To put children in school when I'm not working?

[hibbledobble]

I know that at the moment, school is childcare for key workers only, and that children should only go in when necessary.

I'm a junior doctor, and I have just been sent to covid-19 wards, from previously doing a speciality.

I am happy to help in these extraordinary circumstances, but I am struggling with the current situation. There has been a lot of anxiety regarding the change into an unfamiliar environment, and lack of communication from the hospital. I haven't done general medicine for a very long time.

Emotionally it is harrowing right now, and I find myself crying daily at work. It is really difficult to cope. As doctors, we have been warned that we will all have PTSD by the end of this.

Would IBU to put my children in school some days when I'm not working, to give myself some space to focus on my mental health?

"The extra risk here is minimal, as my children are already at school, and mixing with other children and staff on a regular basis."

Each school will have its own system for staffing but ours runs along the following lines:

• The staff are put together in small teams, each with the required ratio of teachers, TAs, First Aiders and leaders.

• Where possible, each team will have a gap of around 14 days between each shift. This reduces the risk of exposure and means that if anyone needs to self-isolate then there are already approximately 14 days where they are not needed anyway.

• A child attending 6 days in a fortnight will come into contact with 6 different teams and risk infecting those staff members. A child who attends for 10 days will come into contact with 10 different teams.

• Each of those staff members will in turn have their own family/household members who are now at a greater risk of infection.

• As the number of staff self-isolating increases, the number of available staff decreases to the point where the school may need to close completely and not be available to provide any childcare for keyworkers at all.

• At the same time, the children of other keyworkers may only be attending on the days their parent/carer works. Some children may only see other particular children once or twice a week - sometimes not at all.

• If a child attends every single day and has unknowingly contracted the infection, they will now be coming into contact with every other child who comes into school. As has been mentioned earlier, it can be very difficult to keep the children 2 metres apart at all times.

• Those other children are now much more likely to take the virus home to their own keyworker parents/carers, meaning that they too now have to self-isolate. So that's several other doctors, nurses, carers, drivers, and other keyworkers who are now no longer available for work.

It really isn't as simple as 'Mean and ungrateful teachers won't take keyworkers' children when those keyworkers are putting themselves at risk!"

crocodile I appreciate you have knowledge of how it works at your school. At my children's school the staff are doing a different system, where each staff member works a whole week. The other children who are attending are mostly attending daily, I know this as I know their parents. Therefore, in my children's case, at their school, the extra risk is minimal.

Even if each staff member works a whole week and children are mostly attending daily, doesn’t account for that fact that this can change at any time. Staff may have to self isolate so others may step in. The children may also have to self isolate so would mean different children attending. Sometimes groups of children have to be combined to account for staff numbers. Staff would change for breaks too. It’s a fast changing environment right now. The exposure changes rapidly and widens.

Ultimately it’s what you can live with on your conscience. Take care.

This is assuming the school isn’t open to provide cover for just your kids - that might tip the balance in my opinion.

Interestingly, our secondary, having surveyed the keyworker families to find out which days they need, is only opening on a few days over the holidays. They have made it very clear that if anyone has a change to their shifts and needs school to be open on another day, they should make contact and they will open for them.

They have made it very clear that if anyone has a change to their shifts and needs school to be open on another day, they should make contact and they will open for them.

That’s for working parents. The op is talking about putting them in when she isn’t working. I’m concerned that this puts other people’s children at unnecessary risk

Seen a nurse whose died today :( I can understand now why stressed its not the patients dying it's the fear of catching it take care but on your days of enjoy your family xx

So you're happy to put teachers at risk of anything you may have picked up, via your kids?

I don't believe for one minute that you're a doctor.

The fact that you are already crying at work daily means you need the break. Those saying yabu haven't got a clue what you're dealing with.

Your kids are in school on the days you do work so it will make no difference to the people they mix with if they go the extra day or to you are off. You need time to rest and recuperate else you won't be able to do your job.

Jesus Christ. The wankers on this thread are unbelievable.

Op,if your school will have them then certainly send them in.. This is not a normal situation and what you are experiencing on a daily basis must be beyond heartbreaking and exhausting. Ignore all the people who just don't get it. Remember, 50% of the population is of below intelligence.

And please take comfort from the huge numbers of teachers on here saying how honoured or pleased they would be to look after your children.

Whilst you risk everything to look after us, it is only right we all do.our best to help look after you.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for showing up every day and working so hard to keep people alive.

of below average* intelligence. Oh the irony 😀

The guidance says we aren’t to do this.

Wow there are some awful heartless replies on this thread. Please don't pay heed to them.

OP thank you for the difficult and stressful job you are doing. I wish there was more I could do to support you and the many like you.

Personally I think the odd extra day in school here or there mixing mostly with children and adults they'd be mixing with anyway is, on balance, a smaller risk than losing a doctor from the frontline. Yes in an ideal world there would be a sustainable, zero risk option, but if there isn't, there isn't.

@hibbledobble YANBU. Thank you so much 🤍 Stay safe!

The guidance says we aren’t to do this.

Which for some jobs is perfectly reasonable.

If it's a case of someone who has worked a night for example but needs to sleep the day, then the kids need to be at school so the parents get the sleep they need. If noone else is at home the parent can't supervise kids and sleep, therefore they cannot do their job properly.

OP - as a dr you know that anyone reacting as you are under normal circumstances would be signed of sick by now for stress. Obviously you can't but you need rest and relaxation now. Put the kids in school, try and sleep and step away from this thread.

I'm not going to look at mumsnet any more through this crisis. I'm a radiographer, seen plenty lately but nowhere near the conditions the dr and nurses are going through at the moment. I have absolute admiration for you all being in the full ppe for whole shifts, it horrendous and added to the deaths you're dealing with its inconceivable how to cope. I think ptsd will be very real for many.

Most of these replies wont help you, but that's because they dont understand, no one does who isnt there and whilst most mean well, its the nasty negative ones that stick in your head.

If it's any consolation I told my partner whose a teacher and with out hesitation he said of course she should send then to school