The government has unveiled a €375 million support package to help school reopen safely.

These plans include an additional 1,000 teaching posts with the aim of reducing class sizes.

These will include:

-       120 guidance posts will be provided to support student wellbeing

-       An initial allocation of over 600 posts to be made available to post-primary schools

-       Remaining posts will be used to support those post-primary schools. experiencing particular difficulties to reopen fully and adhere to physical distancing and class sizes.

Pods

The guidance issued to schools says "The risk of spread of infection may be reduced by structuring pupils and their teachers into Class Bubbles (i.e. a class grouping which stays apart from other
classes as much as possible) and discrete groups or ‘Pods’ within those class bubbles, to the extent that this is practical. If a class is divided into Pods, there should be at least 1m distance between
individual Pods within the Class Bubble and between individuals in the pod, whenever possible.

Cleaning

€52 million will be spent to help schools put enhanced cleaning and hygiene measures in place.

The package does not include grants that will be provided to schools to fund any hand sanitiser and personal protective equipment.

Social Distancing

Primary school students below third class will not have to social distance.

All other classes and secondary school students will have to keep one metre apart.

Where possible, work-stations should be allocated consistently to the same staff and children rather than having spaces that are shared.

Public Transport

School Transport Scheme services operated by Bus Éireann will operate as normal when schools reopen.

Children will be asked not to use the bus if they are displaying symptoms of coronavirus.

They will have to sit in pre-assigned seating and next to a sibling or child from their class group.