To feel I can't cope with schools only going back part time in August?

[jbonsor]

Just that. I was coping OK with lockdown, and trying to keep positive about juggling kids and working from home til June, then take a few weeks holiday over the summer just to do things with the kids even if still restricted. This week I have received a letter from my son's nursery to say he has a space for the 2020-2021 school year but that due to covid 19 they can't confirm pattern of attendance, as in, they can't confirm if he will have the 30 hours he was having since August. I also have read a lot that primary school might be 2 days only a week or a very day but only morning or afternoon session.. This has really tipped me over the edge as I am dreading having to keep juggling all this for over a year. This really puts a strain in family life and finances because now we have to basically decide on one income only, and not onky that but I don't feel I am that good at home schooling and feel like my kids are going to fall behind. Sometimes I can't believe how everything fell apart so spectacularly and how is the Scottish government deciding this is the best course of action without any regard for the mountain of problems this will bring to a huge amount of families.

@Boxachocs, no one expects to die from their work.

I tried to home school for six months on a sabbatical, travelling. I wasn't very good. Child was later diagnosed with a form of dyslexia. But time and communication (just chat) has bridged a lot of gaps. Some of it has been taught, some of it I have had to learn. And a lot of it has just been time. Do not fret.

*I feel like secondary school age children have been forgotten here.(

That's because they are.

You can't teach higher level chemistry, physics, drama, dance, music, or most trade vocations at home and with social distancing, but hey, fuck 'em, Covid.

And this isn't a fucking war.

@Dinosauratemydaffodils, no there will always be jobs like the army where this is a possibility but for most people I don't believe they expect to die from their work. No one expected to have to work during a pandemic, I certainly didn't.

I mean every assessment I’ve ever done with children in September says otherwise

Surely you would give the children some time for revision for topics instead of doing assessments in September and expecting young children who have only been doing it for a short time anyway to remember multiplication, tables, grammar etc. On the other hand, subjects such as reading will have improved dramatically over the holidays. Even as adults in work situations, if we have to write a presentation or a wedding speech, we will revise it before we stand up to present it.

OP, sorry I was quoting a post from Frasersmummy in which she mentioned you.

Oh, great, yeah, the military, where you can die for your work, but you can't let them have an education, someone might die. That's a fab solution.

@highmarkingsnowbile. I totally agree. I feel secondary level children are being ignored somewhat. My husband and I are both educated beyond degree level. We can't teach some of the subjects our daughter is doing at GCSE as we've not studied them since we were 14.

KS3 kids are the ones getting the short straw. But that's because they are VERY hard to teach in school in normal circumstances. And because it's where the paths separate. The academic ones are easy to teach; the kids who want to be anywhere (except a classroom) are all over the place. Y9, last period, on a Friday was a horror show. If you have a 14 yo, sympathy.,

Yanbu. Children are really paying the price for this shambles.

but KS3 is also the bit of the curriculum that always gets overlooked. Too much repeating material from a good primary school and too little remediation to patch the errors from a bad one. Across an intake of about 200 kids per year group, (IMVHO) a significant % will not have the skills to progress.

Wonder how all the children evacuated coped in the war. They did you know

@Deepmidwicket what a fucking ridiculous thing to say. My DM was evacuated hundreds of miles from home at 9 years old with her brother and 5 year old cousin to the house of a paedophile. She saw her parents once in THREE years. She couldn't speak to them on the phone because they didn't have a phone. Yes but they "coped" in the sense that they were still alive in 1945. How dare you. Fuck off

Children have survived serious illness, war, poverty, abuse, loss, etc. They leave their mark for sure but contribute to the people they become.

This is so staggeringly ignorant and upsetting. As are all the evacuee comments. Things like abuse and poverty ruin lives. Many people make a good show of functioning but suffer horribly in private. Many end up homeless or become alcoholics or end up in abusive relationships as that's all they know. So many evacuees suffered severe abuse, too.

I have a background of pretty complex trauma. I feel like what I experienced has made me resilient and strong and I have a good perspective on what matters in life - I really value the little things. I feel incredibly traumatised. I have experienced a lot of very deep-rooted unhappiness and I'm terrified of people, largely speaking. I have struggled to build a life for myself despite trying really hard and having lots of professional support (far more than most people are able to access.) Many of my friends would tell you I'm ok because I go to great lengths to hide my daily reality. The friends who know I'm not ok still have no idea of the extent of how much I struggle. I would love to erase my memories and not be carrying around the grief that I am.

@XingMing I have a Y8 son and I feel his year is being overlooked by his school. They have openly admitted his year is at the bottom of their priorities and to some extent I do understand why.

As a parent rather than a teacher I don't have a good grasp of what should be achieved in KS3, and all of a sudden it feels that this stage is dispensable. We are concentrating on maths, English and science. Luckily my science A levels and chemistry studies are helping me to support him, and I am extremely lucky to have time to help him with school work.

Are there any resources that I could access which would help me understand how to support a KS3 child effectively, particularly in maths. Sadly we've had little support from school so far and they have confirmed that he will not be returning until September at the earliest.

Op I'm not a parent but I feel for parents and children so much right now. This isn't ok. It's absolutely not acceptable that this is on the cards. Other countries have seen schools reopen with no rise in cases and children are being harmed by lockdown right now. I've seen so many people on here say their otherwise happy, well-adjusted children are showing signs of suffering badly. And I dread to think what some children are living through right now. For many, school is their only escape.

This isn't workable. I think more and more people will realise that when September comes around. It will cause more mothers to lose their jobs and plunge families into hardship.

@Chestnutacorns123 Which is why people need protective measures, be that ppe or social distancing. There were suggestions here that social distancing should be abandoned in schools and the post is complaining that schools aren’t going back full time - which can only be done with full classes. People expect to be protected at work, whether they work in a hospital, a care home, a supermarket or a school.

I get it. I think the brunt of it will fall to many women. Already my other half as the main breadwinner is working his usual hours from home about 40 - 60 hours. Because both disabled kids are at home, everything else is falling to me. I'm struggling to do my 5 hour a week job, let alone the 15 hours I normally do on top of that!

I disagree with the poster who said this is not like being evacuated. It does have similarities. Although our children are being isolated in family groups they still have been separated from close family and friends and school.

Part time school is evitable under the social guidance issued by the government. It is not the schools dictating this but the SAGE group and government even if they say every child will return to school full time. Most schools do not have enough classroom space. You cant magically create classrooms. It is the only way forward as we cant go back to before . That is the rule from Government.
Yes every child is entitled to an education but to achieve that under the new guidelines sacrifices need to be made. The day and week has not just magically extended , or there are not suddenly lots of new classrooms and teachers in a school. So we now have to make sure what we have is being used to be best capacity in the guidelines.
I am sorry that it impacts on your work. I understand that but if you have children they are your responsibility to love, cherish and educate to the best of your ability. If your partner is not taking the half of this load this is not that the schools or government fault but you then have a relationship discussion that needs to be undertaken.
This is where I get angry , If we were talking about NHS and care homes workers and rightly so would you have a go at them. Teachers have been all the way along providing school as place to send their children and also vulnerable children. Have you thought as you worked at home trying to educate your children of the parents who are key workers including supermarket workers, porter, long haul drivers who while you have staying at home have been juggling this problem.
Another point I would like to make. We are a civilised country in which we are luckily that we do not have to pay to educate our children. That is a privilege not a right. Just as we are lucky with our brilliant health service. You need to understand when you bring a child into this world you are the sole provider of love, care and everything that child needs and if that means health and education that is also your responsibility. In this difficult times we as good parent need to step up to that responsibility regardless and if that means making sacrifices in the balances of work/ education you are going to have to find a balance.
I will give you my example. I am a primary teacher who loves her job but is the sole earner in our house as my husband is in the extremely vulnerable group to covid and needs to be shielded to max. However as a teacher to maintain our house I need to work. This means evaluating risks. This has meant extensive talks with head teacher regarding how I return to work regarding health and safety and what I can do to minimise the risk to my husband. So if I have been school I have to strip my clothe in the garage. bag them in a plastic bag, enter the house and go straight to a pre run bath, wash hair and body clean the bathroom with bleach, dress take my clothes in a plastic bag to washing machine and wash and clean any surfaces before my husband can emerge from the bedroom, It has also meant with my mother over 75 with lupus I can only phone, video call her and drop shopping at the door which she must wash in a bleach solution before it enters our house. I do not know when I will see my 2 year old granddaughter again to cuddle or have time with as her mother is a primary teacher as well so we cant cross containment schools and the risk is too much to much to my husband. So if you think this is hard add on to that my doctors think the both my husband and I had Covid just before lockdown and probably because I would not leave the classroom which resulted in paramedics being called to my husband and him being taken to hospital for a short time.

I am returning to the classroom because I love my job and understand the effect of this on children. but I am not a miracle worker.
Last of all I AM NOT YOUR CHILDCARE SO YOU CAN WORK I AM THERE AS IN ANY JOB TO PROVIDE A SERVICE. THEY ARE YOUR CHILDREN AND YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR OWN SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS WITH OUR HELP BUT WE CANT PROVIDE ALL THE ANSWERS. ITS ALL NEW TO US AS WELL.
Sorry for the rant

Completely missing the point but I can see the government struggling to enforce rules refusing to allow parents to take dc out of school for a week’s holiday. They can’t say dc will be fine missing 6 months but a week off is a no no. That is obviously way down the line.

I imagine dc will return to school in September but it won’t be normal 9-3 hours 5 days a week. All depends on the pandemic and the science. I don’t believe anyone is doing this to be deliberately annoying, more to keep the country as safe as possible.

It’s bloody hard though and the standard of school support is very varied from teacher to teacher and school to school. Our secondary is superb (state) our primary is so poor that I am spending my evenings lesson planning on top of running the house and working full time. I think we’re all exhausted and need to be kind to ourselves and each other.

All these people saying it's not hurting kids education? If that's the case why is it constantly rammed down our throats that attendance is so important, that less than 95% attendance will have a detrimental effect on kids performance, that we can't take them out for ONE WEEK to go on holiday because it will hurt their eduction - but six months is ok, won't harm them at all?

Wow @Meercatmama as an nhs worker who isn’t sending dc to school as key worker dh is able to do his stressful job from home but that’s even harder with 3 dc to care for and educate I think you need to realise that everyone has their own individual stresses and circumstances. Many businesses really struggle with allowing parents to even take 1 day off with a sick child so the guilt many families are feeling and pressure that may mean they lose their job is very real. It’s not like parents can say that as school is closed they will look at other childcare options - they can’t use family or friends so what exactly should they do, quit their job and have no income?

I think it may be helpful for you to acknowledge that your situation sucks but so does everyone else’s. Might make you less angry at people who are understandably stressed and struggling.

Because it is true under the curriculum that stands( miss a week miss information that there is not time to go back too) and what the government says in trying to drive up standards to their agenda. Most head and teachers consider families who have good attendance a weeks holiday or two is ok. It expands horizons and generally creates good family time. The amount of children being absent is used as a measure by OFSTED to see how good your school is. There is also government legislation that makes schools fine parents.

I do understand that people are stressed and angry and are in difficult situations regarding childcare. In my family we are in the same situation. My husband was the sole carer for my granddaughter who is 2 and now cant look after her. My daughter in law is working form home luckily trying to balance the needs of her class looking after 2 year old and my son has gone back to work. We are in the same situation as many. Does she give her work up to return to work to educate her class or does my son give up his job. She is too young to go into the school key worker childcare or do we send her to nursery full time which she has not experience of. Yes I am angry because as a teacher and you as a NHS worker we did not ask for this situation it happened and we are all trying to cope but I am not someone childcare so they can work. We have to accept compromises all of us and for my son and daughter they will have to make their choices of what is right for them in the limitation of the options they have. just I have had to. That is the reality of this situation. It is not nice. I hate it. I would love to go back to the norm but it is not going to happen, so we have to move on and accept things and make the best of them.

I feel secondary level children are being ignored somewhat. My husband and I are both educated beyond degree level. We can't teach some of the subjects our daughter is doing at GCSE as we've not studied them since we were 14.

They are. I'm the same. My daughter has dyslexia, not impaired intelligence. I am entirely unequipped to home educate her with this 'blended learning'. And she wasn't even aiming for the sciences or maths. What a fucking farce and paying lip service whilst throwing the likes of her under a bus. All this talk about how 'we don't matter omg, being let down'. Well, what about them? And believe me, they're wising up to this. She put up with at first, now she and her friends are becoming royally pissed off. But hey, covid.