To bin off the homeschooling

[Lemons1571]

God I’m probably BU. But bloody hell I've had enough. 14 weeks of working ft, plus trying to fit in twinkl, Oak, Khan etc. Watching my Year 4 get more isolated and sad. Feeing like a loser / outsider when the school send out their weekly newsletter asking Reception to bring in x, y and z and Year 6 to remember their deposit for (insert end of year activity).

Honestly the thought of Monday makes me want to throw things at the wall, and it’s not even Sunday yet! Got a bunch of corrections sent through on last weeks schoolwork which I now have to try and fit in around Skype work calls, deadlines, appraisals. Anyone else just about had it? So tempted to tell child to not worry about it too much and have some screen time.

I don’t need help with coping or with mood or anything like that. I just need to not have two full time jobs.

tomorrow’s another day

Was going to pop out to the high street to grab a bag of shopping with DC, highlight of his day but it's nearly school run time so we won't. It upsets him to see kids from his school and all the others in the area in their uniforms merrily on their way home. Inner city here and there's literally four primary schools within a mile or so of each other.

School's been uploading videos of the returning children and how they're settling back in - he didn't want to watch it and neither did I!

We're going shopping this afternoon but also waiting for school run to be over...

Honestly if only I'd known when I was leaving university that my choice of career would in twenty years time mean my future children wouldn't be allowed to go to school

Oh and sorry to derail the thread but my two DC bicker and argue from morning to night...if I make it to September without having a fucking nervous breakdown it will be a miracle.

Mine have been playing with neighbours kid who is literally my LIFE SAVER

God I love that boy

Did someone say we need go sign a petition or go on a page ? I’ve got head in sand a bit about this whole mess

I wish someone eloquent could frame the arguments we've been discussing and put a petition together. I'd sign up! Key messages

1. Woeful lack of governmental support for schools and children to enable teaching to recommence, for example using empty public buildings to create spaces for all classes. Why no Nightingale schools?
2. Discrimatory to restrict education for some careers and ages.
3. Women's career's disproportionally affected
4. Mental health of children damaged
5. Where are all those laptops that were promised?

Gist of the petition needs to be get your effing shit together government, take control of this and beggar off with this September nonsense. We need it now. Summer schools needed, private school resource needs to be pulled in, private tutors paid enough to tempt them back into the profession.

The money was found to bail out the banks - we all understand there actually IS a magic money tree and so start making our children and schools the priority they should be.

But with less swearing.

Now Wales is back for all years iirc.

2.5 to 3 hours (depends on school and child) one day a week for three weeks.

For anyone intending to mail their MP, this is what I wrote (minus identifying details)

For September, if a full return is not feasible, then government recommendations need to change such that ALL children are offered the same opportunity to return to school. Different year groups need to be invited part time if that is what is needed. The egregious 'key worker' system that allows the child of a stay at home parent and a key worker to take a fulltime place whilst denying education to the child of two parents working full time in non-key roles, needs to be dismantled. I can see how it came about in a crisis situation, but it is no longer fit for purpose.

That's what my DC welsh schools have done - one year group per morning for three weeks staggered starts one desk in room.

So older two get 3 hours different mornings

Youngest get 2.5 hours in a morning another day in another school.

Our Council has said three weeks not the Welsh governmenets wanted four weeks.

Who is going to staff these 'Nightingale' schools?

CallmeAngelina

I think we just need everyone back part time
Better 1.5 To 2 days than none

Even 2 days a week means they get better on track

I get so cross when I hear about lockdown easing - my kids don't care about pubs, restraunts and hairdressers and they loathe shopping. For them they are stuck at home - no school, tedious lessons, no clubs bored rigid and demotivated. Both Dh and myself are classed as key workers but because we can do our jobs at home we never sent the youngest to Educare as we understood it was only if you couldn't have them at home. Wish I had pushed it now and got him in - he would be so much happier.
This morning I felt rage at the whole situation as I struggled to work while getting him to try and so some new maths they haven't covered in Y4. At least in Wales they get some contact time in school which for their emotional health can only be a good thing (I'm under no illusion there would actually be time to teach them anything). Our kids have been let down so badly by this government.

I think we just need everyone back part time
Better 1.5 To 2 days than none

a 100% that!

for many kids, the transition back might even be easier to start part-time than full-time. But as long as we have enough WARNING that kids go back to school and how...that would be a start

Perhaps the parents that are loving the small class sizes and great organisation would secretly like the rest of the kids stuck at home to go away and quietly disappear. After all, if they returned it will muck everything up. I know I know, not all think like that. But it creates such division.

I understand that this is an emotive issue but seriously?
I thought all the posts having a go at Teachers for the Government's failings for the past three months were bad enough. But now apparently if parents take up a place in school that's been offered to them it means they are also secretly hoping for your child to "go away and quietly disappear"? That's just insane!

@Makinglists just 3 single days over 3 weeks on offer for my Y7 and Y9 in Wales.

Hello,
I am so glad there are other people who feel like me out there!
you are not BU to bin off the school work- we have done too- apart from reading and the odd bit of a maths app.
My daughter is year 2 and so, like the majority, excluded from any schooling at the mo. She is an only child so until the 1st June she had no other child interaction from the end of March. From the 1st June, my daughter's childminder reopened and so we made the decision to send her there to mingle with other children, rather than keep her at home. Husband and myself are both working f/t at home and basically doing a really crap job of homeschooling inbetween conference calls/presentations etc etc. It wasn't fair on her to give her a worksheet and then just ignore her all day.
She has been in a much better mood now, whereas previously she used to cry due to the isolation.
I have not been happy at all with her School, who have called ONCE during the entire time, and have provided no real-time interaction such as live lessons. I am now actually paying for Kip McGrath tutoring as they do live 1 on 1 lessons.
Like other people have said, i feel angry at how badly the Government and Schools (due to the Teacher's unions) have dealt with this. I have actually blocked the schools emails now so I don't get updates.
I will speak to them in September.

@CheshireCats for my very sociable 9 year old he would be pleased with that and I'm sure a happier child. For secondary kids it might be a slightly diffetent response (my Y9 would need sunglasses to deal with the sunlight😁)

i feel angry at how badly the Government and Schools (due to the Teacher's unions) have dealt with this.

What is it that you believe the Teachers' Unions have done, exactly? Without quoting the Daily Mail?

I’m close to saying sod it we are breaking up now. DD is hating it and so am I. Even her teacher had pretty much said as much! The school have started doing a live reading lesson every morning since it was decided the children definitely won’t be going back. My DD’s teacher always says at the end of it to just go and play and enjoy the nice weather (last weeks weather that is)!

I must say her school have been really good and supportive.

@Makinglists 🤣🤣🤣 Yes, a slightly different response from my two 🤣

But now apparently if parents take up a place in school that's been offered to them it means they are also secretly hoping for your child to "go away and quietly disappear"?

to be fair, they are hardly campaigning for part-time for all, are they... No one is asking them to (or even expecting it from them) but let's not pretend selected parents are not embracing the situation and wouldn't loudly complain if schools stop accepting their children full-time.

Perhaps the parents that are loving the small class sizes and great organisation would secretly like the rest of the kids stuck at home to go away and quietly disappear. After all, if they returned it will muck everything up. I know I know, not all think like that. But it creates such division.

I understand that this is an emotive issue but seriously? hmm

Not my post but the point being made is that (1) some parents who now have kids back have either a gloating or an ‘All right jack’ attitude. They quickly forget the problems they were facing a few weeks back and act puzzled when other parents are pulling their hair out which also means;
(2) there is no way they will accept sharing or even giving priority to those with kids who haven’t been in school since March. They already see themselves as disadvantaged as they missed education until June, as indeed they are relative to where they might be but not as much as the kids not back at all. I fear it would be a battle heads/ government won’t take on to make them now accept anything less than what they have.

I think it we would be good friends in real life @lozster and @Lemons1571 - I completely agree with all of both your posts!

You got in there before me Janice!

I should add another fear I have too, which is that politics will drive policy when it should be health and science driving policy. With one set of parents unwilling to accept a reduction in hours from what they currently have and another set who want some hours or preferably the same hours, the only solution is a normal return with 30 per class and no social distancing, regardless of whether this is the safest issue.

@TokyoSushi nah - I’m a curmudgeonly bugger, I annoy myself even what with pesky logic and obsession with facts, evidence, fairness and reason - I’m not a nice person

@lozster