Schools and Covid 19 (part 5) **Mod warnings in OP**

hesaidshesaid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118285095#Comment_118285095

Great post. So much sense here. I might try the optional homework thing and see what happens.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118286359#Comment_118286359

I've twins, once they started preschool it was one bug after another, most of which they gave to me. Along comes covid and the government tell us kids don't spread it. Every parent deep down knew that was not true. But seen them during the lockdown and how much happier they are in school I knew sending them to school was the right thing to do. I just wish the government had taken more measures make them safer for them and the teaches. Actually I'm very angry about that part.

If 1/3 of the cases are from primary school kids you and and another 1/6 th the parents they infect. So you are looking at 50% of cases related to spread in schools.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289079#Comment_118289079

Covid-19 spreading in schools only became an issue in recent months. Why?

(1) Reasonable measures were put in place in September 2020 in schools which ensured that the disease did not spread widely in schools. Unstructured engagements such as birthday parties and playdates were a much bigger factor in spread at that time.

(2) Protection fatigue has become a factor. Across society, social distancing, mask-wearing and handwashing rates have declined. They were important factors in school protection and their decline has led to an increase in infection in schools.

(3) The latest variants are more infectious and the measures that were put in place over the last year are less effective.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289118#Comment_118289118

Other than parents sending their kids to school with hand gel and keeping the windows open very little measures were taken. Anyway my point was schools were never safe, they needed to be open for the kids benefit and the government willfully did sweet f a to improve things now we are all been bitten in the ass

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289231#Comment_118289231

That may be true of your school, but it is not true generally. Significant measures have been taken. As someone involved in a Board of Management, I am aware of many measures that have been taken.

Nowhere was safe from the virus, that has always been the case, but schools were and are safer environments than birthday parties, playdates, etc. which are unstructured mixing environments.

ginoginelli

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289366#Comment_118289366

Any previous measures taken were wholly insufficient. Schools were still operating under the pretense that droplet and fomite transmission were the main pathways to infection up until recently. They wasted millions on hygiene theatre that makes **** all difference.

Its an airborne virus. Masks and air control are the primary weapons in preventing transmission.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289366#Comment_118289366

As far as I can see, they keep the classes apart at break time, they use hand gel and open the widows. Yes there is enhanced cleaning too.The CO2 monitors aren't much use because it's either let them red line or freeze the kids. Are we going to have to close the schools everytime there is a NW/NE wind?

They could have added IR heater panels, electrical upgrade probably needed. They could have put in HEPA filters. Very little capital was spent to make things better.

Neither of my kids have been to birthday parties, very little of that has been happening. They have only had playdates with kids in their class. Trying to blame it on that is corck of sh1t.

A guy I work with has a big family, one of his kids caught covid in school, 9 in her class caught it last I heard 3 of his kids now have it, probably more by now. A lady me wife works with has had the whole class sent home and told to book PCR test there are that many cases in the class. That's all evidence I need to show the measures done simply aren't effective. It would have been far better to overspend on measure and not need them, it would at least slow the spread.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289846#Comment_118289846

The time to procure an electrical upgrade and get the work then done is far longer than the time we have spent in Covid already. That isn't even considering if we had enough electricians to simultaneuosly upgrade every school at the same time.

There were many other measures put in place than the ones you mention.

As for the spread in classes, that is only in the last few weeks as the Delta and other more transmissable variants make their way into the classrooms. The measures were effective in the fact of the other variants, but there is a reality here that no Government or no school can stop an infectious disease. Expecting unrealistic and ineffective measures to do so is a sign of reality disconnect.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289872#Comment_118289872

Most classes have a consumer unit, so run a wire to celling to mount the heater panels. Don't the army, OPW and council have electricians. Weren't sites shut down for a good portion of last year, weren't the schools closed at the same time. They had the ability to keep us 2k from home they could easily have done upgrades in schools. Even if you could only do 80% of classes and get to the remaining 20% later.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289906#Comment_118289906

No point discussing this until you understand the logistics and procurement constraints that exist over work like this.

hesaidshesaid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289872#Comment_118289872

Genuine question, how do you envisage things progressing in schools from here on? As in, how do you think more transmissible variants can be mitigated in schools?

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289964#Comment_118289964

So then they had the trades people to do the work and it was procurement rules that stopped them? They can set aside peoples freedoms close business... they can set aside a few internal rules.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289973#Comment_118289973

Viruses go two ways the become very severe and kill the host and die out. Or they become milder and cause less problems for the host, the hope is that Omicron will be milder

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118290138#Comment_118290138

They didn't have the tradespeople to do it.

You can't set aside procurement rules as easily as you think.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118290309#Comment_118290309

People's freedoms are a bit more important than a few rules by a long shot. So if you can set them aside you can break a few other rules. The cost the tax payer is running into the billions so 100 million an capital for schools would be money well spent. If they needed trades people and appealed for help I'm sure they would have gotten it.

JimmyVik

I was talking to a teacher friend the other day and she said in the last couple of months 17 out of 28 kids in her class have had covid positive tests. 5 of them out with it at the moment. As has the SNA.

And she said her class wasnt even the worst effected in the school.

solerina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289366#Comment_118289366

Total rubbish, I am a PP teacher, the only measures in place are Carbon dioxide monitors in some rooms…which do nothing to stop the spread of COVID and windows open all day everyday, anyone telling you anything else is lying !!

duffysfarm

Got notification yesterday evening at 6.00 that our primary school was closing tomorrow which is today Thursday the 9th and reopening on Monday the 20th of December. due to high number of covid cases. Not much notice to anyone working and having to arrange something at short notice. Out of the 7 teachers in the school none of these have children themselves and the principal and vie principal are on maternity leave. Would have made more sense if the school had to notify parents that they were going to close from next Monday until the New Year and then at least parents could have tried to organise things better. School was open this morning to collect childrens books and one of the teachers said " have a happy Christmas" as much as to say see you in the New Year and not when the school reopens on December 20th.

Icyseanfitz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289366#Comment_118289366

The measures and theory behind what was put in place are great but how those measures then work in reality when hundreds of kids are in the same building leave an awful awful lot to be desired I'm afraid.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118295367#Comment_118295367

Well, yes, if they are not implemented consistently and correctly, which admittedly gets harder over time. Look at the amount of adults who are failing to stick the course.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118291197#Comment_118291197

So you don't have staggered start and finish times, you don't have restrictions in staff rooms, you don't have pods, you don't have masks, you don't have different yard times etc. etc. you only have windows open and CO2 monitors.

Icyseanfitz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118295373#Comment_118295373

I'm not going to argue with you, all I'll say is near everything put in place (bar masks and segregated break times) at least at a pp level is nothing but window dressing and pretence. If you think kids actually stay more than a meter apart or keep their masks on, or don't share food/drinks and generally hang off each other at breaks and in between classes your living in a dream world.

spaceHopper

We've just had the schools closed for two days due to a "storm" AkA it was to windy to teach and have the windows open. The first day yes it was the storm but second day? Do you really expect me to believe that!

@duffsfarm sorry about the hassle but look on the bright side, they are less likely to have it over Christmas now. Wonder how many parents will take them out next week

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118295431#Comment_118295431

It's very tempting to home school them next week. A bout of Covid now, and our Christmas travel plans are scuppered.

SusanC10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118296469#Comment_118296469

We did this last year to protect vulnerable family members who we visited over the break. No regrets.

lulublue22

Bananaleaf

They were making the case on Primetime for closing schools a bit earlier before Christmas. I was only half listening, but I think they were wanting them to close 17th

brookers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118285095#Comment_118285095

I give my kids the answers, my husband goes mad, they use their phones too, im tired after work and on my day off, have house cleaning and jobs to catch up. I type up all their projects and pretend it is them doing it using childish type phrases. I hate homework, those projects do my head in, I have no patience. I thinking of getting a tutor for secondary school as I just won't be able to have the head space for it.

Bananaleaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298652#Comment_118298652

I'm a secondary teacher and I give zero homework. I test them instead (1 a month in 1st year, fortnightly every other year and weekly for exam years) small, manageable tests that add up to an entire revision of the course by the end of the year. The exam timetable for the year is given at the beginning of the school year so it doubles as a study plan. Parents and students love it but it took me 7 years of teaching to figure out that homework was a waste of time. For all of the reasons that @glack mentioned and also the added reason (in the case of second level) that they all copy it. It used to be that they would copy off each other on the corridors or before school, but they are much more sophisticated now and have 'homework' Whatsapp groups!

MilkyToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118298631#Comment_118298631

I think if the aim is to protect the vulnerable that would be the most impactful measure they could take, overall. Causes a total nightmare for working parents though.