School in September

[Mumlookingforadvise]

Hi all,

I have a girl who goes to a school in Wimbledon ( Year 4 ). I am thinking of not sending her to school in Sept due to the current situation around Coronavirus.

AIBU - to not send her to school
AIBNU - Your choice.

What are other parents thinking?

Ds is in a clinically vulnerable group but has been at school throughout as a child with a ehcp because overall for him the benefits outweigh the risks. Statistically because of our age we are at a much greater risk than him but we still think he is better off in.

I'm sending mine back. They are totally bored of being at home and usually they hate school. The thing is if you don't send them back now when will you? When there's a vaccine? That might never happen. When it's safe? The virus isn't going anywhere.
I think all parents are going to be worried sending their children back but they need a bit of normal life. Will you really have time to lesson plan and make sure you follow the curriculum? What about her friendship group?

Don’t let your anxiety limit her life. It’s so unfair and will cause her issues later in life.

@Thepilotlightsgoneout

Don’t let your anxiety limit her life. It’s so unfair and will cause her issues later in life.

Don’t let your anxiety limit her life. It’s so unfair and will cause her issues later in life.

I think this is a touch biased and melodramatic. Many children are happily/successfully homeschooled, and many many many people's lives are pretty affected by negative experiences in school.

Apols for editing fail!

Can you adequately homeschool her though? She is going to need more than maths. She will need English, Science, Art, History, Geography, a foreign language etc.

What are you going to do about her socialisation? Just keeping her at home by herself will have a detrimental effect if she is not given the chance to hang out with other kids.

I get your fears. Whilst kids are thankfully saved from serious cases it seems they can still bring it home to us!

My sil is a doctor and has it this last two weeks. Weirdly her husband and child havn't had it. She has lost all smell and taste. She was looking after her daughter the whole time because her husband's a useless lump. So it does seem kids are often spared.

I must admit I am abit worried about it. Mainly her bringing it home to us and we get fairly unwell for a few weeks. Also the dropping off and collecting times have shortened both ends. So we start later and finish earlier. Not ideal for working families as also wrap around care has gone.

Do what's best for your family. If you and feeling anxious but not high risk it's important to try and face it I guess. Especially as your daughter probably misses her friends and hopefully they can have fun still despite the limited mixing.

What will you do about all the other risks in your DD life? How have you ever been able to leave the house?

@stayathomer I do find the hysteria about Covid horrifying. That doesn't mean I'm 'breaking the rules'. However, I do have very serious concerns about people removing themselves and their children from the outside world "until a vaccine is found" (which might be never). This is what I mean by 'hysteria'. A more measured risk assessment which balances the likelihood of coming into contact with Covid, the chances of becoming seriously ill or passing a potentially serious illness on to someone vulnerable, the psychological devastation caused by lockdown, etc, etc would be more appropriate.

It's also perhaps the case that people who have been economically secure during lockdown (which I haven't) find it easier to "wait for a vaccine", "wait until it's safe", etc.

Life is not safe, and we are all going to die. Most of us, however, are not going to die of Covid.

"Most of us, however, are not going to die of Covid."

That is not reassuring at all, people may not die, but left to live with complications afterwards. That's what is really scary for me.
I have a child with weak immune system, have been hospitalised numerous times after simple cold. I have serious concern about sending dc back. It's not hysteria. Just a simple concern by a parent.

Lots to think about. Thanks for your perspectives. Hopefully the rate of transmissions will reduce be mid August. Will review the situation than as some have suggested.

Off to Brighton Beach now!!. I wish!!

I think you need to untangle whether its home schooling you want or to not send her to school because of covid. It reads to me as though you have enjoyed home schooling.

I will be sending both of mine back because I feel the benefits outweigh the cons. We dont have anyone shielding in our family though.

YNBU, I am currently debating similar.
Our school bubble will be the DDs entire year group. That’s 60+ children with zero social distancing and multiple kids to a tiny desk.
It’s not just the kids health that concerns me but the people they are in contact with, the extended bubble, of the kids immediate family, parents work colleagues, extended family, all these people will be a potential source of COVID and a potential victim of transmission due to school circulation. Schools are a breeding ground for illness generally, don’t really want COVID thrown into that mix.

The fact we now can’t even have a visit to grandparents very isolated garden (Yorkshire) but in 4 weeks the government are demanding my child returns to school, exposing herself and our family to countless people’s germs is absolutely incredulous. They need to reconsider part time return allowing social distancing, ideally nationwide but especially for localities currently under new restrictions. As we have already seen, 4 weeks is not much interms of Covid.

We are not looking to home school permanently. Just for some more time maybe Autumn term. Vaccines will hopefully come by then. It's sometimes difficult to believe the science presented.

@Mumlookingforadvise would her school take herback after that? Ours (independent as well) made it VERY clear that they‘ll only approve time off for very good reasons (i know that one child who’s mum will have critical surgery will be able to stay at home for 2 weeks before, and Some time after), and I suspect many schools will be similar (ours is quite soft touch usually). Social isolation for close to a year and then a school change is very, very hard on a child.

Koennt ah okay, no, sorry I just meant some people that use those words might not take any precautions at all.

It's difficult to comprehend - people in pubs can get virus but schools are safe.

Anyone can get the virus anywhere, unless you're going to stay at home permanently. The benefits of school massively outweigh the risks.

@Mumlookingforadvise

We are not looking to home school permanently. Just for some more time maybe Autumn term. Vaccines will hopefully come by then. It's sometimes difficult to believe the science presented.

There will not be a widely available vaccine this year so I wouldn’t hang your hat on matter solving themselves during the autumn term.

@Fairybio

Anyone can get the virus anywhere, unless you're going to stay at home permanently. The benefits of school massively outweigh the risks.

well, this list of pros/cons I'd like to see. On the highest level possible children will not get on their parent's nerves (and parents can go back to work) / hundreds or thousands potentially getting infected and a high % of them have long term negative effects (costing the taxpayer money both nhs and benefit wise)

This is an overly simplistic and sarcastic pro/con pair, but these flat statements really bug me.

On the other hand I genuinely would be interested in what you see as benefits that could not be achieved in some other way.

I think one of our biggest problems (in general as humanity) that we are thinking in very linear historical solutions instead of adapting to a new situation. From an anthropological viewpoint a species survives through adapting to different variables. At the moment (in the UK at least) it seems to be a binary go back to normal OR everyone will suffer alone at home.

I don't see discussions on how the benefits of school could be replaced with other measures that would be safe.

@TheSunIsStillShining this is what we require. Move away fròm the perceived normal foŕ some time. Parents should be given options if they want to home school. Works to maintain SD at school. Keep the pubs and restaurants open.People have jobs and customers have an option to go or not

[quote Mumlookingforadvise]@TheSunIsStillShining this is what we require. Move away fròm the perceived normal foŕ some time. Parents should be given options if they want to home school. Works to maintain SD at school. Keep the pubs and restaurants open.People have jobs and customers have an option to go or not[/quote]
I'm not sure we speak the same language, as this is exactly what I didn't say. :(
You saying pubs/restaurants should be open, customers should have an option... is exactly the "normal" that I would like to re-think.

Pulling our educating and saying "well, go on, homeschool then" is not anywhere near a solution. It's not even a plaster. It's an insult more or less. Because it conveys the message: that "I don't give a crap about being a responsible adult who acknowledges that I have to do stuff for the benefit of society." In other words: it is also very selfish.

Pros of school:
Socialising with children own age
Being part of a community
Being taught by a professional (not just working through workbooks, which isn't education)
Breadth of curriculum

Cons:
Small risk of catching virus
Minuscule risk of serious illness/death

I'm sure there are more pros. That's just my first thought.

@Fairybio

Pros of school: Socialising with children own age Being part of a community Being taught by a professional (not just working through workbooks, which isn't education) Breadth of curriculum

Cons:
Small risk of catching virus
Minuscule risk of serious illness/death

I'm sure there are more pros. That's just my first thought.

In my opinion all the pros could be done in not bubbles of 2-300 hundreds

as for the cons
how small/big do you think the risk is? (not being confrontative here)