise in a school

Agreed also. Just watching this video on the maths of exponential growth on coronavirus ...

At 6:44 you can see how traveling between small clusters had the same effect. So I think schools are a good transmission vehicle for the virus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kas0tIxDvrg

Bobtheman

km79 wrote: »

Being back a week early in August will make no difference to this years exams classes!!!!
If we close teachers will be expected to work from home as much as is possible. So still working.

I can see all schools closing week after paddys week for those 2 weeks and easters 2 weeks
and then hope for the best!

That's going to be tricky to arrange or police. Are teachers given free computers and broad band? NO . Plus your own kids will be home running riot!!

solerina

TheValeyard wrote: »

The way things are going I'd say schools will close the week before the Easter break. All depends on numbers. If we do close a week early, we will be back a week early in August.

No, we won’t be back a week early in August this school year finishes in in May when we have our 167 days done, it has no connection with the number of days for the next school year.
Possible different staff contracted, retirements etc.

History Queen

I'm expecting schools to close next week or the week after, then hopefully have us back after Easter. Hard to know how it'll go. We've all made groups on office365 or teams to work with students if we do close.

I'm pregnant and increasingly worried about going to school. We just had a group of students come back from Paris. Trying to be logical and follow advice but I am getting more nervous.

km79

History Queen wrote: »

I'm expecting schools to close next week or the week after, then hopefully have us back after Easter. Hard to know how it'll go. We've all made groups on office365 or teams to work with students if we do close.

I'm pregnant and increasingly worried about going to school. We just had a group of students come back from Paris. Trying to be logical and follow advice but I am getting more nervous.

Agree

doc_17

Quarantine before thousands get infected. Or quarantine after thousands get infected.

Millem

History Queen wrote: »

I'm expecting schools to close next week or the week after, then hopefully have us back after Easter. Hard to know how it'll go. We've all made groups on office365 or teams to work with students if we do close.

I'm pregnant and increasingly worried about going to school. We just had a group of students come back from Paris. Trying to be logical and follow advice but I am getting more nervous.

I am pregnant too.
I just listened to podcast from Friday’s Sean o Rourke....Carmen Regan from the Coombe was on. Basically she said if a pregnant gets it her symptoms are worse...severe breathing difficulties...baby gets in distress and needs to deliver early. Our health system could not cope with 2 pregnant women in one hospital needing constant monitoring for this.

(The only cases have been in the 3rd trimester).

Well anyway that I what I made of it but had my two kids making a lot of noise in the background!!!

Seeing as the hse have put us in the “more at risk category” I wonder if we could work from home or whatever options there are in the circular?

History Queen

Millem wrote: »

I am pregnant too.
I just listened to podcast from Friday’s Sean o Rourke....Carmen Regan from the Coombe was on. Basically she said if a pregnant gets it her symptoms are worse...severe breathing difficulties...baby gets in distress and needs to deliver early. Our health system could not cope with 2 pregnant women in one hospital needing constant monitoring for this.

(The only cases have been in the 3rd trimester).

Well anyway that I what I made of it but had my two kids making a lot of noise in the background!!!

Seeing as the hse have put us in the “more at risk category” I wonder if we could work from home or whatever options there are in the circular?

I was wondering myself if it'd come under health and safety leave similar to an outbreak of mumps in the school? Saying that if it is safe for me to stay at school I would much prefer to do that. Have too much work to do, particularly with exam classes. Although thank God I do have the course finished with two classes and almost finished with my other class.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Apart from sharing notes on office 365 , does anyone have a more effective plan to teach exam classes if school closes. Like a webinar type set up?

blindsider

https://slidehunter.com/5-best-skype-alternatives-for-free-video-conferencing/

3. Zoom
Zoom is a platform I recently tested out and found it to be surprisingly good. While Skype’s free edition is limited to just 25 participants, you can have up to 50 participants with a free Zoom account. Moreover, Zoom gives apps for all major platforms and provides a comprehensive user management system which is more comprehensive than Skype’s free edition or Google Hangouts. The only buzz kill is the fact that web conferences are limited to 40 minutes for the free version.

I've used Zoom and it's pretty good - esp. as it's free.

boege

School closures are already happening. I think there are three schools in Clare that are closed, or partially closed, due to risk assessment.

I think this is how it will develop, schools in areas where community infection emerges will begin closing. On that basis expect schools in the Cork area to be hit first.

I work in a third level college and all the talk is progressive migration to online course work over the coming days and weeks. I expect campus shut down would only happen if on campus positive cases arose and could not be isolated as was done in TCD.

It is probably a lot easier for the third level sector to cope with partial/full shut down but all the research shows that schools are the primary source of transmission of viral infections. Eventually a blanket shutdown would be expected once community transmission becomes widespread.This appears to be how it has played out in Italy who shut down all educational establishments today.

I don't subscribe to the 'sure this is not Italy' logic. Italy stooped all flights to China early on and took a lot of measures to mitigate transmission. What seems to have caught Italy out is that it got into the health system and wreaked havoc. Today over 12% of the near 10.000 positive cases are health care workers. The situation in Cork at present is that a patient was infected while in hospital and they have not yet traced the infection source. Up to 100 staff at Cork University Hospital are now in self-isolation. Two staff members of Bons Secours Hospital in Cork City have been instructed to self-isolate.

Our numbers are still low at present and I hope they stay that way but the picture across Europe suggests they will keep increasing for the foreseeable future. Vigilance is essential and poor hygiene practices in a school is a risk for everyone attending including teachers. So please see it as your duty to highlight any shortcomings in this area, if only for your own health.

doc_17

If we aren’t closed after this weekend then it will be good news as it means the virus hasn’t been as widespread as feared. But if it is widespread we will be closed until after Easter. This is unprecedented. If it hits like the SB Post report described then no person in the country will be left unaffected by its actions.

This is grim.

Bobtheman

Unless the state wants to fund a personal computer for me and every other secondary teachers they can fxxxx off insisting on teachers working from home. All a teacher can say is they don't own one.
However I can see union /government talks on some flexibility. Ie we might start back in early August.
We saw during the crash you just need a bit of emergency legislation to move teachers in the" right " direction.
Anything I do from home will be voluntary

KWAG2019

In regard to schools making sanitizer France has made a decree (I believe that is an aspect of French law) that pharmacies can now produce it. I’m not sure to what extent it releases them from current EU rules.

https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Coronavirus-Covid-19-France-lets-pharmacies-make-own-hand-sanitiser-gel-as-prices-are-capped-and-supplies-run-out-of-stock

Iscreamkone

Close all schools- take the time out of the summer hols

05eaftqbrs9jlh

sullivlo wrote: »

Yeah I love Khan academy, I just know that some of mine need a little “nudge” (I have all OL classes)

Yay maths are really fun videos, they might be interested! Plus tell them they're competing to see who makes the most progress and they'll win an iPad or something. At this point if schools are closed, it means society has fully collapsed so you probably won't have to make good on your promise.

HerrKuehn

Bobtheman wrote: »

Plus your own kids will be home running riot!!

Schools don't exist to provide a childminding service.

KWAG2019

Bobtheman wrote: »

But what happens to the LC and JC??Pushed to the autumn?

There was a change of messaging by the govt on Monday. The tone is far more serious and urgent. They have thrown an extra half billion at the HSE and 2.5 billion at DSP. I get the sense that the situation in Italy has revealed what actually can happen when measures are too slow. No doubt Monday’s financial supplement was planned last week.

They need to flatten the curve of infection and mortality. Be very sure that emergency legislation is coming: this Thursday Friday to change DSP rules. More will come if needed.

In the event of numbers triggering emergency action what is the simplest thing to do? I’d suggest the JC is frozen. What is done is done and there will be no more this school year. The LC must remain a level playing field across schools: from the thread there is obvious variation in schools about hygiene so there is variation about access to tech solutions too. If schools close and I believe they will then push things into the summer. Or further and delay the next school year start. And college start.

In such an emergency situation we would be entering very new waters. The old calendars will no longer apply. Let’s hope we don’t get there but numbers will decide it.

Bobtheman

KWAG2019 wrote: »

There was a change of messaging by the govt on Monday. The tone is far more serious and urgent. They have thrown an extra half billion at the HSE and 2.5 billion at DSP. I get the sense that the situation in Italy has revealed what actually can happen when measures are too slow. No doubt Monday’s financial supplement was planned last week.

They need to flatten the curve of infection and mortality. Be very sure that emergency legislation is coming: this Thursday Friday to change DSP rules. More will come if needed.

In the event of numbers triggering emergency action what is the simplest thing to do? I’d suggest the JC is frozen. What is done is done and there will be no more this school year. The LC must remain a level playing field across schools: from the thread there is obvious variation in schools about hygiene so there is variation about access to tech solutions too. If schools close and I believe they will then push things into the summer. Or further and delay the next school year start. And college start.

In such an emergency situation we would be entering very new waters. The old calendars will no longer apply. Let’s hope we don’t get there but numbers will decide it.

This is the most sensible thing I have read here. Teachers will have to be ready to give something. It could be an altered school calendar. I doubt all lost days would be made up though.

rainbowtrout

boege wrote: »

I don't subscribe to the 'sure this is not Italy' logic. Italy stooped all flights to China early on and took a lot of measures to mitigate transmission. What seems to have caught Italy out is that it got into the health system and wreaked havoc. Today over 12% of the near 10.000 positive cases are health care workers. The situation in Cork at present is that a patient was infected while in hospital and they have not yet traced the infection source. Up to 100 staff at Cork University Hospital are now in self-isolation. Two staff members of Bons Secours Hospital in Cork City have been instructed to self-isolate.

.

Patient 1 in Italy presented himself to his local hospital several times and they kept sending him away. If he had been taken in for testing when he first requested the virus would not have spread as much as it has, particularly through their health system.

Today's figures from China are extremely low, only 22 new cases. The Diamond Princess which is effectively a closed system has more than 3000 people on board. 700 got infected, which is a large number, but not surprising given that people are in close quarters. Cruise ships have a older clientele and still the whole ship wasn't infected.

There's a serious amount of tinfoil hat wearing in this thread.

rainbowtrout

doc_17 wrote: »

If we aren’t closed after this weekend then it will be good news as it means the virus hasn’t been as widespread as feared. But if it is widespread we will be closed until after Easter. This is unprecedented. If it hits like the SB Post report described then no person in the country will be left unaffected by its actions.

This is grim.

Grim??? No person left unaffected?? Seriously??

rainbowtrout

KWAG2019 wrote: »

There was a change of messaging by the govt on Monday. The tone is far more serious and urgent. They have thrown an extra half billion at the HSE and 2.5 billion at DSP. I get the sense that the situation in Italy has revealed what actually can happen when measures are too slow. No doubt Monday’s financial supplement was planned last week.

They need to flatten the curve of infection and mortality. Be very sure that emergency legislation is coming: this Thursday Friday to change DSP rules. More will come if needed.

In the event of numbers triggering emergency action what is the simplest thing to do? I’d suggest the JC is frozen. What is done is done and there will be no more this school year. The LC must remain a level playing field across schools: from the thread there is obvious variation in schools about hygiene so there is variation about access to tech solutions too. If schools close and I believe they will then push things into the summer. Or further and delay the next school year start. And college start.

In such an emergency situation we would be entering very new waters. The old calendars will no longer apply. Let’s hope we don’t get there but numbers will decide it.

Have you built your bunker yet? This is ridiculous scaremongering and the government have a lot to answer for in terms of scaremongering. Leo announced last night that 80-85k people could die. That was a disgraceful statement to make. For that to happen and assuming a 2% mortality rate, every single person in the country would have to be infected and that is not going to happen. No illness in the world has a 100% infection rate.

Hoboo

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Have you built your bunker yet? This is ridiculous scaremongering and the government have a lot to answer for in terms of scaremongering. Leo announced last night that 80-85k people could die. That was a disgraceful statement to make. For that to happen and assuming a 3% mortality rate, every single person in the country would have to be infected and that is not going to happen. No illness in the world has a 100% infection rate.

Incorrect.

3.2% rate on 2.5m people (half the population) is 80,000 people.

A teacher I presume.

Treppen

Maxwell Wrong Beaker wrote: »

Apart from sharing notes on office 365 , does anyone have a more effective plan to teach exam classes if school closes. Like a webinar type set up?

Anyway ( ignoring the usual trolling ) ... If you have MS Office in school then check out teams.

https://microsoftteams.eventbuilder.com/TeamsEducation

rainbowtrout

Hoboo wrote: »

Incorrect.

3.2% rate on 2.5m people (half the population) is 80,000 people.

A teacher I presume.

That's what you're going to pick on? A typing error? Some people never miss an opportunity to bash teachers.

2% is the mortality rate. 85k as 2% of the population would give a figure of 4.25 million which is a little short of the actual population, but the point still stands.

Can't understand when people are looking at the statistics, that they are picking the anomaly (Italy) rather than looking at the overall picture in Europe (every other country).