Scottish Govt saying PT home schooling is likely for the full school year

[YeahWhatevver]

Scottish Govt is saying that blended learning (part time in school, part time home schooling) is likely to be in place for the full academic year.

Honestly, if I'm trying to juggle work and teaching 2 primary kids this time next year I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.

Funnily enough, UK govt at pains to reassure people that it's safe to start shopping on Monday, if its safe enough to shop, how isn't it safe enough to open schools?

I'm so much happier following the FM statement. I think she all but said look, this is only a worst case scenario. If we can keep the numbers shrinking we can remove the 2m rule and school can go back with sensible adjustments come August.

I was having an absolute meltdown last week about this but I'm much more hopeful now.

When it gets to days and weeks with no deaths, nobody left in icu, no upswing in new infections etc they can't logically ask this. They know that.

Ha! I’ve just seen your update, I think we feel differently about the FM statement

Oh god, if everything I've read is true then it's going to be hardly any school. Let's say till Christmas. See what happens when it's winter illness season.
I'm going out of my wee tiny mind here.
I am supportive of Sturgeon's cautious approach but what a fucking palaver.

don't be so naive.

It'll be saint Nicola by August. She's got us all back to school. isn't she wonderful compared to Boris. Nothing at all to do with the backlash.

She's playing a game.

You can distance in shops. Much harder in schools. They need to rethink school layout.

Had an email today that says primary will be 3 days in one week for 1 group and then 2 days the following week, secondary will be 50% in school the rest at home, care for 2 parent key worker families will continue, where I have no idea! And that is if DH still comes under key worker as an agricultural engineer as it does now but it didn’t when the schools first closed and I couldnt get a space At the hub thankfully he was furloughed for 6 weeks

I wrote to my MSP and have had a good response basically saying they agree it's not acceptable and are working on it.

@nextslideplease spot on. She is waiting for weeks of 0 deaths or better 0 cases to play a “wee New Zealand” move and get herself canonised for saving Scotland.

But what they won’t tell us is that by this point most of the women in the country will have lost their jobs or compromised their future at work because they been seen as “difficult”’or “unproductive”, that many children in Scotland will have slipped through the net of abuse, neglect, deprivation and will in many case be irretrievable from the depths of this horror for them.

What they won’t mention is the huge almost insurmountable waiting lists for treatment and operations in their already stretched and barely coping hospitals and clinics.

What they won’t mention is Scotland’s plummeting economy and the fact that many contracts and decisions will have been lost by Scottish companies that were closed while English ones were open.

What they won’t mention is the failure to honour free childcare and free meals for schoolchildren, the short fall in funding for basic council provisions despite everyone continuing to pay full council tax during this whole debacle.

It will be saint Nic for PM of an independent Scotland.

yep, I said on the other thread, it'll be the women who suffer.

As my workplace is predominantly women, I have no idea when we will be physically back at work. We are lucky that we are public sector though so unlikely to be job losses. Voluntary redundancies are a cert at some point. We already had some earlier this year (pre lockdown).

Well said @TheMurk. She is desperate to get her Jacinta moment in the sun and be crowned the woman who saved Scotland. Her overly cautious approach is going to crucify the economy, ruin the life chances of many children and women. But that’s ok as long as she can beat Boris in the so-called caring stakes.

How many deaths per day would be an acceptable level of Covid? If we had thrown as much money and attention into solving cancer, child poverty or any other cause we’d have saved way more lives in the long run. But Covid has turned into the holy grail - keeping mainly old people alive for a bit longer.

TheMurk
Excellent post. Can you send it to every useless politician?

any one else in the NPFS webinar? Its very mixed.

How will you keep kids safe vs we need our kids back f/t

Annoyingly she went with the free meals today, but the rest stands.

Scotland’s unemployment rate post COVID is higher than England’s. Why aren’t the press digging her up about this?

I say post COVID like it’s over but you know what I mean.

I take it you’ve seen today’s announcements by the first minister, one being that this method of learning will NOT be for a year or anywhere like that apparently.

she didn't say NOT, she said that was the aim

As I said above, don't be naive

she's trying to position herself as more caring and then come out as some great saviour.

John Swinney still not committing to much, or answering much in this stupid webinar tonight.

Yeah she saw the growing backlash following Swinney’s comments and had to pull it back...

Social listening will tell them the second people start to get feisty.

swinney clearly relying on people still being furloughed to allow for parents home schooling. Also keeps referring to "working from home" for the long term and other businesses still being closed.

Yup, they're just not listening. Firstly being furloughed is not a choice for the parent but their employer. We have staff on furlough right now (childcare provider) but when we reopen we will either need all our staff back, or our numbers will be down and we will have to make some cuts. Once the business is open having the parent stagf on furlough getting 80% for not working whilst the others work their full hours would lead to chaos and pissed off staff. If ee need more than our non- dchool age parent population of staff are we sipposed yo kerp some on furlough but hire replacements? Then what? And come October....

Secondly, properly working from home and managing younger primary kids is a nightmare. Some of my colleagues (I have a different job alongside the children business) are on their knees with tiredness trying to be everything to everyone. I think it's quite unreasonable the way they seem to be positioning it as unreasonable for businesses to need their staff to work for their wage

I was denied furlough by my employer.

Ffs just read that back, my phone froze when I was typing and a couple of sentences are awful!

There are plenty of people who can (in theory) work from home and their employers expect them to do so, but workijg from home with 2 kids who should be at nursery and primary school is impossible. My employer expects me to do the job they hired me for. Noone in my company has been offered furlough, everyone is working from home (in IT consulting services so no office needed!) But I literally cannot work unless my kids are sleeping so I'm working 9pm to 2am every night to try to keep my boss happy. Its not sustainable

I'm lucky in that my DD is 12 and can be left to do her school work herself, but she's still finished in just an hour and then looking for something else to entertain her, which isn't possible when I'm trying to WFH myself.

I still expect her to get a proper education which I can't provide myself whilst trying to work.

And I whilst I'm in the public sector and therefore more secure than others, I still worry that that my employers patience could run out

DH is an essential worker and I'm disabled, so it will be hard on my own. His workplace are planning redundancies and whilst he's a high heidie and says he should be safe, I'm still worried.

PS I got one of www.amazon.co.uk/LANGRIA-Portable-Adjustable-Lockable-Casters/dp/B06XD9V1DG/ref=sr_1_24?dchild=1&keywords=desk+home+portable&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1592341997&sr=8-24these

(hope link works)

I know it means spending money but it means I can sit on the sofa, with the telly on, work from home, keep an eye on DD. Easier than being in a home office or dining room table.

In case it helps anyone else