PPE packs and air breaks part of school reopening plans 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin (left) and Deputy Principal, Nicholas O’Keefe (right), at Nagle Secondary Community College, Mahon in Cork. Picture: Julien Behal/PA Wire

Teachers and students will be given PPE packs and air-breaks will be built into students' days as part of measures to reopen a large second-level school in Cork.

Jim O’Sullivan, the principal of Nagle Community College in Mahon, Cork, said clear communication with staff, parents and students will be vital if the reopening is to be a success.

He was speaking after taking Taoiseach Micheál Martin on a tour of the school. 

Mr O’Sullivan his staff have worked relentlessly to prepare for the reopening.

“We have followed very closely the roadmap for the reopening of schools. We have been given a lot of resources from the department of education and we are grateful for that,” he said.

“I think if we can be allowed to go about this process in a very calm and measured way over the coming weeks, I think we can do this.

“I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to work, that we are going to get students back to education.

“This is what we want, this is what teachers want, this is what parents want.

“We need to be calm, we need to communicate very clearly with one another, the channels of communication must be open at all times."

He said the school authorities have made the school as safe as possible but added: “Will we have a perfect? Probably not. Can we adapt? Yes we can.

"When staff arrive back and see what has been done, that will give them a certain amount of confidence and that confidence will grow over time as we continue to adapt the school to meet the needs of the staff and students."

Covid-19 signs have been erected across the school campus. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin arrives at Nagle Community College in #Cork to see how one school is preparing to reopen in a few days pic.twitter.com/qwwFeSzPEk

— Eoin English (@EoinBearla) August 20, 2020

Hand sanitizers have been installed at classroom doors. Perspex is hanging from the ceilings in several practical rooms. 

A one-way walking system has been introduced throughout the building.

Each student and staff member will get a PPE pack before the first day at school, containing a visor, a face mask, a bottle of hand sanitiser and wipes. 

Teachers and SNAs will get a stationery pack to carry with them from room to room.

Paper towels and foot pedal bins have been placed in classrooms, all the practical rooms have hot running water, every student will have access to a single desk and will be guaranteed at least one-metre distance to the students beside them, and perspex screens have been installed in some of the offices.