If school's don't return on March 8th what will you do?

[cottonwoolbrain]

I am goign to be completely honest. I can't handle this anymore. I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm in tears every day now and the rest of the time just feel completely and utterly numb as if I'm doing everything on autopilot. Keep shoutinbg at the children - rate its going they'll get Stockholm Syndrome being coooped up with me as I am

DS (8) needs almost constant supervision to get him to do any work at all or even to sit in his chair. HIs school have great distance learning but I'm exhausted trying to get him to do it even with online classes. DD is 15. She's great at doing the work but is understandly stressed and lonely and worried about next years GCSEs and I feel like I'm getting the brunt of it.

I work part time and its the sort of job that requires high concentration levels. I can't just stop to answer questions about everything under the sun (including the flipping sun).

I'm breaking. Half term starts tomorrow. Hopefully a week of not home schooling will help and then I''ll be counting the days until March 8th but I'm so desperately worried they won't go back and I'm not sure what I'll do or how I'll cope.

DP helps as much as he can but most of its falling on me.

Sorry don't knwo what I'm saying except that i dont thknk I can hold out much longer and its messing up my children so badly.

Hypothetically if schools can all be fully reopened next month - will you all go back?

Do you believe this time it is safe enough or yet another cycle(s) of open and close quasi lockdowns incompetent political pandemic mismanagement negligence?

Naturally we all want new post pandemic normality but will this be long lasting and sustainable and will not cause future detrimental issues of future lockdowns etc?

Today one parent posted a picture of her son on the school forum with a bunch of people not in her household whom they'd gone for a walk for. Along with a comment about poor little Oliver and how much he's missing other kids.

It hasn't gone unnoticed. Nor do I think it will be forgotten. Especially by the family who has a parent who is in his 50s and at risk if he gets covid due to serious underlying health issue.

Nor does it help that this kid is in school somedays as his mother is a keyworker. He's getting far more contact with other kids than many others. The school previously went above and beyond for this kid. I know some of the school staff are extremely pissed off at behaviour like this as it is. I can well see some of them taking it as a real slap in the face.

It will lead a divide with people going out of their way to avoid/ostracise/disengage with certain families.

Its not a good state of affairs.

@ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia

Hypothetically if schools can all be fully reopened next month - will you all go back?

Do you believe this time it is safe enough or yet another cycle(s) of open and close quasi lockdowns incompetent political pandemic mismanagement negligence?

Naturally we all want new post pandemic normality but will this be long lasting and sustainable and will not cause future detrimental issues of future lockdowns etc?

If they go back on the 8th there is a real danger of this. Yes.

@ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia

Hypothetically if schools can all be fully reopened next month - will you all go back?

Do you believe this time it is safe enough or yet another cycle(s) of open and close quasi lockdowns incompetent political pandemic mismanagement negligence?

Naturally we all want new post pandemic normality but will this be long lasting and sustainable and will not cause future detrimental issues of future lockdowns etc?

I will be as in Wales - I've looked at what the government here have released and the advice they have been given and what they are doing seems ok. What else can we do.

ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia
Hypothetically if schools can all be fully reopened next month - will you all go back?

I'm guessing they might do a staggered start and see how it goes? With smaller class groups part time. That's what my DC's school did last year. My reception age child was one of 7 in a classroom which I felt was ok.

If it is full class I would probably stick to my current plan of a homeschooling buddying up situation with 1 or 2 others. If they would still be interested. And we are able to chose without being fined.

Just to add - this is schools alone and the headroom they believe they have now - although the problem will lie in the package of relaxations. Schools alone (phased) seems very reasonable to me - but then what else will come and how will that affect matters

So no I can't rely on Boris not doing anything wild.

Lose my proverbial shit! I just want to get back to my normal routine now. I honestly don’t know who people home educate by choice. I was speaking with dd 8 teacher when he called for her weekly check up. I mentioned how I thought the kids are losing interest now and he agreed. We had a nice little chat about it. Half term couldn’t have come at the right time. I need to get back to work, I’ll never complain about the school run again.

If they don’t go back I’ll be inviting the 3 other kids in ds’s bubble at college round to our house with their instruments so they can play music together.

I’ll pay any fines if need be. We have access to weekly community testing with no symptoms.

Ds’s college was brilliant last term. They did blended learning so Ds was in college on alternate weeks. There was strict social distancing at all times and as it’s a practical course he was in a consistent bubble of 4 for practical work. Despite a high community infection rate there were very few cases at his college.

I spoke to DSs school today and they seem to be preparing for schools to reopen on 8th March - I really hope they do or I’ll just give up on remote learning.

It is frustrating but the end is in sight. We're starting to see the daily figures go down, and the vaccinations go up. It is a big positive, and when it's safe, they'll be back in school (I think March is a little ambitious, though - I'm guessing a phased return after Easter). I'm getting pretty fed up with it too, but we've got to look at the positives.

I’ll be fine, to be honest, if they don’t go back until after Easter. Hopefully that will mean case numbers will be at a low enough rate that when they do open, they can remain open.

We certainly won’t be giving up on any remote learning in this house-they’re our kids!

You're not alone, my eldest has embraced the home learning because he doesn't have all the distraction but my youngest is not coping well with it. I also find it really difficult having to tiptoe around my house because my children are on live lessons with camera on and mute off. I think enough is enough now.

One of my cousins is a teacher and he says the unions are pushing for teachers vaccines (unlikely but they've got to try I guess) and also delaying full opening of schools until after the Easter holidays 😩 which is not what people want to hear at all.
4 members of staff at his secondary are off sick, not covid related, but with stress

He said at his school (he works in Bolton) they have all said if they don't sort something they'll strike as staff (heavily unionised school) as they're being expected to teach keyworker and vulnerable children in school but simultaneously do the ones at home with rubbish IT equipment and they can't film a live lesson with other kids on film they'd need someone doing it to make it any good he said it's a nightmare for them but fully gets parents anguishes too

It's a horrendous situation for people it really is.

It's just a case of hang on in there really.

At least half term gives everyone s not of a break doesn't it.

@snowydaysandholidays

peak Is this the moment for party political broadcasts? No.

I think it's a very good time for 'party political broadcasts', myself!

@Hope4theBestPlan4theWorst

One of my cousins is a teacher and he says the unions are pushing for teachers vaccines (unlikely but they've got to try I guess) and also delaying full opening of schools until after the Easter holidays 😩 which is not what people want to hear at all. 4 members of staff at his secondary are off sick, not covid related, but with stress

He said at his school (he works in Bolton) they have all said if they don't sort something they'll strike as staff (heavily unionised school) as they're being expected to teach keyworker and vulnerable children in school but simultaneously do the ones at home with rubbish IT equipment and they can't film a live lesson with other kids on film they'd need someone doing it to make it any good he said it's a nightmare for them but fully gets parents anguishes too

It's a horrendous situation for people it really is.

It's just a case of hang on in there really.

At least half term gives everyone s not of a break doesn't it.

Damn right every teacher should be vaccinated.

Cry and then form a childcare bubble with another family and take it in turns to supervise online learning while WFH FT in a keyworker role. I'd send them to school but would be concerned that the teachers would hate me.

@DenisetheMenace

GameSetMatch

I’ll just carry on, what else can one do? It won’t help crumbling to bits even if it’s what we all want to do.”

This, really. Crying every day and shouting at your kids is quite an extreme reaction. Have you sought outside help?

Are you normally this patronising?

@Thislittlefinger123

Try and persuade their school to pay even a fragment of attention to the children at home instead of focusing it all on the children at school

THIS. With f**king bells on!!!

Sadly I already have and they couldn't give a shit quite frankly. If we find out on 22nd Feb that they won't be back on 8th March then we won't be engaging with the "work" from school anymore. My DC and I are battling through the worksheets and pdfs each week, only to get to Friday and for me to realise that actually the content is crap and they haven't learnt anything particularly new or meaningful. It's dull and unengaging (not live teaching or pre recorded), which probably seems okay when in school with interaction with teachers and peers. I will be looking at the curriculum, and trying to cover the minimum myself using other sources and that'll be it. I refuse to play along with the school's pretence that they are teaching my DC anymore.

To be honest, mine are in school and they aren't getting live teaching either, just boring worksheets....

@ElliFAntspoo

It seems to me the thread falls into two camps.

Those that recognise the world has changed, that they do not get to control that change, but what they do get to control they can plan by. These people seem to be moving ahead and slowly rebuilding their lives based on what they see as being probably futures, and if those futures are different, they adapt and overcome.

Then there are those who seem to be flustered and have a problem dealing with the reality of the situation they are in. They seem to be floundering, stressed, and desperate for someone else to change things for them. They seem to grab a hold of everything the Government says, and hand onto it because it gives them hope, and are then shattered when they find the goalposts are moved yet again. But at the same time they are just trying to be victims. They have watched the goal posts change every single time a decision has been made, and they still grasp a hold of the new goal and hope they aren't pinning their salvation to another false endpoint.

You get to choose. I choose to stay calm, plan for what I can control, ignore what I cannot control, and just hope that we don't lose our income or our lives. I don't get to choose anything else, so why would I stress about it, or go onto MN looking for other people who also don't have any control or any constructive advice to compare frustrations with?

I read this and thought Good Heavens! Who on Earth would write such a dismissive and condescending post, aiming further blows at people who are really struggling?; then I saw who the OP was, and thought Oh Yes. Them.

I guess with an outlook like that, one would probably live a pretty socially-distanced life in normal times, anyway; so aren't suffering the feelings of privation warmer, nicer, likeable people are.

@QueenofLouisiana

I'll carry on recording lessons, marking work in as close to real-time as I can manage so that feedback is meaningful and trying to make sure that the online offer matches the curriculum as much as I can. In between, I'll go in to work to support the children of KW and those who are vulnerable. I'll also keep my SEN DS on track to getting some grades at the end of his GSCE year and worry about the fact that he isn't getting access to the sport he at which he excels. The same as I've done every day since March last year, apart from the bit where I taught in school everyday and had to tag on the online learning for those in self-isolation/ tested positive on top. Sorry- but you did ask.

So basically, very similar to every other parent who is trying to combine homeschooling and work, many of whom also have children with additional needs. Why do teachers think their job is much more difficult that everyone else's?

@SplunkPostGres

I’m on my own and on my knees now. I work from home and attempt to home school a 7 year old. We aren’t leaving the house due to the exercise from home rule. There’s nowhere suitable to exercise from home. No park or anything. Yet we’re a five minute drive from the coast. Which isn’t allowed. I really hope the sanctimonious people on this thread, end up feeling the impact of this in the same way that I am. It’s all very well to call for lockdown with your nuclear family. Not everyone is as fortunate. I’m not scared of dying. What kind of a life is this?

You can drive 5 mins from your house to the coast. If it's 5 mins drive you it's also well within the bounds of just walking or cycling also!

@Emski76

Add to that we are working with windows open in near zero degree temps. Primary school with half of the school are in, support staff ‘supervising’ learning, all shivering despite wearing several layers of clothes! I’m in a primary school and am wondering how much longer staff can cope let alone the children. Being in a freezing classroom with children, some of whom are in because their parents can’t cope with home learning is not a great feeling. We have staff calling children to hear them read because there is no learning at all happening at home. And we will pick these children back up again when they return. I’m not sure how many parents works want to have their children in freezing classrooms rather than warm at home. If this were normal times schools would be closed for being below the legal temperature. Schools must not open too quickly or we will just be back where we were.

Schools are still breaking the law if below the legal temperature (16C I believe?). They should be turning heating up sufficiently to compensate for the ventilation.

@KnobblyWand

I really feel sorry for all the kids who's parents are piling stress onto them and demanding academic performance.

What are we supposed to be doing, letting them run feral? They're only doing what they would have been doing at school, if they're lucky enough to be doing that much. Yeah fuck their education, what 5 year old needs to learn how to read anyway.

Well actually, most of the best school systems in the world start formal schooling with reading and writing at age 6-7. There is a myriad of evidence that this is beneficial and children of 5 should still be spending the vast majority of their time playing.

So yeah. The Government, last March, with all of the evidence that this would go on for 18 months to two years (like most pandemics) have decided to suspend the year of education and have everyone start again next Easter in the same year, missing nothing. In the hope they could have got their shit together ready for the virus ramping up again in autumn 2021, as respiratory viruses do. And yes, I did suggest this at the time.

The time is fast approaching when the public say no to the government, they will refuse to comply and they take back their own lives. The government are misguided if they feel they continue to impose this on society for much longer. The right thing to do is lift restrictions very carefully starting with those that are the most safe, so progress can be felt. Schools are vital and need to be reopened.