Schools closed until undetermined date - was March 29th

byhookorbycrook

Even with reduced class numbers , how would it be possible to disinfect surfaces , bathrooms etc ?

Bobtheman

The only way for this to work (6th years) is use of a large room which most schools only have a couple of or dividing groups so there is a maximum of only 15 in a room. The other issue is as mentioned the cleanliness of schools. I dont think my classroom floor has been mopped all year. You have to a really through clean of rooms. I actually cant see any of this happening then again -who ccould see what we are now witnessing happening!

I can see us coming back earlly like August and the exam in September/Oct
Our creaking health service is about to implode -private hospitals and all.
My prayers are with you all but especially our healthcare workers. More of these workers will die-disproportionately of lack of masks etc

r93kaey5p2izun

Purefrank128 wrote: »

There is no subject called LCA Science.

Could you possibly mean LCA Agriculture/Horticulture?

No. Science.

https://www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/b000c9cc-cfd8-4009-ad4b-592668163925/Science.pdf

Though I have taught the Ag/Hort too.

scrubs33

Bobtheman wrote: »

The only way for this to work (6th years) is use of a large room which most schools only have a couple of or dividing groups so there is a maximum of only 15 in a room. The other issue is as mentioned the cleanliness of schools. I dont think my classroom floor has been mopped all year. You have to a really through clean of rooms. I actually cant see any of this happening then again -who ccould see what we are now witnessing happening!

I can see us coming back earlly like August and the exam in September/Oct
Our creaking health service is about to implode -private hospitals and all.
My prayers are with you all but especially our healthcare workers. More of these workers will die-disproportionately of lack of masks etc

The chewing gum under the desks....

SunnyBess

bobbyss wrote: »

How are those teachers coping whose students don't have lap tops, don't have ipads, who say they have nò credit for mobiles and who say will not be doing any work for the duration? (It is reaching the business end of the Champions' League after all) And whose parents aren't really bothered about it anyway.

Challenging students who have no interest, no study skils and no suppport at home and who'd tell you to F... off as soon as look at you may enjoy the break.

Two weeks off? I am heartbroken.

I am having the same difficulties! Some of my students have not even bothered to join the Google classroom I set up. I don't know if is due to technical limitations on their part,lack of broadband/credit , apathy or what.

I am really, really worried about my learners.
For many, we were the only safe place they had to go to during the week!

Bobtheman

scrubs33 wrote: »

The chewing gum under the desks....

Don't remind me. I wash my own desk with anti bacterial wipes a few times a week. Same with keyboard but a lot of school buildings are ancient and full of dusty corners.
Mildew. The odd rat - in the staffroom

Notorious

SunnyBess wrote: »

I am really, really worried about my learners.
For many, we were the only safe place they had to go to during the week!

I'm having similar problems. My students have convinced themselves that the LC is going to be cancelled so there is no point in doing study.

They refuse to access their work online. Most of their learning came from the classroom so if I don't see them before they sit the leaving, they'll be in serious trouble.

fall

Schools with 200 plus in a year group would need 13 English, Irish and Maths teachers to run the 15 students in a group scenario (Schools dont have this capacity). Students would not practise social distancing on the way in, at lunch etc. and if a Covid cluster developed in a school there would be hell to pay with parents.
They are definitely still planning for the Leaving Cert as I received the information on special centres for LC students. Interestingly, there was no mention of arrangements for any Junior Cert Students. I think they will do their utmost to run the leaving cert but if the number of cases and deaths are through the roof they will pull it.

scrubs33

fall wrote: »

Schools with 200 plus in a year group would need 13 English, Irish and Maths teachers to run the 15 students in a group scenario (Schools dont have this capacity). Students would not practise social distancing on the way in, at lunch etc. and if a Covid cluster developed in a school there would be hell to pay with parents.
They are definitely still planning for the Leaving Cert as I received the information on special centres for LC students. Interestingly, there was no mention of arrangements for any Junior Cert Students. I think they will do their utmost to run the leaving cert but if the number of cases and deaths are through the roof they will pull it.

The big numbers are something I struggle to get my head around still. My school has a LC group of 62...

km79

scrubs33 wrote: »

The big numbers are something I struggle to get my head around still. My school has a LC group of 62...

Most of our year groups are 180-200
Schools are different

harr

Not a teacher but seriously struggling with home school stuff, two of our lads would get extra help in school and one is dyslexic . I am fine with history , geography and English is just ok .. 3rd and 4th class but Maths and Irish are a nightmare .. we get a set of work from teachers at start of week but not getting anywhere finishing it most weeks.
Worried now if this will go on any longer what damage it’s doing to the lads .. I just can’t compete with a teacher and we are all snapping at each other which is making things a lot worse.
Currently it’s taking me 3 hours with one kid in the mornings and 3 with the other in the evenings.
Any advice... I have looked at on line resources but not much help .. yes I can google answers but that’s all it is an answer I can’t explain the reason it’s the answer.. I feel thick myself for having to work out 4th class maths ..

wirelessdude01

harr wrote: »

Not a teacher but seriously struggling with home school stuff, two of our lads would get extra help in school and one is dyslexic . I am fine with history , geography and English is just ok .. 3rd and 4th class but Maths and Irish are a nightmare .. we get a set of work from teachers at start of week but not getting anywhere finishing it most weeks.
Worried now if this will go on any longer what damage it’s doing to the lads .. I just can’t compete with a teacher and we are all snapping at each other which is making things a lot worse.
Currently it’s taking me 3 hours with one kid in the mornings and 3 with the other in the evenings.
Any advice... I have looked at on line resources but not much help .. yes I can google answers but that’s all it is an answer I can’t explain the reason it’s the answer.. I feel thick myself for having to work out 4th class maths ..

Has the teacher not told you that there is no pressure to do all the work? My school has made it very clear that it is not our job as teachers to add extra pressure on parents or to the home environment as things stand. Children are anxious enough as it is.

harr

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Has the teacher not told you that there is no pressure to do all the work? My school has made it very clear that it is not our job as teachers to add extra pressure on parents or to the home environment as things stand. Children are anxious enough as it is.

Not really, it’s probably me worrying one lad has already stayed back this year and will be to old to stay back another year. Add to Dad trying to school work that are starting to really miss friends in school.

killbillvol2

harr wrote: »

Not really, it’s probably me worrying one lad has already stayed back this year and will be to old to stay back another year. Add to Dad trying to school work that are starting to really miss friends in school.

As I said to my neighbour the other day there's no point making enemies of your kids over school work.

The school should have told you that there's no pressure to get this work done. When they eventually get back to school all the work will be covered again anyway as a lot of kids won't have covered it at home.

For primary school children you should get them to do a little bit of work each day that doesn't cause stress. One hour absolute maximum. And bribe them. If I learned one thing in 30 odd years teaching it was that bribery is far more effective than any form of coercion!

khalessi

Harr,

Im taking it day by day with the kids, just see how they are. They had a sleep in today but yesterday up early. My kids school sent the work out for the week so yesterday was English, did most of it for the week. Today Irish, see how it goes and Maths tomorrow. Thursday History with a suitable movie and popcorn. Typing Friday and online maths games

Make your own pace, ignore due dates if they are put up, dont get stressed and just do what you can.

fall

Harr, I really feel for you. The first thing I would do is let the school know that you struggling. The teacher may be sending the same work to the entire class and your child might need a little more differentiation. It could be something as simple as saying only do the first 3 sums instead of all 6 as they might increase in difficultly. Let them know about the difficulty with Irish. I would be very surprised if they don't reassure that you are doing just fine.
I would focus at the moment on just even learning vocabulary. If the boys are arty get them to illustrate the vocab. If you even set a simple goal to learn x number of new words a week and put them into a basic sentence that would be a good solid peace of work. These subjects were never a strong point so remember that and tailor your expectations. 3 hours, particularly in a block is a very long time for any student. Maybe do an hour with each boy in the evening and an hour in the afternoon. There is a website called ixl that may excite them more because they get to do it on a computer.

You are doing your best and your children won't be damaged at the end of all of this.

ShamoBuc

harr wrote: »

Not a teacher but seriously struggling with home school stuff, two of our lads would get extra help in school and one is dyslexic . I am fine with history , geography and English is just ok .. 3rd and 4th class but Maths and Irish are a nightmare .. we get a set of work from teachers at start of week but not getting anywhere finishing it most weeks.
Worried now if this will go on any longer what damage it’s doing to the lads .. I just can’t compete with a teacher and we are all snapping at each other which is making things a lot worse.
Currently it’s taking me 3 hours with one kid in the mornings and 3 with the other in the evenings.
Any advice... I have looked at on line resources but not much help .. yes I can google answers but that’s all it is an answer I can’t explain the reason it’s the answer.. I feel thick myself for having to work out 4th class maths ..

I totally understand where you are coming from. But you are Clearly doing too much. You are not supposed to do all the work as it is a class work list. As your children get in school support they would certainly not be doing the full workload, no where near it. In maths do some questions on the particular topic, but certainly no more than half. Try to cut any questions that require the most writing out of your history and geography.
The most important thing to do, is to relax and take it easy. Don't become obsessed with getting the work done. Just keep tipping away, certainly not for the periods of time you are current,y doing.' Easter hols' are on Friday, take a 2 week break. You and your kids will both need and deserve it.
Keep them reading whatever they want but dont do any written work.
This will go on for at least another 3 school weeks. Their teacher should have mentioned the need to read for pleasure, not to feel that you must finish everything etc but you are the primary educator of your children. Sometimes less is more.

harr

Thanks for the replies, probably being to hard on myself and the kids . I have messaged his teacher and explained the situation and asked for a little help in prioritising the work.
I am lucky as his teacher is very approachable and he has done fantastic with her this year.
Definitely need to cut the hours down...

dory

harr wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, probably being to hard on myself and the kids . I have messaged his teacher and explained the situation and asked for a little help in prioritising the work.
I am lucky as his teacher is very approachable and he has done fantastic with her this year.
Definitely need to cut the hours down...

Good to hear. There was a teacher crying on her instagram story the other day. Felt she was failing her students, impossible to just set work and let them off every week. She said she got loads of messages from teachers who feel the same. So I'd say just recognise that this is a terrible situation, do whatever you can but don't put yourself under pressure. I've said to my students that if we all come out of this healthy then we've succeeded. The work we give it to just keep them busy really.

wirelessdude01

dory wrote: »

Good to hear. There was a teacher crying on her instagram story the other day. Felt she was failing her students, impossible to just set work and let them off every week. She said she got loads of messages from teachers who feel the same. So I'd say just recognise that this is a terrible situation, do whatever you can but don't put yourself under pressure. I've said to my students that if we all come out of this healthy then we've succeeded. The work we give it to just keep them busy really.

I've been dreaming about school. Hearing some horror stories about other primary schools putting awful pressure on their kids/families with deadlines for uploading completed work. Like cop yourself on. School is and should be the last priority for people currently. Any school or teacher creating anxiety or pressure at home should hang their heads in shame and have a good look at their conduct and behaviour.

Mardy Bum

dory wrote: »

The work we give it to just keep them busy really.

I know you have good intentions but we shouldn't be giving this work if that is the case. There should be value in it.

dory

Mardy Bum wrote: »

I know you have good intentions but we shouldn't be giving this work if that is the case. There should be value in it.

Ah there is, of course there is. All homework has value. All I meant is it's priority No 453 in terms of global pandemic.

My friend has an 11 year old and loves when some bit of something comes in from the teacher so she does that for an hour. And then is back to "I'm bored".

That's all I meant. It would be practically impossible to give students work that has no value what soever. Even writing out 10000 lines might improve their handwriting or help them remember that line. :rolleyes:

Pang

A

Bobtheman

Lets call a spade a spade-distance learning is not as effective classroom teaching. There is no method of using video that allows you to safely intereact with students. None Im aware of. This is a sticking plaster . Thus, if schools suddenly opened in May-which is the earliest -then some allowence needs to be made for LC. a 10% bonus or a delayed exam. What they did with the orals was a joke. They didnt think that one through. Student A slaves away. Student B does practically nothing= the same marks?? 100%.
Added to this-a lot of teachers are minding their own kids while trying this. Its just not the same as being in the classroom,
Distance learning might be highly effective with middle class kids but they aint the majority of kids.

6am7f9zxrsjvnb

Bit of a Luddite on the tech front here...was aghast at the prospect of remote teaching initially, but have actually enjoyed figuring out the benefits of Teams in Office 365. Nice way to engage with the quieter kids when giving feedback/corrections.
Not playing my violin but I have 8 academic classes and 200 students...I haven’t gone ‘live’ with any, but the volume of corrections is ridiculous.This coupled with the fact that the phone is hopping with work being sent to my email instead of Assignments folder blah blah....i’m Working more these days and that’s with only 50% engagement from students!!
For some reason, I felt that I needed to keep working through the ‘official ‘ Easter hols, but I think i’ll focus on my own two children for the two weeks instead....to be honest, I think parents would be relieved if everyone took a 2 week break from Friday...will obviously be there for any LC students looking for help.

dory

Yeah, I'm exactly the same sheaP. Totally overloaded with corrections, but actually enjoying using Google Classroom and I'll definitely use it in the future. I'm taking a two week break from Friday as well.

km79

Can’t believe people are even asking if they are talking their holidays !
I’ll be logging out for two weeks
I’m mentally burned out and need to focus on myself and my family

Joe mchugh coming up on Matt Cooper

km79

Still working towards June deadline
Determined to have the state exams (plural ) go ahead
Spoke well to be fair

“Looking at contingencies “

rainbowtrout

km79 wrote: »

Still working towards June deadline
Determined to have the state exams (plural ) go ahead
Spoke well to be fair

“Looking at contingencies “

I guess there isn't a whole lot he or anyone else at the Dept/SEC can do at the moment except have a few contingency plans in place and see how this plays out over the next four weeks or so.

While there are calls to cancel the exams, it's easier said than done, and provides a massive headache to come up with an alternative assessment, not even to give the students the bit of paper, but to allow a fair mechanism to let them progress to colleges, PLCs, apprenticeships etc.

Bobtheman

I see no reason why the exams can't be later in the year. Just move it forward. The whole academic calendar

C__MC

Any idea folks if schools will be back in 3 weeks?

shesty

harr wrote: »

Not really, it’s probably me worrying one lad has already stayed back this year and will be to old to stay back another year. Add to Dad trying to school work that are starting to really miss friends in school.

Just a mother of a Junior Infant myself Harr - I can't add much other than to say that mine are seriously missing JI and pre-school pals. It's very, very hard on them, because they don't really understand. I am not getting wound up about school work as I am also working from home and I cannot do it all - but JI wouldn't have a huge homework load anyway.

I just want to let you know I sympathise - for parents of kids this lockdown has been going on 3 weeks now, and I just feel like for many other people it only really struck home when the 2km restriction started - we have been stuck at home with very restricted options for what we can do for 3 weeks now and it is very old, anecdotally from my own circle, I know a lot of parents are beginning to crack under the stress and finding it very hard. You are not alone.

km79

C__MC wrote: »

Any idea folks if schools will be back in 3 weeks?

Not a notion
We are currently basically locked in our homes
It would be absolute madness to go from that to schools being back within 3 weeks

cazzer22

We are all doing our best in an incredibly stressful and unpredictable situation. Well done to the parents for putting up with all of this. I am a teacher and am trying to keep work creative, fun and attainable. I am getting lots of lovely pictures of the children just even sharing their news or things they have been up to.
It's not a time for putting anxiety or high expectations on parents. We are all making this up as we go along, dealing with a worrying situation. Just hope all my kiddos are ok and wish for normality soon. All we can all do is our best. Well done everyone.

Treppen

C__MC wrote: »

Any idea folks if schools will be back in 3 weeks?

Not a hope

C__MC

km79 wrote: »

Not a notion
We are currently basically locked in our homes
It would be absolute madness to go from that to schools being back within 3 weeks

Suppose I was trying to ask will he make the call late next week with one week of Easter holidays done.

cazzer22

C__MC wrote: »

Suppose I was trying to ask will he make the call late next week with one week of Easter holidays done.

I personally think they are drip feeding information to us and they are just going to add on a week or two weeks here and there. It's much easier to deal with that way.

Shn99

Bobtheman wrote: »

I see no reason why the exams can't be later in the year. Just move it forward. The whole academic calendar

Wouldnt really work for those of us heading abroad

wirelessdude01

C__MC wrote: »

Any idea folks if schools will be back in 3 weeks?

Not a hope.

C__MC

cazzer22 wrote: »

I personally think they are drip feeding information to us and they are just going to add on a week or two weeks here and there. It's much easier to deal with that way.

Surely we csnt expect students to have 6-8 weeks off and sit exams

Call has to be made next week IMO

ShamoBuc

C__MC wrote: »

Any idea folks if schools will be back in 3 weeks?

Certainly not the way things are. 2 weeks after that would be the earliest I think. Schools will probably be the last to go back.

km79

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Certainly not the way things are. 2 weeks after that would be the earliest I think. Schools will probably be the last to go back.

Best case scenario I can see is
Exam classes last two weeks in May
Maybe only leaving certs at that

And o don’t even see that happening
Still don’t think people grasp the seriousness of the situation we are in
China is still not back to anywhere near normal

Bobtheman

Shn99 wrote: »

Wouldnt really work for those of us heading abroad

I doubt any of us will be going abroad this summer . Where will be safe ?
Secondly even if it's safe you will be " persuaded " to come back. Pity the children etc
Look how they whipped us into " shape" with fempi.
I doubt they will be scared of a group of people who ran scared after two days of strike. Tesco workers did 3 weeks .
If they "ask" us to come in over the summer we will without a whimper

Shn99

Bobtheman wrote: »

I doubt any of us will be going abroad this summer

Going abroad for university

cazzer22

C__MC wrote: »

Surely we csnt expect students to have 6-8 weeks off and sit exams

Call has to be made next week IMO

Absolutely. I'd say they will make that call by Easter Sunday deadline. Even events in August are being cancelled. Not fair on leaving certs.

scooby77

Closing date for SNA survey 7th April. Analysis, choose, contact, retrain...hardly worthwhile for just a few weeks?
It may be just a contingency at moment, but...

khalessi

scooby77 wrote: »

Closing date for SNA survey 7th April. Analysis, choose, contact, retrain...hardly worthwhile for just a few weeks?
It may be just a contingency at moment, but...

THey know it will be longer

Ray Donovan

C__MC wrote: »

Any idea folks if schools will be back in 3 weeks?

Probably back Monday I'd say!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

bobbyss

km79 wrote: »

Best case scenario I can see is
Exam classes last two weeks in May
Maybe only leaving certs at that

And o don’t even see that happening
Still don’t think people grasp the seriousness of the situation we are in
China is still not back to anywhere near normal

Are the schools back in China? That would give some idea of a general timeframe. .

mirrorwall14

bobbyss wrote: »

Are the schools back in China? That would give some idea of a general timeframe. .

They were closed for about three months I think and are still closed in some areas and I believe they’ve cancelled their massive state exam day

“ Officials are relaxing restrictions very slowly and methodically, Ding says. Many restaurants at first reopened with shortened hours and for a limited number of customers; now, doors are open to all. Primary and secondary schools in several provinces have reopened, but only in communities free of the disease, and schools must check students’ temperatures and watch for symptoms. Universities, where students from around the country mix, remain closed, with classes taught online. Events that draw crowds are still banned or discouraged. Live music venues and gyms in many cities remain closed. There are temperature checks at subway entrances and factory gates.”
Reference