AMA - my child’s been back at (Dutch) school for one week

[Flopjustwantscoffee]

Where we live (Netherlands) they re-opened primary schools part time to all children from 11th May. Although of course the rules won’t be exactly the same in UK schools a lot of the debate here before opening (child/teacher safety, the effect of the new rules on children etc) was similar to the UK. The UK and Netherlands are quite similar in their approach to covid in other ways as well. So I thought it might be helpful to answer any questions on the reality of how it’s actually gone for children/parents/teachers (admittedly from my own limited expat perspective). I’ll answer any questions I can, but obviously no teacher bashing please (my mum was a teacher)

new rules should be announced on wednesday, right? including information about secondary school.

I have to say my dc school has been great, they have been offering school lessons via an app during school closure.
my dc school does 2 days a week, no school on wednesdays.
parents drop off is 50m from school gate, though most dc walk on their own from about 7 yo.
I love how they prioritise pe as one of the subjects on school days. so very dutch

@bananaskinsnomnom

The attitude of parents varies. One of my friends is still keeping her daughter at home, because my friend has some health problems. Another friend was also very hesitant to send her child back. DH and I were very much in favour of letting children start again, because we felt that social interaction is important to children.
Our children were already doing well academically before and eldest was happily working on his schoolwork on his own, so not very worried about that, but I was worried about all the children that do need the daily interaction with teachers and in a classroom, whether for academic practice or for mental health or for escaping difficult home environments or other reasons. Schools in NL have "lost contact" with over 5000 students, and have no idea what they were doing or where they were during this period.

I think closing schools was necessary now to put the emergency breaks on the spread of this virus, but I also fear that, long term, students are going to feel the effects of schools closing for this period. There are some studies that looked at the effects of schools closing during strikes, in Belgium, Canada, Chile, and Argentina, and those students suffered the costs.

@bluefoxmug, from what I understood, they will look into whether the primary schools will go back completely or stay on this 50% level.

@dutchyoriginal I personally am not too nervous about returning to the classroom (But I also understand I live alone and don’t have children so I’m putting myself at risk and no one else). Thank you for your comments I appreciate parents feedback.

What makes me more nervous I suppose is children feeling the anxiety of their parents and we all know that doesn’t come out well at school. I can definitely think of which children in my class will likely not return this year. I also know who will and will believe that all social distancing practises are a load of twoddle. Both cause different problems

This thread has been reassuring, I’m looking forward to seeing my class again.

My relatives say the playgrounds are open there again as well

I live in NL and have a playground behind me. It's not been closed at all during lockdown. Parents socially distance on the benches though.

Cannot comment on the schools' current situation though, mine's an adult now.

Oh, OP, do you know this website? www.dutchnews.nl/

playgrounds were never closed where I am.

@Iflyaway thanks - as if we didn’t be enough to worry about though... www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/05/not-so-itsy-bitsy-spider-in-punnet-of-grapes-becomes-finders-new-pet/

Hello OP, another expat in the Netherlands here whose kids went back last week, just popped in to say hi! Interesting to hear some differences (but mostly similarities) between our schools. My two do full days - 2 days on, 2 days off. Glad all is going well for your kids too. Mine are loving being back.

@Flopjustwantscoffee I saw that!! Bloody ell, I'd be screaming the place down, me!

@bluefoxmug not by me (except my sons favorite playground which was inside the school grounds- normally it would be kept open to anyone outside of school hours but was closed while the schools were) but I was always in two minds about whether it was sensible for us to use it.... now I think it would have been fine but we spent lots of time outside doing other stuff so I don’t feel too guilty

Thanks op great thread. Are they including these new kawasaki symptoms for keeping children off, or the d and v aspect?
We seem very slow in the UK to act on new symptoms. Today for instance, loss of sense of smell has finally been added to the list!

As an aside have you been to Duinrell, hansel and gretal pancake House or efteling?

Full but fewer days seems a much better idea than half days in terms of parents being able to use the time for work etc.

What I don't understand about the idea that schools should be full time is how there can be enough staff to supervise them all. If a class is split into two groups in two rooms, there's still only one qualified teacher available. Other classes' teachers will surely still be teaching their own pupils remotely?

I suppose the youngest classes tend to have more TAs so they could stay with the groups while the teacher shuttles back and forth, but surely that would significantly reduce the infection control advantage of splitting the class?

What subjects are they teaching them? Have they trimmed down the circulum?

@PuttingoutthefirewithGasoline not sure about the Kawasaki symptoms tbh. I thought they tended to appear about 6 weeks after infection though so probably a bit of a stable door scenario. I have been to duinrell and efteling. Also the (smaller but really nice) drievliet. Loved Efteling so much - really looking forward to when we can go back.

@Rhianna1980 mines only just turned 6 (in group 2) so the lessons are quite informal (obviously planned by the teacher but if you asked my son he’d say he played). It seems to be maths, letters/early reading skills, patterns/building, everyday life and art. And PE. But it’s always been somewhat merged together anyway - so art combined with growth cycle of a flower. I don’t know exactly what they’ve been concentrating on since they returned as it’s only been a week and when asked my son just says he played, and starts talking about football. On Friday he came out holding a large sheet of paper he’d drawn on while listening to music so art was definately happening at some point. Normally we have the option to sit in on lessons once a term to see what they’ve been doing or ask the teacher at pick up but that is obviously not an option at the moment. I have been meaning to email their teacher to ask how it’s going but wanted to leave it a bit first.

I should also have said - d and v should always be a reason to keep children of in my opinion!

@backatschool glad your children are happy to be back as well!

@Flopjustwantscoffee thank you for this thread. We have a survey through from our English school asking if we will be sending our kids back when eligible (mine is not in one the three years that a due to be first back) and it has made me cry for the first time in the while of this crisis. My child is also an only child, DH and I are both still working (me part time wholey at home him full time (in fact for the first month more than usual hours) partly àt home, partly in the office. We are supervising school work and keeping our child entertained but its not the idyllic lockdown of virtual art gallery tours, new languages and cutesy family TicToc videos. He struggles socially at the best of times and being without contact with other kids for 8 weeks has been tough on him. I know from mentions lots of the kids from his class have been having group zoom chats etc but apart from a couple one to one video calls with one friend he hasn't been included and it's breaking my heart seeing him so isolated. I am desperate for him to get back to school but so much opinion seem to be that anyone who wants their kids back in school is an awful parent and is risking their child for their own benefit that I've been made to feel like a monster. I don't seeing it as putting him at risk - figures seems to say the risk to a healthy child is negligible whereas the damage of being stuck at home without young people to interact with is real. It sounds like schools there have managed to make perfectly workable solutions that have made an acceptable "new normal" for the pupils. I hope my son can get at least a few days back in school before the summer holidays otherwise it will be 5 months with talking to another child.
Sorry for the waffle.

@Flopjustwantscoffee also in the Netherlands! Two boys (groups 6 and 8) back 2 full days a week - thankfully the same days. Small school so they just attend with their year group as there’s fewer than 15 in a whole year! (Each class is normally 2 years of the school).

We are a completely English speaking family so their Dutch was starting to suffer, i was starting to suffer trying to help with their work, and all in all it was just the right time. DS2 had leukaemia when he was younger, so I feel as if I understand the balance of risk of infection vs keeping things as normal as possible.

Only one child didn’t attend from both classes - his parents both in the at risk group. All the rest were there. We have the same regulations as you I think.

One positive - I don’t have to sit through the group 8 musical - they’re recording it! Whilst I love seeing my children on stage, I’ve sat through more then enough very long productions where I have no clue what is going on! Feel a bit sad his primary school time will end like this, especially as his birthday was in April too - but if you ask him he’s much much happier how things are!

How do they keep children from different social bubbles)classes apart during the whole school day? For instance what if two children from different groups go to the bathroom at the same time? If a child has to go during class time how would the teacher deal with this?

Another one living in NL.

My kids are two full days back and three fullish days home ed. They're at a school that's international but bound by Dutch regulations (not all international schools are - some are totally independent so can choose what they want to do regarding reopening).

We live opposite a park and it was busy throughout lockdown. It's a neighbourhood park so kids from age 6 are often there alone if their house overlooks it. Parents who went socially distanced.

The schools are all divided BUT outdoor sport clubs - and any sport that could be moved outdoors - started two weeks before for under 12s. The sports all practice social distancing between adults - parents not allowed to stay and watch either - and kids are socially distanced from instructors. So, DS plays football. His team has kids from a few different schools. There's another boy on his team from his own class..who is in school the days DS isn't. This to me means that the school separation is a general guide but not intended to be hard and fast. I mean the parks are all still open after school, so likely that kids who are in different groups are still mixing.

My kids' teachers both have face masks. Dd6 says hers only wears it if she needs to come close to them. Her teacher sent a photo before school started and it's some kind of professional one with a replaceable filter - no idea where she got it. DS8 says his teacher only wears hers (disposable) if they're walking through school.

School made a video of different classrooms and the hallways which was sent to parents & kids. Lots of the classes have a horseshoe shaped layout with the other group's desks used as spacers, so kids only use their own desk. Some had rows. Some classes had a line of desks (instead of a line on the floor) barricading the teacher in to the front! Some classes had little pockets on a notice board with each child's name on so that kids could leave notes for their friends who were in the other group.

From what I can tell, my school divided the classes in half by those who have siblings, starting from the oldest class and working down. So Group A generally seems to be those with siblings/siblings in higher classes.

Both my kids' teachers also sent pictures of the class (one had been in the video as well).

The school surveyed the parents about who planned to send their kids and shared the results. It also asked about main concerns. About 90% planned to send their kids and 1% were not sending them because they didn't want to - 9% were due to health/shielding issues. The main concern people had was hygiene.

Sorry OP I'm jumping on your thread! I just thought could be helpful to people in the U.K. to get more experiences.

There was an article interviewing a Dutch teacher after the first day back in De Volkskrant. She taught in a deprived area and she was shocked at how much violence her kids had seen. They'd seen it on the streets. Made me think about the dramatic reduction in knife crime in the U.K..is it a reduction, or there's just no space for reporting it because the papers are full of CV19? Teachers in some areas might needs to be aware of that before going back.

Runny noses - I have a kid with a perpetually runny nose. The teacher obviously knows this but according to regulations that would mean kid had to stay home. School told us to get a note from GP. GP gave a pseudo note and said GPs were fed up of this and would be stopping this in a few weeks (around now), because it's a waste of time. Dr was clear that runny nose wasn't a reason to stay off school unless it couldn't be explained by hay fever or it always running, and the kid was otherwise healthy. Any hint of a temp or tiredness and that advice would change.

I think that's sensible..however, can see how that could go wrong given that kids are sent to school with fevers/D&V when parents need to work.

my dc teachers are behind a clear shower screen at the desk area.
I have dc in both age ranges - the older ones are not yet back to school. possibly from June with half capacity also.
sports for older dc (12 and older) is socially distant with own equipment, so they only do footwork, ball technique with their own ball at sports.
music classes have also started with a screen between pupil&teacher

@DigOutThoseLemonHandWipes I can sympathize so much. The other parents at my sons school also weren’t that keen on zoom calls/FaceTime and even when I did manage to arrange them they weren’t the magical panacea that some people found them to be- think 2 5/6 year olds having a very stilted conversation and then ignoring each other while they each played a separate game. Also 2 things worth bearing in mind 1. The parents criticizing probably have children who are enjoying the lockdown or at least coping better. That’s genuinely great for them but my child just wasn’t. 2. Keeping the children of school was never about protecting the children primarily but about protecting others by reducing community transmission, that’s not a criticism of the policy, I think it was necessary and believe in social responsibility generally but at some point the balance between risk to others and the harm done to children keeping them out of school shifts. I also know key workers who have sent their children in the whole time and although they are dedicated to their jobs I don’t think they value them over the lives of their children somehow.
With the zoom calls by the way I resorted to very directly saying to parents “my child is really really lonely can we arrange a chat” and found that more effective than cheerily suggesting chats - apologies if you already tried that though, I think everyone has retreated a bit into their bubbles by this stage which is understandable but unhelpful if your on the outside (I am a little bit too)