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.

@Worriedaboutthefuture1 God I hope so! I can't believe there's not more criticism at the moment and no-one seems to be complaining about this.
@AgentCooper I work in a big teaching hospital and social distancing is just not possible. We just can't. I don't see the SNP banging the drum trying to ensure social distancing in hospitals.

Nothing is happening to our children. They will not be damaged by this.

How do you know?

My kids are in high school. They need proper full time teaching. This part time thing is bollocks and should not be allowed to happen, virus or no virus. It’s a total nonsense.

jbonsor - you may not think it has been controlled, but that is the Government’s rationale for the lockdown and how to scale it back: to get to a point where widespread testing, tracking and tracing is possible again, rather than a lost cause. On that basis, you could argue that no UK schools should be going back as soon as 1 June, because the testing is only just getting up to reasonable numbers, and proper tracking and tracing systems are not up and running, yet.

@trumpisaflump when it was first announced lots of people on my Facebook were despairing but assumed it was completely necessary, but as discussions have moved on people are starting to question this as well as various other inconsistencies in advice. I genuinely think our more compliant media in Scotland has a lot to do with this - no one ever rigorously questions their numbers and assumptions and so the public don’t dig any deeper. It’s infuriating. I saw data this morning showing that second waves in countries that opened up weeks ago just aren’t appearing, and this is confusing some epidemiologists. If this trend continues and time goes on without subsequent waves of infections, and if the evidence that children aren’t significant spreaders strengthens, then the Scottish governments position on this will look even more absurd.

@koke absolutely agree with you, this is not a battle of the sexes problem. It does not matter if its the mum or the dad giving up their job or both having to work part time. It's a case of the family unit being disrupted so badly for very marginal positive effect on the transmission of the virus

@JassyRadlett exactly! I could cry!

Another thing that worries me slightly about 'blended learning' is that the parents' voices are mostly coming from things like the National Parent Forum and parent council associations, which means it's shaped by parents and organisations who have time to spend on these things.

So a lot of talk about how we incorporate all the lovely creative innovative home-based learning we've done over lockdown, not so much talk about how many of us have not been able to do any of that and won't be able to going forwards either.

I’ve contacted my MSP with all my concerns and I would urge other parents in the same boat to do the same. If enough people point out how devastating this will be for a lot of families it might trigger a rethink.

This is my worry at the moment, part time, so many in so many days or different ages groups different weeks etc. I’ve got 3 DC all differing ages and years, I work in community nursing on a flexible working policy already and DH works away a lot which is unlikely to change. Not sure how we will manage in this case as my off duty’s are being doing months in advance due to the virus etc really don’t know how this is going to work for most families with 2 working parents,

it might trigger a rethink

What would you do instead?

I agreed op. I fully understand that social distanceing is important but it will come at a price for everybody.

We do have a childminder for the holidays but she has 2 young children herself so doubt she will want other kids whilst trying to home school her own, not to mention the cost? Also it’s easy for people to say get the DH to take shorter days, that doesn’t work for every industry though. My DH works in structural engineering for agricultural buildings he is the only one who does his job, he doesn’t do his job the building don’t get put up. He makes a lot more money than I do and I’m just relieved he still had a job at all never mind asking To do shorter days, in the current climate with employers and businesses struggling they will use this as excuses to cut jobs and save money

@Y0uCann0tBeSer10us I'm going to contact my MSP too and would urge as many others as possible to do likewise. Anyone more articulate than me care to post a suggested template email?

I was going to write to my MSP but it’s Derek Mackay 😭

@trumpisaflump I emailed my MSP On Friday For more clarification for those of us who work, they made all this song and dance about providing hubs for key worker Children and are now just going to take that away?

@Worriedaboutthefuture1

Please stop with the ridiculous scaremongering. At some point in the next six weeks the government will order EVERYONE back to work because if they don’t, there won’t be enough taxes to cover the NHS and public sector (yes, that includes teacher) wages.

I'm afraid you're the one indulging in fantasy land. That just won't happen. Foolish to even think it might. We need to plan for what will happen, not what you hope may happen.

I honestly cannot see a return to all children in school for months, even years.

We haven't done this for any other infectious disease since the start of compulsory education, and that includes diseases that were more dangerous to children, so it would seem quite disproportionate to keep kids out of full-time education for literally years for this one.

@Sittingontheveranda I would hope that some sense of proportion would be regained. Certainly for primary and nursery aged children, who are essentially at no risk from the virus and do not spread it very efficiently (according to available evidence) doing such damage to their education at a critical point does not seem worth it to me. If infection rates in society continue to fall to a point where we are released from lockdown and able to rely on TTIS I can see no justification for not having full classes back (with measures to keep adults apart if deemed necessary). For older children, perhaps we have to decide whether it’s worth disrupting their education/exams and future prospects, or whether other measures like continuing to shield the extremely vulnerable might be more appropriate.

@LemonPudding
Are you a teacher or SAHP with no money worries or concern for the impact of working parents parents including those WFH, who are just about treading water doing their own jobs, as well as that of teachers?
You haven’t answered this point. I’m going to guess it’s the first one and that it suits you very well not being at work at the moment (with wishful thinking of years to come) where you know your salary and job are guaranteed.

@LemonPudding why are you presenting your opinions as fact? Even the experts have no idea where we will be at in a few months time, so you certainly don't either. Everyone on this forum is as clueless as everyone else - we are all just speculating.

My 94 year old aunt is truly devastated of the impact of lockdown on our children in so many respects, largely to protect the elderly. She said she knows the risks and wants the respect to adjust accordingly.

She says the idea that country has been put on hold for people on her age group is making her very depressed

Y0uCann0tBeSer10us.

Maybe read about the advantages of homeschooling to get the other perspective? I don’t disagree that education isn’t important but it can take many shapes. Look at families who travel the world, their children don’t attend a school building but they are every bit as all rounded if not more so then the children who don’t travel. If you mean childcare instead of school, that is a different t topic.

Forty thousand deaths in three months is reason enough to do whatever is deemed lower risk even if we don’t know with certainty it is the best thing?

Maybe read about the advantages of homeschooling to get the other perspective? I don’t disagree that education isn’t important but it can take many shapes. Look at families who travel the world, their children don’t attend a school building but they are every bit as all rounded if not more so then the children who don’t travel. If you mean childcare instead of school, that is a different t topic.
But that is not the shape home-learning is taking during this crisis! Children can’t travel the world having experiences. They are stuck at home day after day after day; not seeing friends and extended family. They are using Twinkle worksheets as substitute teachers and many have parents who either can’t or won’t engage with their essential learning.

You can’t homeschool effectively if you are not trained as a teacher, have to work full time on top of that and also have other children to care for! It may work very well in some circumstances in normal times but this not what most of us are set up for, and it’s certainly not working well at the moment.

The 40000 deaths (across the whole of the U.K. I might add) were during the peak, which is under control now. The balance of risk has shifted massively, to the point where the harms from lockdown will outweigh those the virus of we’re not careful. The benefit to keeping schools (particularly primary schools) partially shut is minuscule compared to the harms at this point.

@Worriedaboutthefuture1
Are you a teacher or SAHP with no money worries or concern for the impact of working parents parents including those WFH, who are just about treading water doing their own jobs, as well as that of teachers?

None of those. I'm retired. I just care about people. Especially the weak and the vulnerable. Someone here has to.

@LemonPudding why are you presenting your opinions as fact? Even the experts have no idea where we will be at in a few months time, so you certainly don't either.

Perhaps I'm better informed than many here. Maybe I've been talking to experts in the field. I'm also more realistic than many on this thread.