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.

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

Are you actually fucking serious? Do you really think they aren't aware of what a difficult situation people are going to be in? That we're ALL in? Do you think they've just decided that kids should come to school two days a week for a laugh? They're doing it TO KEEP SOCIETY SAFE FROM THE PANDEMIC LEVEL VIRUS. Do you expect schools to just ignore the dangers of having every kid back in full time just so that parents aren't inconvenienced?

The whinging and moaning on Mumsnet at the moment is beyond belief, so many people banging on like lockdown and changed in society are a personal attack on them and their babies. Yes, of course it's going to be difficult but what other options are there?

Jesus wept 🤦🏻‍♀️

I’m not sure it’s fair to say the Scottish Government has no regard for how difficult it will be for parents, I think they just don’t have all the answers. Nobody does. The whole thing has exposed how shit our infrastructure is, there’s hardly any integration between services, and having to rely on school as ‘childcare’ leaves women in as precarious a position as we’ve ever been economically.

As a species we will survive. The robust middle class children with wifi and educated parents might even do quite well with their baking and nature walks. But my heart aches for the thousands of children living in poverty, in cramped conditions, with daily abuse and neglect. School is a lifeline for these kids and we are failing them on an unbelievable level.

I am wondering how on earth we will cope too op. I feel like any choices about my work and work pattern have been taken out of my hands. We don’t have family nearby and childcare would usually be a patchwork of after school clubs and paid babysitter pickups, neither of which will be available to do half days (nor do home schooling). I will not be able to do my job if blended part time school and home schooling is a longer term solution by the Scottish gov. I’m actually thoroughly depressed at having to give up work when I’m lucky enough to have a stable job.

Children who are abused and neglected are still going to school- they are the "vulnerable' children who school didn't close to and are continuing to get support- they are the reasons schools were never fully closed.

The whinging and moaning on Mumsnet at the moment is beyond belief

I think describing it as 'whinging and moaning' when people are worried about losing their jobs and homes and/or their children not getting educated is a bit tone-deaf.

Yanbu. My dc's primary school is going to start allowing the dc to come back to school 1 morning and 1 afternoon a week. We will be ok as dh works from home and I am carer to our disabled child but so many families are really struggling.

@IfYouCantSeeMyMirrors thank you I have signed. I feel strongly that children and young people need to return to schools and colleges soon to try and reverse the negative impacts that the lockdown is having on many (though I realise not all)

@FreakStar and despite being vulnerable and many living in or between households that will be paying little regard to lockdown rules or hygiene they are attending school and yet not infecting teachers to the point of crisis.

@FreakStar they aren't though. Significant numbers of parents are not taking up the places. Because, you know, they're abusive and neglectful.

@mccanne I never understood that expression "relying on schools like childcare" it's not childcare, they are in full time education and therefore the parents take the desicion of going back to work, while they are at school. Would you prefer that people are home while kids are at school, relying on benefits at a cost to the tax payer?

part time schools have part time running costs - this won’t be the case, the school will be open and teaching full time, just that the students won’t be in all at once.

@FreakStar and all the children that aren't labelled as "vulnerable" but are being abused and neglected anyway. That happens too. And the children that aren't "vulnerable" but are in overcrowded, low income households who just aren't getting any semblance of an education. I don't think it's right that this continues longer than necessary. The impact will be huge. Catching up will be night on impossible for some of these kids.

It's sad that some people feel school is such an integral part of their child's life. There was life before schools existed, there was learning and education before schools, there are plenty of children in the Uk who have never been to school and never will. At the end of the day it is always parents who should be the heart of their child's education, they need to own this. if you feel a few months off school is so damaging you need to look at why and your own role in their education. Teachers don't have the magic wand you think they do. Kids learn in so many different ways- they won't be falling behind- they are just going to be learning things at a different time to planned, but that's ok- there isn't a door to learning that closes if you don't open it at the scheduled time.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses well it will be lower cost as fewer children need fewer teachers, less food each day, make less mess to be cleaned up, need fewer materials and resources.

Lower capacity, lower running costs.

@howmanytoes you don't need to shout or curse to make your point. With regards to your statement "keep society safe from a pandemic level virus".. Truth is we know kids are not super spreaders, if people are having to go back to work what benefit does it have to keep the kids out of their normal education? Do you even know how easy is for people to spread this? People that have been shielding have got this somehow.. Probably from food deliveries, there is no way if the parents are working we will all be in contact with the virus at some point! Hell we don't even know how many of us have got it already! Because the government have not taken the appropriate steps to trwac, trace and test, because they have made impossible for years for companies to develop medical technologies in house with their endless red tape. There are studies by the British Medical Journal that say that up to 78% of people will be asymptomatic yet we are turning or lives upside down without any hard evidence. So no I am not kidding you when I say they have no regard or the repercussions of this.

Wonder how all the children evacuated during the war coped. They did by the way
My dad was 10 when he was evacuated to Devon. He and the other evacuees were only allowed to attend school in the afternoons and were not allowed to mix with the local kids. The evacuees were also not allowed to be taught by proper teachers, only conscientious objectors, given that job because there was nothing else for them to do. Until he was evacuated my dad was doing well at school but the three years he was away he learnt basically nothing. He told me that he had to rely on educating himself at the library from the age of fourteen to make anything of himself. He’s a tenacious and super intelligent bugger though and managed to become a successful businessman despite such a huge setback in life.

At the end of the day it is always parents who should be the heart of their child's education, they need to own this.

By taking their children to work with them? I’m sure employers will love that. Or by simultaneously educating children while working from home? Maybe we can hold up flashcards while we’re on work calls, or teach higher chemistry at the same time as speaking to clients?

But my heart aches for the thousands of children living in poverty, in cramped conditions, with daily abuse and neglect. School is a lifeline for these kids and we are failing them on an unbelievable level.

This. I can't imagine being stuck at home with my mum without school. It would have been horrendous. School was my safety place away from the woman who wished I was a cot death statistic and never let me forget it.

I'm unhappy but assuming my mental health improves (lockdown triggered my ptsd) my kids will be fine. Dh and I have the ability and the resources to definitely get them through primary. We number enough teachers amongst family and friends for pointers and can cover each others weaknesses. Ds has learnt loads throughout lockdown including lots of dutch, biology and geography (he's 5).

We're lucky though, dh is wfh and will be at least part time into next year. I'm a sahm anyway, doing another degree but that's remote too now. We have loads of IT stuff so no conflict there. What annoys me is we aren't talking next week...we're talking about August. The situation by then could look vastly different.

@SuperMumTum- believe me, schools should have a good handle on kids who are vulnerable- I work in a school and we have children attending because teachers feel they need to and they are encouraging them to come- they don't necessarily have to be abused or seriously neglected. Children in low income overcrowded houses would be thought of as vulnerable to my school.

@freakstar I think you're just looking for a reaction but I'll bite anyway

Teachers don't have a magic wand.. No but they have the appropriate skills qualifications and tools to teach.. Not all parents do

Yes there was life before schools a life of service where young girls learned to clean from morning to night and know their place

And yes teenagers do need to learn at a specific time to sit the govt mandated examinations

Wonder how all the children evacuated during the war coped. They did by the way

Yeah, sure.

It’s sad that some people feel school is such an integral part of their child's life

Why is that sad?

When actually it IS a big part of their life?

My 10 and 8 year old massively miss school and their friends. It’s such a difficult time for them.

And they’re hugely affected by the pandemic mentally. My 10 year old is worried about dying (because, understandably, his logic is that it must be a huge deal if schools and offices are closed and he cannot see his grandparents). He’s had panic attacks, nightmares and is terrified of going out.

Anyone who thinks this is just a great break for kids etc has not a clue.

@jbonsor not sure how you got that from my comment tbh. I know schools aren’t childcare, that’s why I put ‘childcare’. The post is a while post, not just a fraction of one.

Children who are abused and neglected are still going to school- they are the "vulnerable' children who school didn't close to and are continuing to get support- they are the reasons schools were never fully closed.

That's naive at best. I wouldn't have got a place and trust me, I was (emotionally) abused and neglected. My middle class parents hid our home life well. It was only during therapy as an adult I realised just how fucked up my childhood was. Plus, I thought large numbers of vulnerable children who could attend weren't. From the vulnerable families I've worked with, I can definitely believe that.