Keeping children at home until September

[Witchcraftandhokum]

I work in a school and I'm seeing and hearing a lot of this both on here and in the contact I have with parents. I am worried about how we will manage social distancing and whether we will have PPE if the schools open soon, but I do appreciate the need for kids to be in school, particularly Year 6 and 10.

I also don't know how it will work if a lot of parents chose not send their kids back until September. I wonder just how many parents will do this?

So...
YABU - My kids won't be back until September.
YANBU - My kids will go back as soon as the schools open.

Bgeebees I’m NHS, my kids don’t need childcare, but thank you for looking after other people’s.

I heard on the radio this evening a comparative study of the fatality rate across a range of professions. It found that those in healthcare professions were no more likely than the general public to die from this virus.

It was on Radio 4’s PM prog. Hopefully it will make you feel slightly better, though I realise that not all KW work in health.

@bgeebees exactly , we have to be thinking about going back soon we can't just hold off and hope all is well in September .
But if people push these new rules sans the r rate goes up this won't happen anyway

TEACHERS ARE ALSO IN SCHOOLS LOOKING AFTER KEY WORKERS CHILDREN just like you as well as working at home providing online materials and lessons for students to learn at home.

I don't think most teachers feel precious about going back per se. There are lots of concerns about how having larger numbers of children together with limited safety and distancing being possible will affect the R value. It could really easily tip it back above 1, especially before robust test and trace is in place.
An increase in R above 1 would be really bad for all of us and for the economy as there will be further lockdowns. Waiting a bit longer before allowing larger numbers of children to mix would really reduce the possibility of R going above 1.

Thanks for the support...I'm really not against teachers having trained as one many years ago, but I'm sitting here trying to home school PS ages and wondering what the PS teachers do after they have posted their few bits of work online. Why can't we go back in September with half the class morning and half afternoon (3 hours max...no need to eat or have playtime/PE/music/assemblies etc). Get the essentials taught re. literacy and numeracy and either allow parents to work PT around the hours or allow flexible childcare to step in.

And I agree some teachers are in school but many in my area are not.

You'd need to deep clean classrooms in between different groups so it might be better to have 2 cohorts in for 2 days each with a deep cleaning day on Wednesdays.

Mine has not stopped going. For people putting off starting, surely the risks are the same in Sept or whenever.
Also many of us lone parents do not have the luxury of choosing to SAH.

The provision of home learning tasks is really tricky because teachers need to cater for all students to have access to learning whatever facilities/computers/ printers and very different levels of support from parents and children are at very different levels of ability. Some schools are managing it better than others. It can never be as tailored to your child as teaching in the classroom.

TurquoiseDress

Those who say they're keeping their kids home till there is a vaccine what do you intend to do really? To wait for a vaccine is unrealistic“

We are, really, going to keep our youngest, with asthma, home until September.
I don’t believe there will be a vaccine (though oxford/Astra Zeneca and are confident of first doses by October) but I do believe there will be better treatments by then, which will at least reduce the symptoms/complications.

Also, it isn't just teachers saying 1st of June is too early for schools to do this. The BMA are also saying the plan is taking things too far and too fast.

BMA response
www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/government-s-road-map-out-of-lockdown-is-too-fast-too-confusing-and-too-risky-says-bma

“So the message has to be clear. It is imperative that we do not risk people mixing with each other without the ability to rigidly adhere to social distancing.

EducatingArti

thank you.

I'd love to know what people do that they will be satisfied with the kids going back for 3 hours a day.

Frankly, it will make no difference to me - nowhere near enough time to even reach my office and do anything and expect to be back on time for pick-up. That is, if both my youngest are in the same half day!

And what about breakfast club and afterschool club? The ones at school are full, so if they have to impose distancing, they won't accept all the children anymore?

The only solution will be to swap around with friends and let the kids have playdates and mix with other households.

Ultimately, once the schools reopen, it's the end of social distancing.

Employers have to be understanding with parents juggling childcare and WFH right now, once the schools are opened, they won't any more. How do you expect to work when the kids are not at school?

If my kids spend all day with a friend, don't tell me it's not safe enough for me to be in the same room as their parents later on.

I'd love to know what people do that they will be satisfied with the kids going back for 3 hours a day

At the moment they’re not going at all. 3 hours a day means 3 hours uninterrupted work from home.

The BMA don’t reference schools and seem to be saying there isn’t enough guidance. I’d agree with them on that. That comment was released yesterday so I’d be interested to see their opinion following the release of the additional documentation today and over the next few days.

The newly released guidance on PPE in schools advises against it for both staff and pupils.

3 hours a day means 3 hours uninterrupted work from home.
that might satisfy your employer, it's nowhere near enough for most of us.

Plus it's not even 3 hours, there will be drop off and pick up.

My point is that all the people repeating "open the schools" as if it's a magical solution and we're back to normal will be bitterly disappointed, but we all know most just want their "me time" and it's not about work at all.

The BMA do say there needs to be more clarity/ guidance howeverTheir points about rigidly adhering to social distancing and about testing and tracing not being properly in place are not about needing more clarity.

The guidelines have just been published by the DFE and they are a joke.

Looks like it is all in from the beginning for those years going back.

Except parents will have the exciting job of juggling staggered pick up and drop off and shortened days.

Oh, and there is no social distancing.

Second peak here we come.

I can’t understand why no one else is worried about spike in Kawasaki syndrome in young children.

But at the moment they’re not there at all OneandTwenty so I’m not sure of your logic?
At the moment we’re trying to work while looking after the children all day. If they go back for 3 hours, that’s 3 hours that we can be more productive than we’re currently being.

Children will never be able to socially distance. I doubt the BMA is suggesting that they should. I read the statement as echoing the various concerns already raised about suggesting people should return to work/public transport/go to parks without sufficient guidance. There is now more guidance forthcoming. There is also confirmation that children in schools and staff will be entitled to testing.

The 1st June ambition is not set in stone. The contact tracing system is supposed to be up and running by next week as I understand it. Obviously if for some reason these things don’t happen then the 1st June date might need to be postponed.

I’d be happy for them to go back in principle however if it’s going to be a half day and a teacher in scary PPE I can’t see the point, frankly.

We normally get public transport to school. I assume that won’t really be ok anymore so we’ll have to walk it / scoot instead which is just about doable but is a bit further than DC would like (would be fine for most kids but mine really struggle). I don’t really want to put myself through that if it’s just a half day and if they’re going to be freaked out by a teacher in a mask anyway.

But they will probably go back.

I’d send my y6 child in, I wouldnt send a KS1 child in.

My children are in yrs 9 & 10 and I am a frontline worker in the NHS. Therefore they will be no more at risk in school than they are from me at home. They miss their friends and their education is suffering as their school is not utilising any virtual classroom or video conferencing tech. I want them back as soon as possible and will be lobbying for this at every opportunity.

Don't even have kids yet but I would definitely not send them in until it was 150% safe to do so! What Boris said yesterday was an absolute joke, the only thing government are concerned about is getting the younger kids back so the parents can get back to work and the economy doesn't suffer anymore. May as well sacrifice the kids in my opinion!