Schools closed until February? (part 3)

wirelessdude01

TTLF wrote: »

kinda confused on the whole "are exam classes going back"


Surely if everyone's told to stay home that wouldn't be true? Miscommunication maybe? Teachers can just prioritize those exam years online more right?

It seems to be true such is the level of back channel briefing going on to journalists. It's a pure populist move from Mehole. Honestly think that there will be a high percentage of those students who won't be attending and will be expecting to be taught online instead.

Hold My Hand

I’m a teacher and have a lot of sympathy for parents. During the first lockdown, one sister was homeschooling her 5 primary kids (older teen in TY, TG) Every morning, she had an email outlining work for each child, regular zoom chats with their teachers, schoolbooks etc. 2 of the children receive support in school so they needed additional help also. By the time the Summer holidays arrived, she was exhausted (she was doing all this and helping on the farm). I was looking at my home classroom today. I have a sturdy IKEA whiteboard and am going to be teaching from my sittingroom on Seesaw ... I better hide the wine bottles lol

Benimar

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

It seems to be true such is the level of back channel ringing going on to journalists. It's a pure populist move from Mehole. Honestly think that their will be a high percentage of those students who won't be attending and will be expecting to be taught online instead.

It’s a bit nuts. The one group who could handle online best (age and interest) are the ones going in to class. Sounds nuts to me.

TTLF

alroley wrote: »

It would be counter productive to have pretty much all secondary school staff and thousands of students go to school.

yeah i was thinking like, surely if it isn't safe for a 2nd year to be face to face with a teacher, it wouldn't magically be different for a 3rd or 6th yr either, would seem silly?

Regardless with my condition i wouldn't be going in under these current circumstances but I dont want to be put in a position where "exam classes still go in" and im stuck trying to figure out what to do since i cannot.

Headache this all is, we're being told tomorrow right?

Stateofyou

BonsaiKitten wrote: »

I really feel for the teachers in that school, it sounds like a toxic workplace.

Yeah, I do wonder what the teachers really think/go through. We can certainly read through the lines of course and hear some things too.
The principal is hard enough work I know that much. The pa committees have all had a rough time of it.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

I did them the last time so will do so again. We did quizzes and similar on zoom. As a school we have decided to not do live online lessons for a number of reasons, main one being that parents and kids felt under pressure to attend. Recorded stuff seems to suit most in our school and that is our whole school approach.

That sounds good to at least have a bit of fun/learning online if no live lessons. Will be interesting now to see what comes from our kids' school. Would love to see recorded things happening or live, either works for us. Anything but emails from the principal. :rolleyes:

Really great to hear from you both about your approaches, it's interesting. One of my good friends growing up is a teacher and I have a lot of respect for the preparation that goes into the lessons as a result.

am_zarathustra

Bananaleaf wrote: »

But like.... why do you have to constantly bring up the teachers who did nothing all the time?

I get it that you think those that did nothing should be called out - have you called them out on it? Moaning about them anonymously on here isn't calling them out.

Did you know of any one teacher who did a good job during the last lockdown? Do they not deserve a shout out?

I'm genuinely curious - what is the point of you coming here? Is it to rant about it or to annoy others? What are you gaining from it?

I'm not having a go at you but I'm just wondering why you come onto this forum at all

She comes here because everyone in the Teaching Forum reminds her that she admitted in a thread that she did nothing in the last lockdown because she felt pressure from other members of staff not to. She's speaking about herself when talking about teachers who did very little and is trying to drag more teachers into that category to justify her own actions. On the teachers forum she was talking to teachers interested enough to be on a forum exchanging ideas who obviously were doing their level best and felt this was a weak excuse and was told as much

Stateofyou

teachinggal123 wrote: »

Yeah, fair enough. I’m not having a go at you either.

I have said this to my colleagues but it’s not a good idea to start a conflict with my principal for obvious reasons.

Hey, did you have a read of that remote document just posted up? (if you haven't seen it before). I remember you saying your school principal hadn't ensured a remote platform/plan was in place. That document clearly says there should be one chosen...

How are you getting on with your own plans?

jimmytwotimes 2013

Sandra Hurley on 9oclock news said she has heard provision will be made to open special schools and for exam classes. Emma O'Kelly then commented on it in studio but just expanding on point made by Sandra, not offering sourced information of her own.

News on Player, go to bout 5.30mins into it

km79

People are jumping to conclusions re exam classes coming in
It’s not being reported by any mainstream media
I would guess there will be further concessions for LC students in terms of practical deadline etc AND that they will return before other years in 3 weeks

From rte
“ The Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 met today, and their proposals also include that special schools will remain open.

If there are units of pupils with special needs within a mainstream school, these pupils will be able to attend classes.

However, if for example there is one child with special needs in a mainstream classroom, there is unlikely to be a provision to keep that child in school while the rest of the school remains closed.

Minister for Education Norma Foley will be asked to consider ways to cater for Leaving Cert students. ”

Teachers of special classes will have to be in school to teach alright . Not sure what happens if they ring in sick .......

khalessi

Someting on Primetime too but missed it watching The Walking Dead instead, perfect antedote to Covid

km79

Benimar wrote: »

It’s a bit nuts. The one group who could handle online best (age and interest) are the ones going in to class. Sounds nuts to me.

They are also the age group with the most cases over last month

am_zarathustra

Stateofyou wrote: »

Yeah, I do wonder what the teachers really think/go through. We can certainly read through the lines of course and hear some things too.
The principal is hard enough work I know that much. The pa committees have all had a rough time of it.



That sounds good to at least have a bit of fun/learning online if no live lessons. Will be interesting now to see what comes from our kids' school. Would love to see recorded things happening or live, either works for us. Anything but emails from the principal. :rolleyes:

Really great to hear from you both about your approaches, it's interesting. One of my good friends growing up is a teacher and I have a lot of respect for the preparation that goes into the lessons as a result.

I got the same feedback at secondary. A lot of pressure on the household to be live all the time. Video explanations and very targeted work along with engagement in chat and a weekly optional check-in worked the best for the students when we polled them. They liked the videos a lot actually because they could rewind if they didn't understand a part too

wirelessdude01

am_zarathustra wrote: »

I got the same feedback at secondary. A lot of pressure on the household to be live all the time. Video explanations and very targeted work along with engagement in chat and a weekly optional check-in worked the best for the students when we polled them. They liked the videos a lot actually because they could rewind if they didn't understand a part too

This was the feedback in our place as well. We were told that often school work was at the very bottom of the list of priorities. Siblings often looking after younger siblings, lack of devices, etc were reasons given why live doesn't work for them.

mirrorwall14

am_zarathustra wrote: »

I got the same feedback at secondary. A lot of pressure on the household to be live all the time. Video explanations and very targeted work along with engagement in chat and a weekly optional check-in worked the best for the students when we polled them. They liked the videos a lot actually because they could rewind if they didn't understand a part too

Our school is exactly the same. The live classes put enormous pressure on families and students. They asked for self paced

Mrsmum

I would be surprised if LC classes were in, all those students, their teachers, school principals, admin staff, snas, school cleaners, bus drivers in therefore also. Don't think so.

TTLF

Think what was said on the 9pm news isn't proper or something

"The Taoiseach said he would not speculate about whether exam students would be brought back to the classroom before other school years, but "we are conscious of the disruption they face and we will do everything we can to support them."

He said "schools are safe", but it is about the mobilisation of a million people in the context of a very high level of disease in the community.

That is why the Government is "looking at school closures being extended to the end of the month".

Basically for now, I don't think any year is going back because the reason they're closed in the first place is to stop the mixing of people.

Article here
https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0105/1187701-covid-ireland-politics/

km79

Irish examiner
“ However, Education Minister Norma Foley hopes to keep the country's 124 special education schools and 1,836 special classes in mainstream schools open.

She was still working on the finer details of this on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's crunch Cabinet meeting.

It is understood that allowing Leaving Cert students to attend school was considered but this was dismissed as it would mean around 60,000 pupils would still be mixing.”

wirelessdude01

km79 wrote: »

Irish examiner
“ However, Education Minister Norma Foley hopes to keep the country's 124 special education schools and 1,836 special classes in mainstream schools open.

She was still working on the finer details of this on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's crunch Cabinet meeting.

It is understood that allowing Leaving Cert students to attend school was considered but this was dismissed as it would mean around 60,000 pupils would still be mixing.”

Hmm, wonder does this mean that the plan to have key/essential workers children in in primary school is gone?

Icyseanfitz

km79 wrote: »

Irish examiner
“ However, Education Minister Norma Foley hopes to keep the country's 124 special education schools and 1,836 special classes in mainstream schools open.

She was still working on the finer details of this on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's crunch Cabinet meeting.

It is understood that allowing Leaving Cert students to attend school was considered but this was dismissed as it would mean around 60,000 pupils would still be mixing.”

My god, is that common sense i see in the department :pac:

Bananaleaf

TTLF wrote: »

Think what was said on the 9pm news isn't proper or something

"The Taoiseach said he would not speculate about whether exam students would be brought back to the classroom before other school years, but "we are conscious of the disruption they face and we will do everything we can to support them."

He said "schools are safe", but it is about the mobilisation of a million people in the context of a very high level of disease in the community.

That is why the Government is "looking at school closures being extended to the end of the month".

Basically for now, I don't think any year is going back because the reason they're closed in the first place is to stop the mixing of people.

Article here
https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0105/1187701-covid-ireland-politics/

km79 wrote: »

Irish examiner
“ However, Education Minister Norma Foley hopes to keep the country's 124 special education schools and 1,836 special classes in mainstream schools open.

She was still working on the finer details of this on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's crunch Cabinet meeting.

It is understood that allowing Leaving Cert students to attend school was considered but this was dismissed as it would mean around 60,000 pupils would still be mixing.”

Oh man, here's us all going "just let us know what the plan is" ..... they don't feckin know what the plan is :eek:

TTLF

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Hmm, wonder does this mean that the plan to have key/essential workers children in in primary school is gone?

Think the issue behind that was in today's loophole society "what counts as essential?" but they really should figure that out. I mean if the UK could do it, we can too :pac:

jimmytwotimes 2013

If the LCs miss another 3 wks minimum I wud imagine the pressure to move to predictive wud ramp up from parent and student groups. They'd have missed more than last year's group and at a crucial time in the school year.

Government are fully committed to a LC running as scheduled but I don't see that as being compatible with them being off site for another 3 wks.

Bananaleaf

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote: »

If the LCs miss another 3 wks minimum I wud imagine the pressure to move to predictive wud ramp up from parent and student groups. They'd have missed more than last year's group and at a crucial time in the school year.

Government are fully committed to a LC running as scheduled but I don't see that as being compatible with them being off site for another 3 wks.

How many weeks into the March closure was predicted grades announced? I can't remember

Mrsmum

TTLF wrote: »

Think the issue behind that was in today's loophole society "what counts as essential?" but they really should figure that out. I mean if the UK could do it, we can too :pac:

It's a difficult one isn't it. We all want people like doctors, nurses, gardai, firefighters, food production people, supermarket workers to be in their place of work but what to do about their chdren without causing other problems.

mirrorwall14

Bananaleaf wrote: »

How many weeks into the March closure was predicted grades announced? I can't remember

That’s not even taking into account students and whole year groups who have already been online this year due to outbreaks.

The reduction in content in my subjects doesn’t go far enough. Music practicals need to be shortened for example. It’s worth 50% of the exam and none of the groups with voice/wind have been able to practice properly together all year

km79

Bananaleaf wrote: »

How many weeks into the March closure was predicted grades announced? I can't remember

Early May !

TTLF

Bananaleaf wrote: »

How many weeks into the March closure was predicted grades announced? I can't remember

I kid you not, it was literally around May 24th or longer. I remember well because, my friend next door called me and I shouted down from my room to her garden as she was frantic over the news.

So about 2 weeks or so

Wombatman

The extended closure of most schools until the end of the month, along with a review on 30 January, is among proposals to battle the spread of Covid-19 which will be discussed by Cabinet tomorrow.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0105/1187701-covid-ireland-politics/

The 30th is a Saturday. Review on Saturday, find out on Sunday, everybody back on Monday.

Typical.

Benimar

Bananaleaf wrote: »

How many weeks into the March closure was predicted grades announced? I can't remember

May 8th.

Just push back the LC a couple of weeks. 3rd Level started lectures late this year, so can do he same next year.

jimmytwotimes 2013

Bananaleaf wrote: »

How many weeks into the March closure was predicted grades announced? I can't remember

It was around May 8 I think