In this episode I try and explain why Live Zoom Lessons are not the holy grail many people think they are. I also ponder as to why the very people wanting them tend to be the same people that were giving out about screen time in schools a couple of years ago.
The thing that has struck me most about the debate around the reopening and even the partial reopening of schools is the fact that everyone involved in the discussions, whether it’s the government, the union, or even the various advocacy groups is that all of them share the same goal to get schools open as … Read more
What a mess! The last few weeks have shown the worst examples of leadership from people who are supposed to look out for school staff, the pupils and their families. In this episode, I try to explore why we’re in this mess and what we need to do to get out of it.
With one in 50 Irish people contracting COVID19 in the last 2 weeks alone, the tracing service unable to cope with demand and hospitals becoming overwhelmed with COVID19 cases, we need to seriously look at the facts about whether schools are safe right now and make decisions that have impacts well beyond the classroom. In … Read more
This is a recording of a short talk I gave at the recent ISAG webinar on school closures, where I gave my experience about working in the system. Apart from having the complete inability to pronounce ISAG properly, I spoke about the reality of remote learning, especially for families who could not access it. I’d … Read more
Micheal Martin still insists that “schools are safe” and it’s the movement of the million people getting to the schools that’s the real issue. However, this is not the only dumbfounding thing he has said this week. Earlier when he announced schools would extend the holidays for 3 days, (not closed, remember!) he said that … Read more
Christmas – a time for giving…each other the COVID19 virus. Yes, the lifting of restrictions did not pan out as the government had hoped with cases about to hit over 2,000 per day at this time of recording, hospitals beginning to near capacity, and testing centres are now beyond capacity so now you only get … Read more
Just what you need for your drive home for Christmas, another 2020 review! I’ve compiled 20 moments in primary education in 2020 and look forward to next year and my hopes for 2021. Sit back, relax…actually, this won’t be relaxing, so just sit back and grimace your way through the top 20 moments in primary … Read more
This episode is about a school. A school where over 10% of their pupils have had a positive diagnosis of COVID19. A school where its Board decided that they needed to close the building to stop the spread of the virus. A school that was then told to open back up on Monday morning. And … Read more
In case you missed it, today has been designated GRMA day, a day dreamed up to make people say thank you to people working in schools over the last number of months. The idea is that at 11am on Friday, everyone in schools is being asked to play a video where various people are going … Read more