Year R and Year 1 back to school

[Justajot]

I know there aren't any details. But if you are a year R or year 1 parent, will you be sending them back?

YANBU - Yes, sending back
YABU - No, staying at home

Not a chance. No way I'm sending him or his brothers into the unknown as part of some sort of herd experiment. Not enough is known about how this virus affects children or adults yet.

I think this may be a mute point. Can't imagine unions thinking this is safe for staff in any way so they will probably block it until some protect for their members can be given....

I'll happily keep mine at home indefinitely if the teachers start to provide online teaching. If they are still providing totally inadequate online support then mine will have to go to school as soon as they open. It's not sustainable for me to try and WFH and care for the children and also teach the children.

If a genuine remote teaching alternative was offered i would bite their hands off to take that option. So it's over the to the teachers but just not teaching the children isn't a long term option.

Teachers should be teaching now. I think most are @neverTwerkNaked so maybe take it up with your particular school if it's not up to standard?

None of the primary schools round here are doing anything beyond posting a few website links and the occasional video of staff dancing @piixxiiee . All my friends are fed up too.

Oh wow that's terrible. I have the opposite- yr1 and nursery child have that much work I had to say I wouldn't be looking at the preschool activities and I pick n choose the yr1 activities otherwise neither me or dh would get any work done!

@Silkenworm if schools reopen on 1st June, we won’t be able to teach effectively whilst trying to maintain social distancing levels and wearing PPE equipment. Of course we will do what we can, but so much of our job relies on interpersonal relationships with the children - especially in the early years. That just will not be possible whilst trying to keep everyone safe. So people should probably lower their expectations if they think that children will be going back to school as they once knew it.
And anyway, I doubt that children losing out on education was a factor in the government’s decision to reopen schools...

I think that would be just as tricky @Piixxiiee ! I am relaxed about doing little with my year 1 but it is blooming tough teaching a year 4 on top of a 40-50 hour week of my own work! And he would happily do video lessons or anything his teachers set for him

Yes. I feel the risk is minimal to my DS in YR. But everyone should make a decision based on what they believe is right for their family.

@caricature when did he say nurseries will open on June 1st? He only mentioned schools.

@caringcarer that should be. Sorry for tagging a random person who is probably not even on this thread

Please don’t send your children in unless you have no other choice. Your children are not behind they are where they should be. Don’t measure them against government expectations. If you are struggling with them please ask yourself why? They are your children if you are struggling then maybe this is a true reflection of them? They might not be the angels we think they are? I say this mine are the same yet they resent me for having to go to work. I go to work to care for other people Children’s who need it, the poorly children, the children who need intensive care and the children that meet the angels. However I am grateful for every high and low moment even after 12hr night shift and trust me my patience is thin with no sleep. When his teacher tells me on parents evening in the nicest possible way he enjoys learning when he gets to explore outside. I know she means he is pain in the bottom in the classroom. I get it and I know my child can be a nightmare but thank you for putting it nicely. Anyway that’s off topic! In the last few weeks I’ve seen More children come in with in different symptoms , rashes, high fevers, body in states of panic - high inflammatory responses. I’ve seen parents desperate for answers and reassurance that their child will be okay. I’ve watched parents say good bye to the most precious person in their world. It’s a moment you never forget.
So I ask as a parent/nhs worker/ human being: don’t let your child become a Guinea pig just so you get some peace and quiet and are able to work from home without distractions. Enjoy this moment even if it’s stressful for you. You brought your child into this world, treasure them as you really don’t know what’s around the corner. School won’t fix it,they can’t bring back time or change the future; if you can’t cope now is the time for inner reflection. We are not perfect, we make mistakes but we can learn and change and make our children’s future brighter. #longshift #anotherlifelost

My children are awesome. I love teaching them. But holding down a 40-50 hour a week professional job WFH and caring for and educating the children as well is fucking impossible.

From reading the latest press releases, it's a resounding get to fuck, Boris no from the teaching unions so it really is beginning to look doubtful it will go ahead. Children can't attend if there are no staff to receive them.

Not For Anything

There is still 3 weeks to go, by then Covid may be lower. They said the rate in community is lower now but still high in care homes and hospitals. That also may be lower in 3 weeks.

@nevertwerkednaked I am sure your children are awesome. I can totally relate to working a 50+ hour week it’s hard almost impossible yet we do for the sake of our children. In all honesty I’ve given up ‘home schooling’ my children and just enjoyed the Little time with them. Most children are resilient and will bounce back given time. My job pays my bills, keeps us afloat but doesn’t keep them alive. You can work all the hours you want, earn all the money you want but life isn’t measured in hours or money it’s measured in moments. The reality is your child can be here today but can be taken before you know it. I don’t want anyone to go through that but You don’t know what is around that blind bend. Enjoy every moment, the ups and the downs and everything else in between but more importantly enjoying the goodnight and the good morning as you just never know.

Nevertwerk There is a full online teaching programme available at Oak Academy for those children whose schools aren’t set up for online live lessons. Maybe check that out? We aren’t doing online lessons because of safeguarding concerns amongst other things. Oak Academy supplements the learning we send out every week.
If schools do go back on 1st June - and I don’t think there’s a chance that they will - it will not be a return to a full curriculum and there will be no FT provision for any child whose parents aren’t key workers. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

It's pathetic. Teachers are on a rota doing keyworker care (which most schools did their utmost to put parents off using). They are posting some links and powerpoints from educational suppliers, my teacher friends say this takes about an hour a week. The rest of the time most are on full pay at home.

Most teachers and school staff can and should be furloughed, only a skeleton staff are needed for the work being done at the moment. Being furloughed may make them more willing to provide education instead of hiding behind unions whilst on full pay.

To all the parents saying no and that the earliest they will send theirs back in September, what is this thing about September. I get it partially with it being the start of a new year but is it any safer then any other month of the year? Will we know more about the virus then, will more people you know have had it, recovered from it and so forth, will social distancing become a little more relaxed or will that be here to stay. What happens in the winter months when flu and colds hit, will the parents who sent their kids into school ill now think twice and keep them home, will a child with a cough that is not corona related in any sense be ordered to stay away from school for a period of time, what about parents that say a vaccine has to be here for their child to go back. How long does your child stay away from school, friends,clubs, activities, when will it be safe to send them back if corona is here to stay, so getting back to September why is that safe and not June/July. if people are still going to catch it and possibly die from it. If you can have it and not know that you are infected and so on.

I have asked many parents why September, they can't say. They just for some reason think it will be safer and by that time Corona will have disappeared.

Although I've found it difficult to keep up the home schooling as motivation for both me and my son has face planted the last couple of weeks, I don't want to send him back to school. In his first term in reception he got chicken pox twice and then as his immune system was low he got ill with asthma and had to recover in hospital.
Schools breed germs, once this thing gets in a school it will be spread. I think they should write off this school year.

I’ve got more questions that I would like to find the answers to, but it’s likely we will decide to keep ours off for longer than June 1st even if they open. DD1 is Y3 (so no school) DD2 is Y1, DS1 is YR (school for both) DD3 is nursery (no idea). Will siblings be given priority to be on the same timetable if there are part days/part time schooling? Is there intention to bring the other years back and in what order? For me they all go in at the same time or I would rather they are at home. Easier for me to say as a SAHP than if I was working. I am concerned about drop off and pick up, approximately 120 pupils in those years in their school, never mind a parent each plus siblings. The logistics, especially for schools like ours with little to no outside space and in the middle of a busy high street even in lockdown seem impossible.

@easypleasy
Maybe this is a reflection of your last cal school? My dd is in nursery and the teacher and ta are both available, posting work, commenting on submitted work, giving an extended task daily until around 8 pm, even though they post a message at 4pm letting children know they will be back tomorrow.
My ds in high school (year 8) his teachers are available online more or less all day everyday, either teaching, commenting or answering questions.

*year 7 that should say

Haven't read the full thread. However I'm a key worker who has been fortunate enough to be on mat leave throughout this so I've been at home to be able to homeschool as much as I can a year 1 DC, nursery dc and deal with the baby.

I will have childcare in place by June 1st when I return to work. How do parents manage childcare/home schooling if you need to go to work but not key workers? What are parents whose children attend nurseries supposed to do? If I wasn't on mat leave it would have been a case of me pleading with the school to allow my yr1 DC to attend (both parents need to be key workers was a condition during initial lockdown). My DH although isn't a key worker is not able to WFH and then contracted CV so was unable to take care of the DC. I dread to think what things would have been like had I been working ft! I'm sorry if I'm being ignorant, but I'd love to know how people have managed.