Nurseries back before schools?

[Russell19]

A friend of mine keeps saying nurseries and early years will be the first to go back.

AIBU in thinking this can't be right?!

Why would the smallest people who have no idea about social distancing and share saliva, toys etc. all the time be the first to go back? I get childcare problems but if we are looking at it from a health perspective surely older children would be best to go back first?

@Tfoot75

It’s not the direct impact on children that’s the issue. It’s if schools being open impacts on the R value. It’s the wider impact on the population as a whole.

Russell19 Unless nurseries open and schools allow all years back, I think there are going to be a lot of people asking for unpaid leave or using holiday leave to cut their weekly hours back.

I think your employers will be grateful to you for asking for unpaid leave, so in turn they have the funds to pay someone else. It'll save them having to ask you to do it.

@ ifonly4

My friend owns a nursery. She said they'd been asked to prepare for the middle of May, but she's not at all confident that'll happen and needs more information and to work out how she's going to pay staff.

By who? We’re heard nothing. It would be hoot to know

The comments on here about just wanting to chill out or have a coffee in peace really upset me.
I'm a nursery nurse of over 20 years, late 40s, severe asthmatic who has just missed the shielding list, my gp has recommended that I stay as far from people as possible.
We will have no social distancing and no PPE, I could literally die for your hot coffee.
I love my job and the families I work for and have kept in contact throughout.
I do indeed feel thrown to the wolves.

I know it's the impact on the R rate that is important, I'm just saying why all the people saying it's too risky for children to be in school etc aren't putting it into perspective. The number of people dying in the under 44 age group is not statistically significant, the risk is virtually non existent, the panic and worry in people of that age group is out of all perspective.

Clearly, the lockdown and social distancing measures are not at all out of proportion - just people's perception of the risk to themselves and their children.

@ifonly4 - I own a nursery. It’s open at the moment for the children of key workers, and as such, we’re in constant communication with the local authority.

I have heard nothing about a ‘return date’ and when I asked the head of Early Years at the local authority, he hadn’t heard either. He told me that he was getting his information from the media, like the rest of us. This was about a week ago, and I doubt much has changed in that time.

I don’t know who your friend is, but I would take what they have told you with a mountain of salt.

Lots of nurseries are private businesses that provide care for key workers and can not afford to remain closed

I don't think we know enough about the second wave.
The spanish flu killed the kids first time round and the parents the second wave.
So far children haven't really suffered.

Private nurseries (and schools) are under different rules to state schools. Whilst state schools were forced to shut, private provision could only be advised to shut (most did) they were only forced to on the Monday evening (lockdown). When lockdown is eased private provision may be allowed to reopen at the discretion of the owner, whereas state schools are likely to be open gradually (I expect years 6, 10 and 12 full time from 1 June with other year groups part time or possibly parents discretion (hoping half will not return until September). Of course it's speculation but got this from a headteacher friend

, at least nurseries are smaller in numbers so I say they should open first.

Not really. Our nursery classes have 30 per classroom which is smaller than the primary 1 classrooms that only have 20z the difference is they have more adults in nursery per child ratio. It's more crowded in the nursery environment

Our pre school room can take 62 children, if you take part timers into account we have over 80 on register.

@ GoldenPoppy
I completely agree.. I will be advising my staff to thing very carefully before they rush back to work.

@okiedokieme - Private nurseries are regulated by Ofsted, just like state nurseries and schools.

We were all told to close and there was no choice in the matter. Whether all private nurseries will reopen before summer is another matter and that will be down to whether the owners can afford to stay closed. On the other hand, if they have taken the EY funding, they may not have a choice, as they will have to deliver the funded hours or pay the government the money back.

I wonder in fact whether nurseries (and schools) will be told to open for more weeks to provide the funded hours for the term, regardless of whether they usually close for summer or not.

In other words, will settings have to open through the summer in order to be able to provide 15 hours over 12.667 weeks? Or alternatively, offer each funded child their 190 hours over 6 weeks?

I bet this is exactly what happens, as you don’t get anything in life for free.

@EYProvider it's different here in Scotland. Our vulnerable and ASN nursery kids are being given time at private nurseries alongside key workers children. The government/ councils are doing this in order to support the businesses that need to be open anyway at this time while allowing school nurseries to remain closed

midnightstar66 really? The reception classes in schools here at 30 maxed out- the nursery classes are smaller and more separated out.

My guess is most nursery workers are in their 20s. 'Putting their health on the line' statistically this is not really the case unless they have an underlying health issue. @MrPickles73

Actually in our nursery of around 30 staff in total I think there are only a couple under 30. The most common age bracket is around 30-40. With quite a few over 50’s too. Many also has their own primary school age children too.

I wouldn’t be surprised if private nurseries were among the first. It’s a double whammy - parents get to work, money goes back in to the private nursery and their staff can g back to work.

I own a nursery and agree with everything @EYProvider says.

Nochangeplease in our nursery there was no one over 25. It was in response to someone saying nursery workers were being 'thrown to the wolves' which I thought was dramatic. What about prison officers? Everyone is obsessed with teachers and nursery workers but prison officers have had to suck it up and carry on. Just saying..

The ONS shows that as at the end of w/c 17 April, 2 people under the age of 14 had died of covid19 in this country. Less than 200 people under the age of 44 had died of covid19 in this country. Almost half of the population of the country are under 44 years of age, approximation that the cast majority of parents of primary school children are in this age group

The ONS shows that 95 children died of infectious diseases in the UK in 2018

A massive amount of perspective is needed here. It is not remotely unsafe for you children to be at school or nursery compared with the ordinary amount of risk we expose ourselves to every single day

Thank you for this post. Very informative and certainly puts much in to perspective.

Hurrah, thank you for the perspective. Sadly more children will have been battered to death during the lockdown than will have died of COV19..

Hurrah, thank you for the perspective. Sadly more children will have been battered to death during the lockdown than will have died of COV19

I was talking to someone I work with about this the other day. He is a foster parent. I’m very worried about what’s going on behind closed doors at the moment in some parts of society. And not just towards children, either.

Jenny Harries discussed some of this in the government briefing today.

What my friend has said is just her opinion by the way. She doesn't work in EY or anything she's just saying it I think with the theory that older children can look after themselves so parents could still go back to work.