Schools closed until February? (part 3)

khalessi

eviltwin wrote: »

That’s an incredible increase. How can they recommend sending children and staff back to school? Utter madness

Repeat after me x 10

Schools are safe:cool:

PPE budget decreased but schools are safe

hesaidshesaid

awec wrote: »

No it isn't, it's positive swabs, not cases. There's a difference.

Can you explain this please? Have wondered about the difference.

awec

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can you explain this please? Have wondered about the difference.

Multiple swabs can be for a single case (people getting repeated tests).

Icyseanfitz

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can you explain this please? Have wondered about the difference.

Swabs are how many tests came back positive, cases are then extrapolated from that number + any backlog - any retests or errors

TTLF

there goes my LC Geography Field study down the drain then so

Bananaleaf

TTLF wrote: »

there goes my LC Geography Field study down the drain then so

With all this talk of closures hanging over us, whether we close or not, you'd have to wonder how the mocks are going to go ahead in just over a month's time.

Will we be closed? What about some students who can't sit them because they are isolating? Are we really going to collect all that paper and take it home to correct? Or better again, box it up and send it off to DEB/Examcraft, where it'll be pass the parcel for 3 weeks and God only knows who has handled them

khalessi

Bananaleaf wrote: »

With all this talk of closures hanging over us, whether we close or not, you'd have to wonder how the mocks are going to go ahead in just over a month's time.

Will we be closed? What about some students who can't sit them because they are isolating? Are we really going to collect all that paper and take it home to correct? Or better again, box it up and send it off to DEB/Examcraft, where it'll be pass the parcel for 3 weeks and God only knows who has handled them

Tis a nightmare.
But no doubt they will have thought of all that and the plan will be


TA DA!!!!!! Keep the schools open

khalessi

Seriously though, when you start thinking the logistics of Mocks it is a nightmare and we know they havent thought that far ahead, and the question of paper wont have entered their stratosphere. It will just be assusmed you do it.

TTLF

Bananaleaf wrote: »

With all this talk of closures hanging over us, whether we close or not, you'd have to wonder how the mocks are going to go ahead in just over a month's time.

Will we be closed? What about some students who can't sit them because they are isolating? Are we really going to collect all that paper and take it home to correct? Or better again, box it up and send it off to DEB/Examcraft, where it'll be pass the parcel for 3 weeks and God only knows who has handled them

I'm just confused for a few reasons

1. My field study is in the wicklow mts (are we legally allowed to go since you cant leave ur county?)

2. With the recent numbers, is it even socially acceptable to be allowed go on a "school trip" with about 40/50 students?

3. What am I going to do with my LC if I can't do my field study? Just lose 20% off my best subject i could otherwise get a H1 in??

lulublue22

eviltwin wrote: »

That’s an incredible increase. How can they recommend sending children and staff back to school? Utter madness

Swabs don’t necessarily correspond to cases for some reason - still looking at a very high number though. At this stage given the gov’s in transience re schools I’m far more concerned with the 40% reduction in the ppe/ cleaning budget for schools announced the day of the xmas holidays.

Bananaleaf

Well, to be perfectly honest, if they try to cancel the LC this year I will go mad. I really will.

If we can stay open and turn up all year, then those exams can go ahead.

I know this won't go down well, but myself and my OH rely on the money from superintending to pay our health insurance. Fair enough last year, they didn't go ahead but the school buildings were closed from March so it couldn't be said definitively that they were on a money-saving crusade.

If those exams are cancelled again this year, the unions will have to put their foot down.

Bananaleaf

TTLF wrote: »

I'm just confused for a few reasons

1. My field study is in the wicklow mts (are we legally allowed to go since you cant leave ur county?)

2. With the recent numbers, is it even socially acceptable to be allowed go on a "school trip" with about 40/50 students?

3. What am I going to do with my LC if I can't do my field study? Just lose 20% off my best subject i could otherwise get a H1 in??

Thinking like the Dept of Ed do, I'd imagine:

1. Yes you can go, because it is okay to cross a county border for educational purposes

2. Yes. Once at the field study, you will be broken up into 'pods', it's outdoors anyway, so less risky than indoors. The bus trip will be no less safe than the bus journey to school. All aboard, masks on, windows open. Be grand.

3. I could see them either giving the guaranteed 20% like they initially planned with the orals last year or they will change the field study to 'study of a geographical feature within my 5km radius'

khalessi

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Well, to be perfectly honest, if they try to cancel the LC this year I will go mad. I really will.

If we can stay open and turn up all year, then those exams can go ahead.

I know this won't go down well, but myself and my OH rely on the money from superintending to pay our health insurance. Fair enough last year, they didn't go ahead but the school buildings were closed from March so it couldn't be said definitively that they were on a money-saving crusade.

If those exams are cancelled again this year, the unions will have to put their foot down.

If the unions put their foot down, it will be a pitterpatter rather than a stamp, ala Oliver, please sir, may I have some more (days to implement extra measures from our now decreased PPE budget).

What happened to the extraa measures the Dept claimed to put in line after midterm? I didnt notice any difference on ground level.

wirelessdude01

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

Looking at the positive swab numbers (2867) today how can they justify opening schools as normal, it would be utter lunacy

Quite a jump from the 2007 yesterday.

Icyseanfitz

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Quite a jump from the 2007 yesterday.

Is there much of a backlog building i wonder

Blondini

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

Is there much of a backlog building i wonder

Could be over 1000 looking at recent swabs vs cases

delly

SusanC10 wrote: »

I am absolutely dreading the thoughts of sending the Kids back to school next week. We live in an area with a high number of cases currently.
We are seriously considering keeping them both at home initially as if they were to go back, it would mean that they would be the only ones in our household having any outside contacts except for deliveries to our house.

Has anyone (Parent) here just kept their kids at home for more than 20 days this Academic Year and just told Tusla that they didn't feel schools were safe ?

We don't want to formally apply to Homeschool as this is purely relating to the Pandemic.

I'll be doing this regardless of any potential announcements. Tusla doesn't even register in my thought process as a consideration, if I choose to keep them home for the next 6 months due to my evaluation of the situation, then I'll do so. When this first kicked off, we pulled from school when the first case was announced.

combat14

1000 deaths announced in one day in germany today

2100 cases covid in NI today

Much of our worst concerns have materialised… cancel your activities and plans’ - HSE chief issues stark warning ahead of new lockdown

HSE CEO Paul Reid said there is now "an unprecedented and toxic combination of potential scenarios" which have emerged in the battle against Covid-19

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/much-of-our-worst-concerns-have-materialised-cancel-your-activities-and-plans-hse-chief-issues-stark-warning-ahead-of-new-lockdown-39914232.html


hard to take it all seriously when a million students still trapsing in and out of schools .....

Lillyfae

Bananaleaf wrote: »

Well, to be perfectly honest, if they try to cancel the LC this year I will go mad. I really will.

If we can stay open and turn up all year, then those exams can go ahead.

I know this won't go down well, but myself and my OH rely on the money from superintending to pay our health insurance. Fair enough last year, they didn't go ahead but the school buildings were closed from March so it couldn't be said definitively that they were on a money-saving crusade.

If those exams are cancelled again this year, the unions will have to put their foot down.

With all due respect, I think the unions would be better utilized in lobbying for what the teaching workforce needs in order to continue safely teaching etc. Cleaning budget, equipment, infrastructure and coherent planning for remote learning.

khalessi

combat14 wrote: »

hard to take it all seriously when a million students still trapsing in and out of schools .....

This I think is a huge issue, because people will assume, well no one would put children in harms way. So if schools are open and safe, surely the environment is not so bad, so it is ok to see Bob and Kat and maybe have a coffee with Shireen and Charlie and the kids.

km79

Lillyfae wrote: »

With all due respect, I think the unions would be better utilized in lobbying for what the teaching workforce needs in order to continue safely teaching etc. Cleaning budget, equipment, infrastructure and coherent planning for remote learning.

And vaccinations
Currently school staff won’t be vaccinated until summer
And students last of all
Not sure how they plan on running state exams so ..........

greenttc

TTLF wrote: »

I'm just confused for a few reasons

1. My field study is in the wicklow mts (are we legally allowed to go since you cant leave ur county?)

2. With the recent numbers, is it even socially acceptable to be allowed go on a "school trip" with about 40/50 students?

3. What am I going to do with my LC if I can't do my field study? Just lose 20% off my best subject i could otherwise get a H1 in??

You don't have to go to wicklow for a field trip, do a land use survey instead, no need for travel.

Lots of options for geography field trip, ask your teacher.

TTLF

greenttc wrote: »

You don't have to go to wicklow for a field trip, do a land use survey instead, no need for travel.

Lots of options for geography field trip, ask your teacher.

Can't do that as it has to be a Rivers study for some reason
Doesn't matter though, it's out of my hands.

Bananaleaf

Lillyfae wrote: »

With all due respect, I think the unions would be better utilized in lobbying for what the teaching workforce needs in order to continue safely teaching etc. Cleaning budget, equipment, infrastructure and coherent planning for remote learning.

I agree with your point and you are correct. The point I intended to make is a little different in that I am suggesting that if the schools are safe enough to be worked in - with full capacity, from 8-4 - from Sep until the end of May, then they should be safe enough to hold examinations in June (when there would be reduced numbers in the building, they'd be in there for a shorter duration and there would be more than 1.1m of distance between students).

If the govt cancel the LC this year and say they are doing so on safety grounds, they are lying.

the kelt

School holidays extended to jan 11th,

C__MC

Monday week
Brace yourself for an evening of teacher bashing

SusanC10

the kelt wrote: »

School holidays extended to jan 11th,

Relieved !

bazermc

AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

TTLF

so is school "closed" as in extra holidays or are we switching to zoom

CruelSummer

If schools are to be delayed reopening, hope a good blended learning model is agreed upon from Jan 11th onwards. Fully remote will not work.