Alison Curtis: Returning to school amid a pandemic is a testing time for us all

"...I put it out on my own social media channels asking if parents would aim to keep their children home until Covid numbers come under more control and the response was huge...."

Pic: Marc O'Sullivan

So much has changed since my column a week ago and we are living in seriously nervous and tense times. The number of Covid cases have never been higher and are expected to grow.'

The country is returning to the type of severe restrictions we experienced during the first wave of the Coronavirus.

The news that the government is closing most schools for January except for children with special needs, was met with a mixed reaction.

The majority of responses I saw from parents was the dread of the return of balancing homeschooling and working from home. I did see a few people have a “virtual” sign of relief as for many families the return to school would mean the safety of their bubble would pop.

I put it out on my own social media channels asking parents how they feel about this news and the response was huge.

I heard from hundreds of teachers and the majority of them said that they had been scared at the prospect of going back into the classroom. In particular primary school teachers expressed deep concern of how they could stay virus-free standing in front of a group of 30 unmasked students.

Interestingly a number of secondary school teachers got in touch saying that they felt despite their best efforts students were not consistently wearing their masks or if they were the masks came off at break time when large groups of kids just congregated together.

One issue that came up again and again with the messages I received was the fact that as a professional group they largely felt unheard and unprotected. Many said that they would willingly receive the vaccine now in order to feel assured in the classroom.

The parents that got in touch, many frontline staff, carers or teachers themselves, were nearly all saying that this time around with lockdown the focus would be only on keeping everyone happy and healthy. Many said that they would not be engaging in strict online learning like we did in the spring months of last year and instead take that pressure off the family unit.

There were a good few parents who got in touch to say that they are in a really stressful position of still having to go to work despite schools being shut and are now stuck in sourcing safe childcare.

In short, there are absolutely no winners in this situation. I feel so badly for teachers who now have the pressures of online education once again. The parents who will be working from home and fielding hundreds of snack requests and sibling spats a day. And for the students of all ages who will be missing out on the normal socialisation of school.

I have said so many times in this column I never take for granted that I can care for my child Joan across the week without the same pressures as the majority of parents. I can get up from the computer for large parts of the day. I can focus on homeschooling and go for walks when the walls start closing in. But this is not the case for so many people.

Whatever the outcome is and whenever we see schools returning it is definitely a testing time for everyone. I am most certainly a glass half full person and have always looked for the positives to write about in this column. But today I am being realistic in acknowledging that we are once again in trying times. All I can do is encourage us all to be kind to ourselves and to others. If that means peanut butter sambos and skipping school work and baths for a night so be it. Stay safe!