Childcare being removed for key workers

[Mia1415]

My DS has been going to school and his childminder during lockdown.

I was informed yesterday that from 1st June you are only allowed to send children to 1 setting a week (so school or childminder).

Whilst I can understand the logic of not wanting children to mix bubbles I am really annoyed about this as:

• giving key workers 1 weeks notice that they will be loosing childcare isn't really acceptable
• are key workers no longer deemed important?
• It can take up to 14 days to display covid symptoms so allowing 1 week in school, following by a week with a childminder doesn't really prevent anything
• One of the key points of getting children back to schools is so that parents can get back to work. At my school the years that are going back in initially are only doing 2 days a week, so if wraparound care is banned how is that helping people get back to work?
• I can understand this rule a bit more for children that are just returning to school, but not for children that have been going to both throughout lockdown.

(I have emailed my MP and local council about this and I'm awaiting a response).

AIBU?

Informed by who? Because I have read every piece of guidance from the government (it's kind of part of my job) and I have seen nothing that says this.

@moondust001 by my childminder. She sent me the email she received from the council stating that this was the rule from 1st June.

My son's previous childminder from a different county has also had the same instruction.

Interestingly I can't see anything about it on the government website so I'm assuming it is local council's making up their own rules.

Who told you that OP? Both my kids schools remain open plus childminders for wraparound care.

Just been and double checked. The guidance says all schools and childcare providers should continue to offer places to the priority groups – vulnerable children and children of critical workers – they have been supporting since the end of March. It says nothing about being unable to use two different settings. This is either some kind of local rule or totally made up. Probably the latter, because I've come across more than one childcare setting that has been making up the rules to suit themselves.

Sorry, I crossed with your post. Well the Council or whoever appear to be making it up. It's plainly ridiculous and will simply knock key workers out of being able to work. Just what you want to do at this time!

@Muppetry76 it's on an email the council have sent to childminders.

I posted on a facebook group yesterday to ask if this was the same in different parts of the country and many people came back to say they had been told the same.

I know my school have said that, if your child is in YR, Y1 or Y6 and you’re a key worker, you can either choose the key worker bubble or their year group bubble. You can’t mix and match. However, that’s nothing to do with wraparound care. I’ve not heard anything about that.

PS - I'd tell your employer too. You won't be the only person caught by a daft rule like this, and employers voices are often louder than employees. They won't be happy to see half their workforce disappear in a weeks time.

@Moondust001 I completely agree. I was so upset and angry about it yesterday. Life is stressful enough at the moment without the rules changing suddenly.

Thank you. I've already contacted the council, but will push back further.

My after school club is not opening due to mixing bubbles. Childminder has also been told she cannot collect children from different year groups.

It's to stop bubbles mixing and spreading the virus.
It sort of makes sense, but certainly hasn't been thought through for situation such as yours.

Can your DC go to the childminder full time and not go to school?

The advice from the DfE is that providers should work with parents to minimise children attending multiple settings - it doesn’t say you can’t.

Lots of local authorities and individual schools and settings are going a step further and “banning” it.

I don’t think local authorities technically have the authority to ban it though - it’s just strong advice.
Though I guess childminders can decide who they want to care for.

I may be being unfair, but I think "someone" is trying to make the return unworkable. Because you couldn't possibly come up with a more unworkable solution to having to return than this. Given most schools, teachers, unions etc are against re-opening - and I am not discussing the relative merits of whether they should or not, just the reality that they have been told to - I wonder if they are making it as chaotic as possible. By threatening key workers being able to work, it could be thought that that would prevent the government imposing it.

Can your DC go to the childminder full time and not go to school?

No, not really because I can't afford it and he'd be incredibly bored being the only child there and they can't go out anywhere. I'm not sure she'd want him full time either. I just use her wrap around care.

It's not just about me though. There must be 1000's of other key worker parents using wraparound care. What is everyone supposed to do come the 1st? I just don't feel this has been thought though at all.

Lots of schools that were providing wraparound care for keyworkers are simultaneously stopping wraparound on 1st June so this will be a big problem.

It’s almost as if nobody has thought this whole thing through properly.

@puppymonkey haha who'd have thought!

I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry about it.

The only thing I can find about wrap-around care is in a document for primary schools.

"You should only run such provision if you are able to keep children within the groups they are in during the day or safely distanced."
www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-primary-schools

If local authorities are translating that as meaning children cannot attend any form of wrap-around care seems strange to me. It is purely talking about wrap-around care on the school premises.

Has anyone found any other documents that mention wrap-around care or multiple settings?

Why don't use your common sense and take a reasonable decision as a safeguarding issue... you'll be fine and have the complete backing of the government.

Our school are stopping wraparound care from June 1st. It’s causing huge problems with my keyworker friends. I’ve managed to juggle my hours around a bit but it’s still stressful.

Mia I’ve been told the same by our wraparound care (who have been told by the council that they cannot operate and take children from different settings).

madroid - what is the common sense approach when you work a 12 hour shift at hospital so are away from home for around 14 hours. In that situation you need before and after school care.

@nannynick there was something in one of the many documents about mixing settings - bear in mind we’ve had about 5 documents now that have been corrected or changed since publication. I will see if I can find it.

I may be being unfair, but I think "someone" is trying to make the return unworkable

This. Its political and it directly hurts women and their ability to provide for their families.

It's a disgrace and I hope that the woman-allied elements in that political entity get loud about this and advocate for women because god knows nobody else on the political spectrum is advocating for us right now.

Similar has happened to my brother and his wife, who live Southampton. They both work shifts at the hospital and their 5 year old was going to a mix of school and childminder. They’ve been told they can only do one or the other. They are juggling by taking it in turns to take holiday leave and unpaid absence. They are worse off and completely stressed.