Close schools now to save Christmas
■ Teacher fears ‘disastrous’ January shutdown if fresh Covid spike emerges after the holidays ■ Health Minister warns third wave of infections ‘may be most aggressive yet’
A TEACHER who endured Covid-19 over the last half-term break fears Christmas may be ruined for other families if schools don’t shut this week.
Jonny Poole teaches at Braniel Primary in Belfast — one of the schools allowing children to be taught at home over the last week of this term.
Education Minister Peter Weir is adamant that schools should not close early.
But father-of-two Mr Poole (41) urged the DUP minister to change his position, even at this late stage, “so that everyone can enjoy Christmas”.
“For me, it’s a straight decision of closing schools now so families can have the benefit of Christmas rather than put it off until January. If it’s inevitably going to happen, why wouldn’t you do it now?”
Meanwhile, the Health Minister warned the pandemic was far from finished and that he feared a third wave of infections “could be the most aggressive yet”.
A TEACHER who spent the last half-term break in self isolation after contracting Covid-19 has spoken of his fears that Christmas may be ruined for other families if schools don’t shut this week.
Jonny Poole teaches Year 7 at Braniel PS in Belfast — which is one of the schools offering parents the option of allowing their children to be taught by remote learning during the last week of this term.
Education Minister Peter Weir has remained adamant that schools should not close earlier than the officially appointed date, a stance that has been strongly criticised by both principals and unions.
Lisnagarvey High School in Lisburn has already closed for the remainder of the term.
Mr Poole (41), who has two children Daisy (7) and George (4) with wife Cara (37), also a teacher, urged Mr Weir to change his mind, even at this late stage, “so that everyone can enjoy Christmas”.
In an exclusive interview, the Belfast man, who believes he caught the virus in the classroom, also told the Belfast Telegraph that it would be “disastrous” if schools were instead forced to close in January, as is widely expected, if there is a post-christmas spike in coronavirus infections.
“I would encourage Mr Weir to rethink his stance because the absurdity of the situation is that it looks like the minister is thinking of shutting the schools in the new year,” he said.
“What’s the point of that? Why not close schools now and hopefully stop the ‘R’ number from going up?”
“For me, it’s a straight decision of closing schools now so families can have the benefit of Christmas rather than put it off until January. If it’s inevitably going to happen, why wouldn’t you do it now?”
He added: “A week off now would mean we could spend Christmas with Cara’s mum and dad,” he said.
“As it stands, we’re both working in schools and we know the virus is around so we can’t risk spreading it to them.
“I’m speaking from first-hand experience. I got it from a child in my class and it wiped out our family time at Halloween.
“I didn’t have any relaxation,
I was straight back into school and the thought of that happening again at Christmas is horrendous.”
Recalling his own experience, Mr Poole said: “In the last week of the half-term, parents of some pupils tested positive.
“We got off on October 16 — a week early — and although I didn’t feel unwell I was very tired. I didn’t have any of the classic symptoms but I was pretty much wiped out and stayed in bed for a week.
“During that time, my test came back positive, so Cara slept downstairs and our family had to self-isolate.”
He added: “I was sick for one week and then we were self-isolating for the remainder of the break, so it was horrendous.”
Cara and their children then had to miss a week of school after Mr Poole returned to the classroom.
He also revealed how his wife had been shielding at the start of the pandemic due to an underlying health condition, which made the situation “even more stressful” for his family.
“We were really panicked about Cara catching it,” he said.
“She was a shielder from March she wasn’t out at all until that was paused.”
Mr Poole said that if schools closed early, spending Christmas with his in-laws, Joan and Bertie Ritchie, who are in their 70s and live in Comber, would be an option — but that can’t happen now.
“They’re too nervous about catching the virus,” he said.
“They really want to see their grandchildren but it’s too risky.
“My daughter and son would love nothing better than to hug their grandparents but we can’t take the chance.”
He added: “We won’t be able to visit Cara’s sisters Emma Johnston (42) or Jane Bleakley (40) over the holidays either.”
Although pupils don’t have to attend Braniel Primary next week, Mr Poole said that “as teachers, my wife and I can’t take them up on that”.
He added: “If we could, we absolutely would keep the kids at home and then we could meet with our family during the holidays.”
Last week, Justin Mccamphill, from the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), said Mr Weir’s refusal to close schools early at Christmas was “disturbing”.
“We are disturbed that the Executive’s plan appears to be to close schools in January in the event that infections and hospital transmissions increase over the Christmas period,” he told this newspaper.
“The Executive needs to focus on ensuring that the R rate remains below 1 and should therefore follow the scientific advice which is most likely to achieve that outcome.”
Mr Poole’s parents, Robert and Caroline, who are aged in their late 60s live in Southport, England, have already cancelled their plans to visit them during the festive period.
“Missing Halloween was horrendous, but it’s nothing to missing Christmas,” he said.
‘If it’s going to happen, why not do it now?’