Ms Lorraine Dempsey:

I will take that question. Looking at it at a micro level, what should we expect in schools when they return, and what would be wise of schools to do? Let us look at the preschool sector and the suggestions there, and other European countries and what they have done. They have engaged a pod-like system whereby, particularly where there are medically complex children in special schools, school classes should not really mix with one another. The staff who provide supports within class groups should not mix with other staff. There should possibly be staggered movement around the school that is managed in case there should be a further outbreak. It is not really a case of "should" because there will inevitably be an outbreak in the winter period.

We have learned a lot, including that the whole country does not need to shut down and that we should have the systems in place to manage any outbreak at a micro and local level initially. Individual schools need to look at having a way to militate against the spread of Covid should a staff member or child introduce it into the school environment. Again, it is a matter of stringent handwashing and having the supports and resources from the Department of Education and Skills. If that means additional staff to split up classrooms, particularly for our vulnerable children, the Department should consider that in its budgetary planning. We have the highest numbers of children in our classrooms in the country. We advocate mainstreaming where possible. My colleague, Mr. O'Connor, mentioned the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article 24 of the convention infers a right of all children to an inclusive educational experience. We need to treat all schools as if there are potentially vulnerable children within them for that to happen. They could be children who are insulin-dependent or children with cardiac issues. Then there are the staff themselves, who seem to be predominantly more impacted by Covid as adults. Having said that, we do not want adults spreading it to children, who then potentially bring it back asymptomatically to other vulnerable family members. That is imperative for that micro planning.

It is also important that at this stage that schools get guidance on what this should look like. There are serious delays in that. In the appendix to the Covid guidelines issued the other day, there is a protocol for staff returning to work, including a checklist, whereby the staff will sign to say they are not symptomatic, are feeling well, have not been party to contact tracing, etc. There is no suggestion, however, of doing the same for children returning to schools. Looking at the international experience, temperatures are checked and families have to state whether they have been in contact with a person through contact tracing.

The idea of closed bubbles is now quite common, particularly in special schools. The UK kept certain schools open to provide childcare for front-line staff. I will give one example of a London special school, which normally has 178 pupils. From March, when most of the schools closed down, this school provided support for 20 pupils on an average day but some days there were as few as three pupils who were supported by a core group of staff. They continued that support and now they are looking at expanding the number of children that are coming back into that special school in pods. I believe that the UK Government has indicated that from July they are going to be very loose with the return to school and the precautions that need to be taken. In schools across Europe that stayed open for the cohort of children with special educational needs and those who were considered vulnerable and for front-line workers, pupils were in school in very low numbers and they were very careful to ensure that there was not cross-mixing of staff and pupil groups. We have to look at that as we open up in September.