Will you be sending your child on 'June 1st'

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I've done this in AIBU for the voting feature. IF (and a big IF) schools go back on June 1st, will you be sending yours?

YABU - NO

YANBU - YES

I wont be sending mine back in until at I can be sure it's safe

If my husband is still shielding then mine won't be going back, no matter when that is. They haven't been anywhere since before lockdown and there's no point me risking my husband when I can continue to do any school work at home

I think the first ones back will be in the areas of the country with no cases and then it will be phased from there, but I doubt if any major school openings will come before September and then it will be phased.

Schools have too much to do to reorganise classrooms to enable a safe environment.

Wow, a lot of people on here who don't seem to realise that this virus isn't going anywhere. There is no "going back to normal" and by the attitudes here, as soon as people start going out there will be another peak, and so on. Do people realise kids bring the virus home to parents and grandparents who are vulnerable, even those who are obese are at larger increased risk.

@Bobleywobley and there's a lot of people on here who don't seem to realise that not all of us have the luxury of being able to stay at home long term with our children.

Ah silly silly me Bobbley
There was me thinking that if they extended lockdown for a year and we all did it properly that nasty wasty virus would just disappear

There are also a lot of people who have at any perspective and any sense of balancing physical and mental health

Those saying no (which is understandable) will you be expecting schools to continue to provide work? If they don't, will it change your mind?

What if schools don't hold your children's place on roll?

Yes mine will, although I don't think it will be full time. I think there will be some restriction on class sizes.

I also think that they will have too because companies will start to reopen and will expect their staff to be at work. And as there will be an increase of people looking for work, it will be easier for people to lose their jobs if they can't meet what the company needs.

"Do people realise kids bring the virus home to parents and grandparents who are vulnerable, even those who are obese are at larger increased risk."

I think people are fully aware of the risks involved. But if I look at my own family & work setting, the risk is relatively low. We are in our 40's, no underlying health conditions, not obese and not relying on grandparents for childcare.
I really don't see why I should keep my DC at home indefinitely, especially since it has a detrimental effect on their education and wellbeing.
I don't believe in scaremongering, I think the risks involved to fit and healthy people is low to moderate if properly treated. Life has to go on, we can't say in this bubble forever.

I am not keen. DH and I have underlying. Its all very well talking about rates of infection and death but this is individuals we are talking about - I lost my dad at a young age (9) from flu complications. Not eager to repeat the experience for DS.

We will social distance for as long as humanely possible.

DH has a job where he can avoid people contact, both me and DS will be in environments someone rightly called up thread
'human petri dishes' . Not wrong. Also we are midlands/north so our peak probably somewhat behind that of London. Cases here are up 300 from a couple of weeks ago. It will spike again when we all go back. The govt may take calculated risk for this to happen in summer rather than autumn/winter - as well as looking at economics. Its a rock and a hard place from their point of view.

Teacher here- I work in a large secondary comprehensive school, I am missing my job, and I am worried about the progress of my students. This is an area in the south east with high infection- many people in the school community were very poorly-some hospitalised- some seemingly young and fit. A local teacher also died. Can I also add that I am working very long days on line preparing/teaching/marking/having meetings as well as having my three children at home. People do not seem to consider that schools are working environments for the adults who work in them. I know that a considerable proportion of teachers where I work (it’s a fairly young staff with a few teachers 50yrs and above) have vulnerable health needs or need to shield others in their own homes. If schools open too soon we will be back to the same point we were in March- the cycle will begin again. If COVID seems like a distant threat to you then you are lucky- when we open again it will spread again. Please try to see the bigger picture- schools will struggle to open because of staff illness and there will be a proportion of staff who have been told not to return to the workplace for medical reasons. There will be issues with social distancing in schools, it will be virtually impossible- every teacher knows that. Staggered lessons/opening times will probably logistically need more staff. Until we have an antibody test and accurate contact tracing it will be impossible to open safely. Stop speculating, it’s not helpful; we all want our lives back but please try to look at the whole situation and not just inside your own bubble. Teachers want to teach your children but please value our health and our families too.

Schools have too much to do to reorganise classrooms to enable a safe environment.

Anyone who thinks it can be made safe is kidding themselves. When schools go back it needs to be done with a full understanding that social distancing is impossible. Any efforts made will be more about appearances then genuinely stopping the spread of the virus.

I agree it’s a rock and a hard place. Common sense says you can’t lock down till September, the cost to the economy and people’s lively hoods will be beyond devastating, and that September is the start of flu season, so the worst time to release the population, looking at your peak into November on when the nhs can’t cope.

We are not locked down to eradicate it, Simoly to ensure the nhs is not breached. As such, a release now is the logical approach to continue to manage the nhs capacity and the disease. Anything else would be devastating for us.

However people’s desire to not go out, or not to send their kids to school may be very helpful to disease management, as those that need to or want to can, but it’s naturally limited by those who will keep their kids home and keep isolating until at least year end, or when a virus is found.

I think we all know if you don’t send your kid to school in June, you’re defintely not sending them in September, because it would be a worse time to do so, unless a vaccine is being rolled out, or we have a successful treatment available at that point.

So people saying I won’t send them June, are in reality saying I won’t send them until we have a successful treatment or vaccine in place, which could be this year or next.

It’s a shame that parents can’t be trusted not to send ILL !!!! kids to school
In the week before lockdown at our child’s school, some parents we’re still sending their
Kids in with 1 high temperature
2 sore throats etc so whilst we have to continue to deal with such totally selfish stupid adults

We had high temperatures, vomiting and coughing, really terrible coughing all in the time before lockdown.

I don't know what the answer is. My kids are young and are not bothered at all about not being in school. I don't think being off has had any negative effect on them at all.

We are lucky that I am a sahm so don't need school for childcare which is essentially what it is right now and is the only reason why they want to open them back up, to get people back to work.

The school as they knew it before will not exist with all the social distancing that will be in place. That could be quite scary for younger children.

And not many people have mentioned but if your child presents with a cough or temperature (which they all will do as winter approaches) school will not allow the child in for maybe 14 days. They will be off more than there.

My biggest concern is students parents in my kids class are nurses who are /possibly coming into contact with covid patient's. This scares me to death. I am in the clinically vulnerable group I am very worried that they will bring it home to me.

It’s a shame that parents can’t be trusted not to send ILL !!!!

we had decades of parents sending their kids to school with anything and everything, that's how sick bugs spread so badly, so there's no hope in hell these same parents will keep sick kids at home.

I work for one of our local NHS Trusts (North Midlands) and it is has been discussed in higher management meetings that modelling of our hospital and care home cases is showing that locally we will not hit a peak until the middle of June.
I am actually quite concerned that decisions for the whole of the U.K. will be made just because we’ve passed a peak in London.

So people saying I won’t send them June, are in reality saying I won’t send them until we have a successful treatment or vaccine in place, which could be this year or next.

Or they could be waiting for anti-body testing to become widely available or they could be waiting for track and trace to become established or they could be waiting on more specific data on who is extremely vulnerable or they could be waiting to see the effect on the r0 rate in other countries where children have returned to school. That's just a few I can think of but I'm not so arrogant to think I have access to the full breadth of other people's thoughts.

So people saying I won’t send them June, are in reality saying I won’t send them until we have a successful treatment or vaccine in place, which could be this year or next. And a few have said they'd be happy to let other people's kids go first. No point in letting your own kids be the guinea pigs, when other people are so willing!

No my husband is vulnerable, probably very vulnerable although not on the official list. H is not working but is able to look after dd (in year 2) and home school. We will certainly want to see if there is another spike in the virus before risking DD bringing the virus home from school. I honestly cant see us sending her back before September at the earliest.

What difference will an antibody test make, if they’ve not had it? Which the vast majority won’t have. It’s not going to enable them back to school, is it. Less than ten percent of the population likely have. Unless people think the death rate is so low it’s like a hundredth of a percent. Which then begs the question why are they keeping them off if the risk is that low.

The only thing that will get these kids back to school is a vaccine or successful treatment. So either the brigade shouting for sept think we will have that by then, or they ain’t sending them back in September either. Let’s face it. It’s the worst possible time.

The disease isn’t going away by September, it’s not some magic medical date.

Because between antibody testing might demonstrate that the vulnerable person in their house has already been exposed and has developed already some immunity.

Sorry, that post was the managed remains of two points. For clarity, antibody testing might free up entire homes of those of the extremely vulnerable if that vulnerable person has been exposed and has already developed antibodies.