IPPN

Published: 22 October 2020

As you know, IPPN has called for a dedicated HSE public health schools advisory service, staffed at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with sufficient capacity to deal with all school queries.

On Tuesday, IPPN attended the NPHET briefing along with the other education stakeholders. NPHET officials acknowledged the work of school leaders and the significant achievement in minimising the transmission rates in schools (see image per Irish Times 20 October, source HSE and Health Protection Surveillance Centre). They also acknowledged the difficulties relating to testing and tracing and committed to rectifying these issues.

Minister for Education Norma Foley has since announced that a dedicated service will be in place after the midterm break. Yesterday, the minister commented ‘In terms of testing and tracing in schools, public health resources will be strengthened and broadened, and we are putting school teams in place in each of the HSE areas which will support the work of the public health teams. ‘After the midterm break, I think it will give a very strong and strengthened approach to public health resources that are being deployed in schools.

Yesterday, the DES sent the following communication to schools:

‘The Department of Education has put the following temporary arrangement in place for school principals:

If a member of staff who has tested positive for COVID-19 gets a text message from the HSE to contact their own close contacts, we request the school principal to please ring the Department of Education at the following number 057 9324461 or email covid19_alert@education.gov.ie (if out of hours) with a mobile number for the school principal and the name and address of the school.

The Department will arrange for a follow-up call from Public Health to the school principal to identify if any action is required by the school, including identifying any close contacts for exclusion from the school.’

Until the HSE response time is adequate, IPPN will continue to provide its temporary out-of-hours service through covid@ippn.ie to support schools who experience difficulty getting in touch with the HSE.

Click here to view Minister’s Statement

Published: 15 October 2020

When there is a positive case among the school community, school leaders are often pressed for information or advice. In such scenarios, they should be guided by the following principles:

School Leaders are not doctors: They are not qualified to give medical advice or opinions. Professional medical advice should always be sought where there is a lack of clarity around HSE advice in a given situation. The person with the query should be referred to the HSE FAQs in the first instance and thereafter to their own GP.

School leaders are not permitted to reveal the identities of persons who have tested positive for COVID-19. Those who try to pressure them into revealing such information should be referred to the IPPN General Letter Template, approved by Public Health, which most schools have already sent to members of their school communities. The letter can be downloaded here. This letter makes it clear that if, based on questioning the person with the positive result, that person was not in the school when they contracted the virus, Public Health officials may not need to contact the school. Additionally, a school leader might consider discussing the issue with staff as the opportunity presents (staff meeting, Croke Park etc.) to clarify it with them.

School leaders might share the burden of inordinate pressure with the Chairperson of their BoM. The BoM could consider the option of issuing a clarification that the principal is following all medical and ethical guidelines. This shows that the principal has the support of the BoM and helps de-personalise the issue. School leaders might discuss this option in advance with their Chairperson or at a BoM meeting.

The contact numbers of your local HSE / Public Health office is available to download here

Published: 15 October 2020

• The Department has clarified that there is no plan to extend the mid-term break
• Public health officials have deemed schools to be a low-risk environment – there is evidence and data that confirm that schools are not a source of transmission. The transmission rates for 4-18 year olds have remained static since before schools reopened (14.1% in August; 14.3% in September/October). They are very satisfied with the implementation of safety measures in schools and are very complementary of the efforts of teachers and school leaders. They urge school staff to remain extremely vigilant and minimise interaction with each other to minimise the risk of school staff being identified as close contacts where a positive case is confirmed among the staff.
• HPSC has issued recent guidance in relation to the wearing of medical grade face masks/PPE – ‘When SNAs are within 2m of a pupil and performing healthcare-like tasks (personal care) the face covering should normally be a surgical mask. If a surgical mask is not practical for any reason, they should use a visor or a quality suitable for use in a healthcare setting.’
• All of the education stakeholders have asked that the Department flag all new information for school leaders on the Esinet portal
  The Department has committed to another round of funding for PPE and hygiene requisites after Christmas. The data from the procurement framework will be used to determine the level of funding required in 2021. IPPN urges all schools to order (through the framework) enough supplies to cover the period up to the end of 2020.

We await further guidance in relation to:

1. COVID-19-related sick leave
2. Recording of attendance/non-attendance of very high risk pupils
3. Parent/teacher meetings
4. Child protection oversight report.

Published: 14 October 2020

IPPN has been invited by the Joint Committee on Education, Research, Innovation and Science to make a brief written submission by 21 October on the topic ‘Ensuring that schools are open in a manner which is both safe and sustainable’. They have asked us to focus on the key issues and effective strategies to assist the Committee in examining the issue.

As you will be aware, IPPN has advocated for many years as our top priority for teaching principals to be given the additional leadership and management time they require to carry out their responsibilities as school leaders. Since the COVID-19 mandated closure of schools, we insisted in the strongest possible terms to the DES that additional time must be provided to enable principals cope with all of the additional work required to reopen schools during a global pandemic. The other education partners agreed that this was a key priority.

We also advocated strongly for adequate resourcing of schools to enable them to put in place all of the necessary measures to reopen school buildings and safeguard the health of their pupils and staff. The additional cleaning, PPE and hygiene requisites will need to be fully funded until such time as the virus has been fully contained nationwide or until there is ‘herd immunity’ through an immunisation programme, to allow schools to continue to manage and maintain the high standards of cleanliness that has meant a minimal spread of coronavirus within school buildings.

In our Budget 2021 submission to the Ministers for Education, Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform, IPPN called for the leadership and management time for teaching principals to be placed on a permanent footing, and for the level of resourcing currently in place for schools to maintain cleaning and hygiene to be continued for the duration of the pandemic.

If you have any additional suggestions or strategies that you would like IPPN to raise as part of the submission to the Committee, please email project@ippn.ie by 5.00pm on Friday 16 October.