No Wraparound Care from September

[Mum2Girls19]

School has advised that they are not offering wrap around care from September as bubbles cannot be mixed.
They are thinking that part time places are also the way forward as they cannot social distance properly in a smaller place.
Further information hasnt been announced yet
Im a bit lost of how Im going to work without wrap around care, yes im working from home but who knows how long that will be for

Anyone else??

We’ve just had our correspondence from school. No wraparound care, only one parent allowed to collect, no childminders to collect children from multiple households.

Also staggered end/start times although that was expected as we’ve been doing that these past few week, so year 6 do 8.45-3 while reception will be at school from 9.30-3.45.

• Pleasance But they could attend the school near to their grandparents, especially as you are talking months.  Do you have children?*

Yes to having children, yes to being a headteacher, yes to being an LA Lead Education Adviser....

@Pleasance. We did talk about that, but she'd want to keep their current school places. Her life is here (house, job, DC father nearby). She doesn't really want to be away from the kids during the week, but she's worked so hard to build a good life for them and needs to keep paying her mortgage. Like lots of us I suspect, her employer has been very flexible but they're all going to have to be back in the office in a few weeks.

So I asked the HT at DDs school today why my mum isn’t allowed to pick up. She said it’s due to mixing bubbles, basically she knows of several DC in the school related to each other either as cousins or where you’ve got young grandparents with primary aged DC where they’d be mixing bubbles and/or settings so it’s a parent only.

I pointed out my ExH could walk into school and get her because he has PR and then take her to his parents where there’s children from 3 other local schools (so 4 schools could potentially be affected) and she said as he has PR she can’t prevent him and she will not be letting my mum pick up at all.

They’re shortening the school day further in September as well. Its shorted by 45 minutes atm, we’re losing a further 20 minutes at the start of the day and will only have a 10 minute slot to drop off/pick up in, if you miss your drop off slot they won’t be permitted to enter the building at another point, if you miss pick up you won’t be able to get them until the DC in all the other bubbles have left.

So that’s my job and possibly my home gone. I already financially struggle, DD needs a complete new set of uniform as she had 3 sets but all the washing due to clean uniform everyday has wrecked the polos and jumpers and can’t have just supermarket shoes due to a mobility issue (she has to have startrite or clarks). Also means DDs attendance is going to plummet further once physio restarts, usually she misses an hour once a week at the beginning or end of the day but I won’t be able to pick her up early so that means an early slot but if she can’t enter the building after her drop off point then she’s going to lose a day a week of school, apparently this can’t be relaxed for anyone so DD misses out.

I cannot afford a fine, and ExH won’t pay one as school stuff is my problem. I am screwed financially because of this.

@CherryTreesandSeaswimming. So sorry to hear about your situation, it sounds very similar to my friend's. Have you told the HT how difficult this is going to make things for you? I would be tempted just to say, 'well, it's my mother or you can hang on to her until 5.30pm, since I'll be at work.' I'm sure after a few days of this, they'd change their policies since they won't want to look after stray children. But I know in reality this is not a real option.

Apologies if you've mentioned it, but how old is your DD? Could she be trusted to walk around the corner to your mother, and you can tell the school you've given her permission to walk home on her own?

Thing is the HT cannot mandate that. They cannot refuse to release her. It is nothing to do with the HT what happens re mixing outside of school. Literally none of her business. HTs have gone power freaking crazy over this.

Write to the governors. I'll happily help you draft a letter of you DM me.

[quote ItHappenedOneDay]@CherryTreesandSeaswimming. So sorry to hear about your situation, it sounds very similar to my friend's. Have you told the HT how difficult this is going to make things for you? I would be tempted just to say, 'well, it's my mother or you can hang on to her until 5.30pm, since I'll be at work.' I'm sure after a few days of this, they'd change their policies since they won't want to look after stray children. But I know in reality this is not a real option.

Apologies if you've mentioned it, but how old is your DD? Could she be trusted to walk around the corner to your mother, and you can tell the school you've given her permission to walk home on her own?[/quote]
She's 5 almost 6 in year 1, I doubt they'd let her walk out the door. They're not even letting year 6 go to and from school without an adult anymore.

@CherryTreesandSeaswimming. Maybe give them your ex's number and turn off your phone so he has to leave work to fetch her when you don't turn up?

This is not a serious suggestion... It's just so indescribably shit that you're in this situation and I'm angry on your behalf.

[quote ItHappenedOneDay]@CherryTreesandSeaswimming. Maybe give them your ex's number and turn off your phone so he has to leave work to fetch her when you don't turn up?

This is not a serious suggestion... It's just so indescribably shit that you're in this situation and I'm angry on your behalf.[/quote]
He lives 2 hours away and works 30 minutes further in the other direction, he comes back to our area EOW to see DD, so he'd have to organise leaving work, driving to our area and then getting her that's if he'd do it.

@CherryTreesandSeaswimming. As I said, not serious (and not even practical, from what you've said).

It might be a long shot, but could you tell the school that your DM has moved in with you to help with childcare and so is part of your household/'bubble'? The rule is there to prevent bubbles mixing and so it makes no sense if (the school thinks) she is part of your household. I have to admit I would lie without a second thought in your situation if it would save my house.

Another possible option (but I have no idea of the legalities/formalities) might be for you and DD's father to enter into a Parental Responsibility Agreement giving your DM temporary PR for your DD. I'm not sure whether you'd need court approval, though, but if she had PR, the school wouldn't be able to refuse to release your DD to her.

Laurie I might be wrong but are you not one of the posters who has been castigating teachers for a lack of “can do attitude”, when actually all we’ve been doing is trying to find solutions?

@BelleSausage

What happens if your child’s class bubble goes into self isolation three times in a row? Are employers going to be flexible about that?

What happens if your child’s class teacher becomes ill and the school can’t find anyone to cover (with high sickness rates this could happen)?

What happens when the wrap around care provided so confidently provided by some schools has to stop because the providers are sick?

Just opening everything in Sept is not going to be a sustainable long term solution. What it will offer is patchy, unreliable service. I find it shocking that people are reading to accept this.

Totally agree with all you have said, including fact in previous post that data doesn't show it's safe yet. We can all point out a load of problems with it. But I genuinely have no idea what can be done. Bubbles are not going to be effective once restrictions are eased more. They were of some use to this point as other restrictions were in place so contacts were small, but that's not going to be the case any more. Now all they do is make the job no safer but much trickier.

I don't think anyone is saying it's okay, but what can we do? We need government to say to employers that there must be no detriment to employees no matter how much trouble there is with childcare. But they wouldn't even do that when in full swing. My husband got an absence warning for being off more than one week when he had the bloody thing! Employers won't be flexible, government won't make them.

As you say, it will be patchy and unreliable. But I can't think of any way around.
People aren't ready to accept it but don't have any other option or answers.

(Really hoping someone does have a brilliant solution though.)

Really hoping someone does have a brilliant solution though.

No brilliant solutions, I'm afraid, but a starting-point would be for schools to be non-compulsory from September (so parents can use better childcare options like family, if they have them available) and for schools not to introduce stupid rules requiring a parent to leave work to do pick-ups.

So I asked the HT at DDs school today why my mum isn’t allowed to pick up. She said it’s due to mixing bubbles, basically she knows of several DC in the school related to each other either as cousins or where you’ve got young grandparents with primary aged DC where they’d be mixing bubbles and/or settings so it’s a parent only.

So your head is an arse who thinks she can stop this happening when it might be happening on weekends anyway.

I would keep making a fuss and not take no for an answer.

You are rolling over and taking a shafting by just accepting it. More fool you.

It's totally bonkers. I work at my kids' school, they have been in because of me. I'm in one bubble, each of them is in a separate one and then the toddler is at the on site nursery. One family, 4 bubbles. 🤷‍♀️

I work in a school and wrap around care for September is v difficult. We are going to put our pre prep in one bubble to therefore be able to offer wrAp around care without having a teacher per Class . But if one person goes down the bubble with close

@IndecentFeminist

It's totally bonkers. I work at my kids' school, they have been in because of me. I'm in one bubble, each of them is in a separate one and then the toddler is at the on site nursery. One family, 4 bubbles. 🤷‍♀️

I was asked by the school I used to work in if I’d consider coming back if they found some budget.

Apparently the fact I have 4 kids at school and 1 at nursery (1 at uni too, but uni seems to happen from his bed now!) wouldn’t be a bar to that.

So 3 school bubbles for the kids, a nursery bubble for the youngest and a different school bubble for me is fine. Neither HT of primary or high school saw the issue in that (I’ve been in contact for both for other reasons so it was mentioned in a “can you believe...” way by me)

Absolutely no logic whatsoever

The whole bubble concept is ridiculous and probably not going to help that much. So much logistical wrangling, an awful impact on learning and won't make much difference to the spread anyway.

I worry that I'm going to lose my job over this.

I'm a secondary teacher - already part time, working three days a week. I thought we'd partially sorted it by persuading my (reluctant) MIL to help out just until wraparound care resumes, but I don't think she'll do it if the staggered times are too onerous, or her own job makes it unmanageable. I can't miss period one and five every day, and with the staggered times at my own school, I might miss even more lessons than this. I can't even hand in my notice until October - not that I can afford to and still pay the mortgage.

I feel like this is all I've worried about for weeks. And I can't even do anything about it yet because the DCs school still hasn't actually confirmed the staggered times - they just say it will take 'significantly longer'. So I can't even discuss the actual situation with my Head, and school closes on Friday.

I could cry.

I'm a teacher too and don't know what I'll do. There has to be some give somewhere and very quickly. The government needs to get its act together.

I don't really feel that it's on the government's agenda anymore though, is it? They've sent their guidance to schools and that's that, as far as they're concerned. I hope I'm wrong, but I really feel like this is as good as it's going to get for the foreseeable future.

I’ve found out I’m required on site each say from 8am to supervise pupils as they come into their zones before school. If wraparound does exist I’ll racing from a 7.30 drop off to getting to my own school for 8.

I actually feel like quitting but then I remember I have bills.

It's definitely off the government radar for now. Until it starts impacting on schools opening when half their teachers can't get there in time.