Notes from a pandemic: Schools keep the show on the road despite staff shortages

Schools across the county re-opened after the Christmas break on Thursday with enormous pressure on some schools due to Covid related staff shortages, while others were lucky to be able to return with full staff.

Principals have been busy trying to organise substitute teachers and juggle resources to ensure all classrooms can stay open, while many schools also saw high absentee rates among students.

St Mary's NS in Enfield had nine teachers and two Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) absent last Thursday, mostly due to being close contacts. Principal Enda Flynn said they managed to get five substitute teachers in to cover, after two days of searching. This meant all mainstream classes were covered but they weren't able to get sub cover for their special education teachers.

“Today (Thursday) we were able to manage but it is a challenge and I'm not sure the Department realises how difficult it is to manage a school at this time.”

While Mr Flynn said teachers don't want to go back to remote learning, he feels it would have been wise for the next two weeks until the peak of the Omicrom has passed.

“I do recognise the importance of children attending shcool but it would have been prudent to have moved online for two weeks until the peak of omicron had passed rather than risk is spreading more through the community. Many children are not yet vaccinated and risk spreading it to teachers and SNAs. Opening straight away may have added to the difficulties over the next few weeks.”

Brian Mullins, principal of Kilmessan NS, said they had three staff out when schools re-opened, and managed to get cover for one, after trying every substitute teacher on his list. He was unable to get cover for their learning support teaching roles but was able to cover all mainstream classes.

“We are facing into a period where there could be a lot of absences so it will be all hands to the pump.

“Everybody prefers children to be in school - the kids, parents and teachers - and nobody wants to go back to remote learning if at all possible.”

He felt that on balance the right call was made to open schools even if it means high absenteeism and that they can manage pupils absences with remote learning but staff absences are more challenging and he expects it to be a huge challenge week to week.

Cóilín O Coighligh, principal of St Mary's Primary School in Trim said eight of their 32 teachers were out and managed to get seven substitute teachers, while the eight was in special education.

He said taking staff from special education is something no school wants to do but at times they have absolutely no choice. He said last year they were able to bank the hours taken from special education and employ a teacher by the end of the year for those hours but they can't this year.

In terms of pupil absences, he said 22 per cent of pupils were out on Thursday. “We all agree that schools should be kept open. It is better for the children, but 22 per cent of our children were at home and aren't getting an education. Teachers can't teach in the classroom and remotely at the same time. They can put homework up on Google Classroom or See-Saw but they cant teach.”

Jacqueline Maher, Principal of Scoil Mhuire Trim said the school community worked closely together to support each other but it was challenging with around 15-20 per cent of staff absent on Thursday when the school re-opened. However, she expected the situation to improve this week as staff returned.

Shane Foley, principal of Enfield Community College said they were lucky that as a new school they have a full complement of teachers and there was only one staff absence on Thursday. “We are fortunate in that we are able to run the entire curriculum today,” he said.

“There has also been excellent attendance by students, but some parents kept children at home because of fears where there were compromised adults at home.”

In Castletown NS, Principal Brien Kearns said they were lucky to have a “full quota” with all six of their teachers in school and most students were in.

Darragh Roe, principal of Ard Rí Community National School said the school was delighted to reopen fully for all classes on Thursday.

“It has been great getting the school up and running for term two. The phone has been busy, we have been in contact with quite a few parents throughout the morning and most absent pupils will be returning to school early next week.”

Meanwhile, the Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU) has expressed its concern that the return to school has been rushed and has hit out at the lack of consultation with students themselves.

Eva Grace, regional ISSU officer for Louth-Meath said:

“The Department's announcement of the reopening of schools across Ireland, in my opinion, means that there will not be enough time to prepare schools properly. This approach risks not having adequate enough changes to schools before students and staff return, jeopardising our safety in classrooms.”

“The Department has also failed to address the difficulties of staff-shortages or student absenteeism. This means that not every student will be receiving the same standard of education, and this is an incredibly unfair outcome, especially for exam year students.”