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)

Runny nose and sneezing could be hay fever, lots of that about atm

@holbewoner - jump as much as you want. It’s good to hear about the situation in other schools, also since starting the thread I’ve realised I am woefully uninformed about some things. It’s funny about the sports groups - In theory my sons football lessons could have restarted but they haven’t yet which is a pity.
I agree schools will just have to be sensible about applying the rules around sickness. Before all this I was really surprised when my son had chicken pox and they told me he could go in as soon as he felt well enough even before the spots have scabbed over so I think Dutch schools (at least my sons school) have tended to have a more relaxed attitude to sickness in the past. Understandably that will have to change now.

@0gfhty our school actually has a big advantage in that each classroom has its own seperate toilets ( two cubicles located next to each classroom). I get the impression though that the aim is as much separation as possible between different groups rather than an absolute guarantee they won’t come into contact with each other.

@twunk. Yes I was worried about my sons Dutch language skills as well.

Thank you for your responses OP.

Are people generally happy to stick to all the rules, not just the ones to do with school? Here in England there have been a minority who think they don’t apply to them but that group is growing

in our area people have been good wrt keeping distance and shops (mostly open!) have been good at distancing and other measures.

though have head of anti measure demonstrations and some popular markets had to close due to overcrowding.

@Ilovetea09 our school here also has one narrow long entrance between buildings to get to school. The way they addressed that is that they made a line down the middle with one side ingoing arrows, the other side outgoing (not that it is wide enough for 2 m distance between the two). Kids must all be dropped off at the entrance and if they are old enough you are encouraged to let them walk to it the last bit (from street corner for example) to minimise congestion at the entrance. Entrance times are also staggered by 10 minutes. Bigger kids walk to their own classes, for the little ones a teacher will be there at/near entrance. Our school divided differently from OP- half the kids come full days MOn-Thu the other half Tue-Fri. Wed off. Siblings across classes all have same days. For the days of no school there still are online resources put out (ours record YouTube instructions) but less extensive as before. In effect there are now three groups: the Mon-Thu, the Tue-Fri and the ones staying home. The latter now get less than before as teachers cannot provide as much online anymore.

I know things like dance and gymnastics classes are now being done outside - I saw one in progress yesterday. My DSs are going to tennis and canoeing too.

Someone asked about children with SEND - especially physical requirements - the schools are open for pupils full time (not part time). Some children will need to be shielded and will stay home. WRT personal care I can’t find anything specific but I suspect PPE is used. Each school will have their own arrangements to follow the guidelines.

The shops are open but with restricted numbers inside. The numbers are managed by everybody having to have a trolley or basket and if none are left you have to queue (socially distanced) outside. There were BIG queues outside Primark recently.

Most beaches are now only accessible by bike after some overcrowding problems the very first weekend.

People are sensible but there are also always idiots everywhere in every country, who won't follow rules. The fines are €400 here I think if you are improperly socialising. Shops have to pay €4000 if they break rules.

There hasn't been the same panic here as in the U.K. I put that down to the different style of leadership and media (we don't have Daily Fail type papers or real tabloids either).

The jest week there were a lot of photographs of crowded beaches etc doing the rounds, that seems to have happened in every country. On the whole most people are following the rules with a few exceptions - my neighbours have had their grandkids over on Saturday for the past few weeks which prob isn’t advised but I find hard to get worked up about. ANd we’ve seen the occasional big group of teenagers in the park but they tend to get moved on by the police. The rules are slightly different here though, so for example I can hear children playing in the playground near me but actually that’s allowed. A month ago some one was angrily posting photos of picnincing groups in a local park as well on a Facebook page I’m a member of - but then someone else pointed out that actually isn’t against the rules either... my ex has been FaceTiming my son whilst at parties at other people’s houses which is confusing for my son, but my ex is a twat to be honest.

Sorry that should say the first week, I don’t know what a jest week is

Parents are strongly encouraged to walk or cycle when collecting dropping of children rather than by car

How do parents socially distance from each other walking to school? The pavement outside my DD's school isn't 2m wide and as we live very close I've had ample opportunity to practice walking up and down it recently, we always have to duck into the road (or hope the person coming the other way does so).

Also how does the teacher teach (or run play activities) if she can't come over to the children?

Re beaches, some here were nicely spaced out while sitting on the sand but there are very narrow paths to get to them - it can look crowded but not actually be that crowded.

the narrow pavement is one of the readons why the parents

are not allowed within 50m if the school gate.
the street in front of the school is also closed during school run time.

the distance here is 1.5 ir 2 arm length.

the street in front of the school is also closed during school run time.

Oh dear, my DD's school and two other local schools are on main roads (one an A road).

How do parents socially distance from each other walking to school?

Mainly cycling in Holland I think

I'm not aware of prinary schools near me that are not on quiet residential roads.

but a lot less people drive here anyway. in cities bikes rule and many children from about 7 yo walk on their own or in small groups.

I have had an email from my dd’s primary today .
*They are opening from the 2nd June (1st is an inset) and they will be open mon-thurs for the normal school hours .
*Year groups (reception,year 1 and year 6 ) will be split into 4 bubbles as there are 2 classes in each year group and each will have a teacher and if possible a member of support staff .
*They will only be allowed to socialise at school with those in their bubble and if any child has symptoms then the whole bubble will need to be sent home to self isolate .
*Reception and year one will eat lunch in the hall divided into 2 time slots and year 6 will eat in their class rooms.
Oh and no face masks are allowed but constant hand washing and anti bac gel saved for arrival and home time .

In my case my son cycled mostly along the road while I ran behind him. Then on the way back I walked but occasionally ducked into the road to avoid other parents or did the awkward social distancing dance (narrow pavement but the road is generally quiet). The road by my sons school is quite quiet though, and I suspect that’s part of the justification for encouraging parents not to drive as it means there are less cars around so it’s easier to avoid other pedestrians. And like other posters have said people cycle a lot more here anyway

Oh and in answer to “Also how does the teacher teach (or run play activities) if she can't come over to the children?” I think they get them to do what they want using teacher voice and by demonstrating from the front of the classroom. It probably isn’t as good as being able to individually help children etc but it’s better than nothing and seems to work so far

@Flopjustwantscoffee before lockdown were the teachers more hands on and did the children tend to work in groups, which is very much the usual teaching style here. I am just thinking back to my parent volunteering days when DS was in Primary School and how many pupils in his class would have struggled without someone being able to come over to them to help. Also wondering though whether the separate desks would stop a lot of the low level distraction that used to take place.

a lot less people drive here anyway.
We do have parents who drive but the roads near my DD school have a lot of farm traffic (edge of town) and the one on the A road has traffic going to the hospital and the motorway - not really local cars.

www.nu.nl/coronavirus/6052380/basisscholen-gaan-vanaf-8-juni-weer-helemaal-open.html

Dutch primary schools expected to open fully 8 June. There’s a press conference at 7pm our time (6pm U.K.)

@Flopjustwantscoffee and other posters, I also noticed that my 6yo wasn't that happy with Zoom and other video calls. He was actually scared of the few Zoom calls with his class, because "all those eyes are scary!"

Yes, tonight it was announced that primary schools should open completely. Not sure I'm happy with another change in their schedule, but on the other hand, I think that opening primary schools is probably less risky than opening the terraces (which I will probably avoid a little while longer).