Everyone accepts that returning over one million students and 100,000 staff to 4,000 schools will pose considerable challenges with the continued threat of COVID-19. The document outlines a range of measures being provided to support the reopening as well as a funding package of €375m. The package has been broadly welcomed by teachers and parents but reservations have also been expressed. These concerns centre on the timescale to implement the changes and the feasibility of employing the staff required to ensure its success.
The package includes:
Additional 1,080 post-primary teaching posts: – 120 of which will be guidance posts to support student wellbeing.
– Funding of €41m for substitute staff at primary level.
Funding: – For advanced cleaning and hygiene measures and building works.
– To employ workers to assist with the logistical changes.
– For administrative relief for primary principles.
The plan also acknowledged the important role played by non-teaching staff. Special needs assistants (SNAs) play a vital role in the care of students with special educational needs, the plan provides for the replacement of non-teaching staff including SNAs but also, caretakers, secretaries and cleaners without whom the operation of schools under the plan would not be possible.
Getting to school
School buses are to operate in line with public health advice and €11.3m has been provided as part of the package to support hygiene, PPE and cleaning requirements. Students to sit in pre-assigned seating and next to a sibling or (the same) child from their class group. Unless medically advised to not do so, all post-primary students are to wear face coverings while waiting for and travelling on the bus.
Social distancing in school
Children from second class down to junior infants are not expected to social distance but all others from third class to sixth year are expected to adhere to one-metre distancing. A system of “bubbles” and “pods” will operate. The bubbles are a unit such as a class grouping which stays apart from other classes as much as possible. The pods within those bubbles is an additional measure, to limit the extent of close contact within the class bubble.
Full details of the plan are at this link: www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a128d-back-to-school/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/backtoschool/
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Everyone accepts that returning over one million students and 100,000 staff to 4,000 schools will pose considerable challenges with the continued threat of COVID-19. The document outlines a range of measures being provided to support the reopening as well as a funding package of €375m. The package has been broadly welcomed by teachers and parents but reservations have also been expressed. These concerns centre on the timescale to implement the changes and the feasibility of employing the staff required to ensure its success.
The package includes:
Additional 1,080 post-primary teaching posts: – 120 of which will be guidance posts to support student wellbeing.
– Funding of €41m for substitute staff at primary level.
Funding: – For advanced cleaning and hygiene measures and building works.
– To employ workers to assist with the logistical changes.
– For administrative relief for primary principles.
The plan also acknowledged the important role played by non-teaching staff. Special needs assistants (SNAs) play a vital role in the care of students with special educational needs, the plan provides for the replacement of non-teaching staff including SNAs but also, caretakers, secretaries and cleaners without whom the operation of schools under the plan would not be possible.
Getting to school
School buses are to operate in line with public health advice and €11.3m has been provided as part of the package to support hygiene, PPE and cleaning requirements. Students to sit in pre-assigned seating and next to a sibling or (the same) child from their class group. Unless medically advised to not do so, all post-primary students are to wear face coverings while waiting for and travelling on the bus.
Social distancing in school
Children from second class down to junior infants are not expected to social distance but all others from third class to sixth year are expected to adhere to one-metre distancing. A system of “bubbles” and “pods” will operate. The bubbles are a unit such as a class grouping which stays apart from other classes as much as possible. The pods within those bubbles is an additional measure, to limit the extent of close contact within the class bubble.
Full details of the plan are at this link: www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a128d-back-to-school/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/backtoschool/
Read more
Agriculture students excluded from education fund
Leaving Cert grades to be issued in first week of September
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