Just teacher I won't be sending DS back to school

[TheGoldenNugget]

Just got off the phone with DS teacher, we spoke about schools opening in June and she asked me if I'm planning to send him back when they open. I said no. Anyone else not sending their kids back when schools open in a few weeks?

@KKSlider wasn't planning on sending kids in straight away as having to shield but going off what you said their wondering how its going to work, kids have food allergies and due to several mishaps at school when on packed lunches have had bad reactions so no way will I allow school dinners especially when they think cheese is ok for a child with dairy allergy unless they will be leaving early and having lunch at home. Plus one son has autism and struggles to cope with a normal school day let alone the way it's going to be, he definately won't cope in that environment. Plus they need to restrain him sometimes to stop him hitting himself so really don't see how it will work plus he has to have reigns on when he goes in and before coming out even as he's a flight risk. Wasn't sure if mainstream school was right environment in first place but definately won't be the right environment for him now. Thank you for the information, been very helpful.

At what point Will these parents return their children to school? Covid will be around for a few years - what are you awaiting?

These threads are starting to become really annoying , are you willing to send your child back ! Yes if you work because you have no other option ! If I didn’t have to put food on the table and pay my bills and didn’t have a job obviously not . It’s so insensitive to people who don’t have the luxury of options

Another thread on this 🙄
I personally won’t have a choice, unless I want to give up my job...which I can’t afford to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

Vinomummyinlockdown globally all governments are dealing with this virus or viruses, they're no more informed than any other, we are coping with a new unknown. Covid is likely to be around for a few years, flu virus mutates almost annually and rife in winter. Step in the government and WHO shoes, negativity is pointless and doesn't teach kids anything worthwhile. Your attitude gets nowhere

All this is ridiculous.
Unless you fully and I mean fully keep your distance when food shopping etc, which not even the staff seem to manage; you have no one in your home who is going back to work. Then I don't see the problem with them going to school. I understand we are all scared but another four months of children at home isn't acceptable for their development.

Schools are hoping not everyone says yes, as they need lower numbers to achieve social distancing.

Fortunately, my DS (yr5) isn’t in any of the year groups due to return first but if he was he would not be attending.
I’ve seen several comments on various threads by people totally unwilling to believe that a peak hasn’t been reached everywhere in the country. But where we live in Staffordshire our local hospital and nhs trusts are still reporting daily increasing numbers of both new cases and deaths.
Regardless of any announcements made by Boris, my child will not be returning to school until I know that we have reached a peak locally, not just nationally.

I’m undecided as yet. We’ll make a final decision nearer the time. But we did have a survey from DS’s school asking us whether we’d be sending him on 1st June.

This type of article is really getting on my nerves. www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-revealed-least-26-teachers-have-died-covid-19
A quick ONS search shows that in 2017, 305 'teachers' below 65 died. So that's 305 people who had 'teacher' on their death certificate.
If someone can link me to the evidence that the 26 teachers caught it in school please do, but they are just as likely to have caught it at the supermarket, on the bus or in a pub!
I'm a teacher (secondary so the June possible reopening isn't directly affecting me) but the constant clickbait, scaremongering headlines really are beginning to grate!

Liketoshop - yes some countries / governments deal with this situation better than others. I have no faith in the competence of this government. They can’t even meet testing targets and as we’ve seen the countries that test most are having the best results in terms of less deaths and getting back to life ...
I am not generally afraid of viruses etc despite being vulnerable health wise as I practice a lot of health self care and I am overall lucky regarding flu etc. But I will not risk my children heading into an unknown school environment where the staff do not seem confident either and I do not for one second blame them! They’re amazing. Doing the best they can with little guidance and a big challenge.
Until I see the R rate dropping and more science on safety my children are staying home.

A lot of people are saying risk to kids minimal .I would rather wait and see what this new virus kids are getting related to covid. More and more kids are getting it and you can't even control nits in school .

At what point Will these parents return their children to school? Covid will be around for a few years - what are you awaiting?

I'm not worried about Covid. I will send mine back when they can have freedom and interact with their peers.
I was horrified to read the proposal above from one school.
I would never ever subject my child to that if I didn't need to.

A lot of parents at our school were saying yes they would definitely send their children back , however today since hearing how school will look when they do reopen a lot have now changed their minds. I cried when I heard what school will now look like and will not be sending my children back as I think they will find it distressing.

Our school just sent an email about this today. They have been making it clear that they are totally supportive of any parents who don’t feel comfortable sending their kids back even though education is extremely important and that their request for numbers on whether parents will be planning to send their kids is purely for them to be able to try and plan their staff and lunch capacity etc. For our school the year 6s is the biggest year by a whole class of 30 kids so if they had the entire of year 6 come back it would be split into about 6-8 classes. Add in year R and year 1 plus key worker kids and they already don’t have enough classrooms or staff for full time schooling so I’m not surprised they won’t be upset by not all pupils returning.

I'm so very lucky. I work in an amazing school, our senior leaders have come up with a plan that will get our students back in school (part time) with the lowest risk possible. Secondary SEND though so it is different. I have no idea how 15 kids in those small, mainstream classes are going to social distance

Ffs how many threads do we need in this!!!!!!

@unchienandalusia you don’t have to read these threads!

Honestly, some children are more resilient than others. Mine for example would be fine. Yes, it would take time to adjust, yes, they may not like the new ways as much as the old ways...but they'd be fine. Not distressed, not traumatised or any other hyperboles. And the same for most of their friends. There's nothing inherently horrible about the potential new ways (although different schools will do things differently, I think a lot of these viral things are overblown for effect, excuse the pun), they're just different

No
If it looks better in September then
maybe just maybe
too many vulnerable people in family
I don't want my ds to look back add 1+1 and realise he was a virus vector.

Nope. I don’t believe the smallest of our society should be first. I have a three year old who is due to go back. He won’t understand at all and I think him staying at home with help his mental health more than going back into en environment which he won’t recognise. My oh said today, “have you noticed ds hasn’t been poorly since being at home?” And that’s just that. Children are tactile things, they spread germs and all sorts. I’d rather keep him home until September. I work in the nursery and all of our teachers are terrified. It’s also not just about the children spreading, it’s about putting staff at risk too x

I am a healthcare professional. We will be sending our children back when the schools open.
The schools will have to modify how they run initially. We need to be pragmatic and recognise the benefits of children returning (to the children and wider society), as well as the risks. Unless the schools return, it's difficult to envisage how the economy can begin to recover (its tricky for parents balancing work and home-schooling).
Life is not without its risks, and we can't hold out indefinitely waiting for a vaccine. We need to manage the risks as much as we can, without putting everything in hold. I would suggest a gradual return and monitor progress.

Well said @lizwha

A fair minded balanced viewpoint

My son is not going back in June.

Mine will not be going back but thankfully we are in Scotland. To me it's not about work or their education its about their mental health. The images of the poor children in other counties sitting in squares away from their pals not allowed to take things in from home etc etc. It's all very cold and sterile, not a fun & safe place to be. After all these months of worry I don't feel it's the right time yet to be pushing kids into this. I am trying to negotiate with my employer to allow me to remain WFH as long as possible. Yeah, it's a shit load of work on top of educating and amusing my children. But I think their wellbeing is the most important thing moving forward and a few more months of hard graft from me will be the most beneficial to them. At the end of the day, we all chose to have them right? Their education can be caught up on, mental scarring is with them for life and nobody quite knows the effect any childhood traumas can have on a child.
Lots of adults are anxious about what their work place will be like after months off, I imagine that will be far more intimidating as a child, and they don't have full capability to express exactly how they feel. Mine are younger children though, no experience of teenagers yet and maybe I am needlessly worrying. I am going with my Grans better to be safe than sorry mantra