IPPN

Leadership Support Team FAQs

Published: 22 October 2020

What is a surgical Mask?
A surgical mask is a loose-fitting, disposable device that creates a physical barrier between the mouth and nose of the wearer and potential contaminants in the immediate environment. The Standard for Surgical Masks in Ireland is EU EN14683.

Surgical masks are made in different thicknesses and with different ability to protect you from contact with liquids. These properties may also affect how easily you can breathe through the face mask and how well the surgical mask protects you.

If worn properly, a surgical mask is meant to help block large-particle droplets, splashes, sprays, or splatter that may contain germs (viruses and bacteria), keeping it from reaching your mouth and nose. Surgical masks may also help reduce exposure of your saliva and respiratory secretions to others.
When wearing a surgical mask, the dark blue (or green) side of the mask (the fluid-repellent layer) is to be worn outward, with the white (absorbent) layer on the inside. This is to ensure that droplet-borne viruses are filtered out.

Who should wear surgical masks in school?
Teachers and SNAs who are within 2m of a child 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.

Staff members who are accompanying a child (or adult) who is being isolated in the school while awaiting collection from the school.

Bus escorts who are in close proximity to children while escorting them.

Is there guidance on the wearing and disposal of masks?
Masks and visors should be donned and doffed and disposed of as demonstrated in videos.
Masks should be removed and disposed of if they are wet or damaged. Masks should be removed and disposed of if going or a break or visiting the toilet.

How do I record Deputy Principal Release Days on OLCS?
Deputy principal release days and substitution claims can be made under the ‘School Business’ category. No additional information is required to be submitted to the DES to record this leave.

OLCS has also advised that if you have submitted previous deputy principal release day requests to the Department, they have been recorded on the OLCS as Department Sanctioned (Sub). The Department will be re-naming those days as ‘Deputy Principal Release Days’ over the coming weeks and no further action is required on the part of the school.

Networking@ Updates

Published: 22 October 2020

The final date for IPPN membership renewal was Friday, 16 October. Since that date, non-members are unable to avail of some of our key supports and services, including Leadership Support and the confidential telephone service, networking@ippn.ie and other mailing lists, E-scéal, access to resources on www.ippn.ie which includes Resource Bundles, templates, sample policies and many more.

During the mid-term break, the networking mailing list will be updated to reflect the membership for the 2020/2021 school year. Please note: In order for IPPN to be GDPR compliant, only those members whose membership renewal forms were returned with the ‘Opt in’ field ticked can be added to the neworking@ippn.ie mailing list.

Unless forms have a different email address in the section ‘preferred email address for networking@ippn.ie’, the networking@ippn.ie mails are directed to the email address provided on the membership form.

I am no longer receiving networking@ emails. What do I do?

Log in to your www.ippn.ie member account
Go to ‘Supports, Mailing Lists, Manage My Mailing Lists’ on the menu tool bar
The email address associated with your membership is listed in the ‘Email Address’ field
Select mailing lists to subscribe to
Scroll to bottom of page and select ‘Submit Changes’ button

I want to receive networking@ to another email address. How can I do this?

Step 1

Log in to your www.ippn.ie member account
Go to ‘Supports, Mailing Lists, Manage My Mailing Lists’ on the menu tool bar
The email address is listed in the ‘Email Address’ field
Select the ‘Unsubscribe’ field,
Scroll to bottom of page and select ‘Submit Changes’ button

Step 2

Update the email address listed in the ‘Email Address’ field
Select the mailing lists that you wish to be ‘Subscribed’ to
Scroll to bottom of page and select ‘Submit Changes’ button

Dedicated HSE school teams for testing and tracing

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

Positive Case of COVID-19 among the school community

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

DES Updates - 15 October 2020

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: