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

Schools who close due to staff shortages will move online I would say

True, but online learning will kick in before that becomes an issue.

First week of Easter has already been given over to leaving cert oral exams.

If Omicron is as mild as we all say then theres nothing to stop even the majority of the positive ones from teaching from home.

The lollipop lady in our estate was out sicks for about 2 months before Christmas . The road is very dangerous for kids and yet she wasn’t replaced leaving kids in danger . They were far more at risk crossing the road than from Covid but no one in authority paid any attention . Its all about Covid now and other risks being ignored .

LOL.

You claim to trust science and a previous thread you think autism is just an excuse people's behaviour or some sort of fad. Sure..... You trust science when it suits your own opinion.

I think the most difficult situation to cope effectively with will be the schools who are neither fully open nor fully closed.

Trying to plan for a school where you can't predict what staff will be in or out or what number of students will be in or out.

Staff who are in will have to support both in person and streaming for remote teaching at the same time.

At what level of student absenteeism (on a per class, per subject basis) will a teacher live stream a classroom based lesson for the benefit of absent students?

Staff who are out will need to remote stream to the classroom for students who are in and to students who are absent.

Students who are in may have one lesson in person and the next streamed to the classroom with an unqualified supervisor (if one can be found) in the class for insurance purposes. Or do we just not teach that subject for a week or two?

Can our schools support a teaching model which is ad-hoc in person mixed-hybrid and is constantly changing in an unpredictable manner?

I'd hate to have to try organising that! As soon as you have a plan made, it has changed.

And if the teacher who taught them for the 1st lesson is scheduled to teach a different class for the 2nd lesson or there's nobody available to supervise study classes?

I think you’re redefining the meaning of the word “safe”?

what’s the danger? We’ve been through Delta, and now we have an even milder variant. So what’s the problem with opening schools?

the omicron wave has already passed through South Africa, there’s no need for hysteria about “cases”. Driving a car is much much more dangerous.

Schools are not a magical virus free place we all knew that from the start, this virus is absolutely nothing to healthy children. If parents that have a risk to bring it back to vulnerable persons, don’t sent you children in but the world must go on.

I’m not sure if you’ve read the posts correctly. It doesn’t matter if a teacher is teaching remotely or not, there still needs to be a sub in the classroom. Teaching remotely is nothing to do with this.

Edit: You picked up my post wrong, I was agreeing with you saying the other poster doesn’t know how a school works.

I misinterpreted your post. I thought you were asking if I knew how schools worked.

It's going to be something of a roller coaster for a while.

Spoke to a primary school teacher recently, Dublin based said they have no issues getting subs now that student teachers can do it.

I delighted school opening lots of children have not seen other children outside family since school closed for Christmas.

Children are most fed up with covid at this stage. Let them into school no doubt it will be yoyo students& staff in and out for few weeks.

Well if you think Norma Batty is a great minister for education, you have to be one of her Kerry voters. What has she done for education or schools and children with special needs since she has being in office. Feck all.

Id second it. She is one of the few who has stood up firmly to the unions. Hasnt got everything right but has done a decent job imho.

Maybe it's already been said, but what happens with teacher absences and leaving cert kids? Surely the school with teacher absences is at a disadvantage to the school that have less missing teachers at LC level?

Is it tough?

If you equate doing a good job to doing sweet fcuk all, sticking one's head in the sand and intoning the mantra of "schools are safe" ad nauseam without any sort of actual reasoning/data as to how they can possibly be, then yes Norma Foley has done a top notch job 👍 she's also very good at hiding.

Norma saying schools are in a controlled environment. What’s the difference between a school and pub or anywhere else that makes it safer.

Department there to help. Same department who told schools to find your own filters etc

The difference between a school and a pub is that schools are totally necessary and vital for our childrens well being and education .Pubs are not . So we have to live with the risk of schools and try to find a way .