AIBU I am still in two minds

[Catcrazy008]

Do I send my 6 year old daughter to school Monday?
Fines are a possibility, unless I lie to Head. Which does not sit right with me.
Teachers have been treated so badly imo through this pandemic.
Is it worth sending for what could be days/ weeks?
My 12 year old has extended Christmas holidays, although his home learning should have been starting on 6th, this has since been scrapped.
I am so confused and concerned about the lack of communication and information.
I think ultimately if secondary schools close it should be the same for primary.
The government should have not left so many families with this dilemma, they drag their heels for the last possible moment. It is so infuriating. Then put more people at risk!

Is your DC in a health risk category? Or yourself? If no, I'd be sending them to school.

No health risks, we are in tier 4

I agree that if the school is open and none in the family is ecv DC should go to school.

Surprised in opinions to be honest.
I thought it was safer to keep my daughter at home

I'm a teacher in sen I have to go in.. Therefore my son has to go to nursery. If I had the option to keep him home I absolutely would.

If you’re low risk send them in. For most people this is a mild disease.

If there are no health risks then they're more at risk from getting run over on the walk to school than dying from Covid. My DS3 is going back to nursery Monday. We all had Covid over Xmas, but he hasn't appeared to be affected at all.

What do you think the risk actually is?

@Smurf123, what are your reasons for wanting to keep your son home?
Also thank you for your hard work teaching, my son has sen.
People like yourself are worth your weight in gold

Echo PP.

What do you think the risk actually is if none of you are vulnerable?

We're tier 4. We have lower case numbers than we did in October when we were tier 3 and the schools were still open across the north west. Teacher DH and Y3 DTs were all fine so no concerns at this point.

@StormcloakNord

Echo PP.

What do you think the risk actually is if none of you are vulnerable?

A lot of people who say the schools are unsafe don't often answer that question.

Agree that if nobody at home is in a clinically vulnerable category then you should send her in as even if she was to catch the virus it’s unlikely to be serious for anybody. Missing school is likely to cause more harm than the possibility of catching covid.

@Catcrazy008

Surprised in opinions to be honest. I thought it was safer to keep my daughter at home

It is safer. It is safer to not go out at all. That is why the Gov test and trace app says - Tier 4 (Stay at Home)

If my primary is open, mine are going. In tier 4. No way I will let them slip behind others.

Well of course in terms of catching the virus it is safer to stay home, but if you are young and healthy the risk of the virus causing anymore than a few days ill in bed is low and if you are following your local guidelines the risk of it being passed from your DD to anyone vulnerable is low. The long term negatives of your DD missing school are likely to be greater than any negatives from catching the virus, and of course it’s not even guaranteed she will catch or pass on the virus. Presumably she’s been in school since September without anyone in your household becoming ill with it?

Unless somebody in the household is in a clinically vulnerable criteria then there isn’t really any need to hide away from every single out-of-home activity. There are already enough restrictions in Tier 4 but education is important so as long as you make sure you are following the other guidelines the risk of your DD spreading the virus beyond your healthy, low risk household are low. Children and healthy young adults getting the virus really isn’t the issue, the issue is when it is then spread to vulnerable people but if you’re not having any contact with the vulnerable that shouldn’t be a concern.

@Catcrazy008 simply put its safer to stay home. It's safer for his nursery staff to have less children. We have followed all the guidelines exactly. I'm clinically vulnerable and pregnant. My mum is ecv - she's only in her early 50s but was diagnosed with cancer in Feb just before this all started. We got to hug her on Christmas day for the first time since March and despite being so ready to spend the week between Christmas and new year visiting her (after we all had tests and tested negative) we stuck to the new guidelines and saw her only on Christmas day with all the windows open.
Unfortunately though I know a lot of people not following the guidelines and still meeting up with 3/4/5 other households.
They are already predicting numbers to soar within the next week or so due to Christmas.
We are trying our best in the classroom to keep it as safe as possible but certainly in my setting the children absolutely cannot socially distance. They can't wear masks. They can't wash hands independently. The windows only open a crack. The door has to remain shut due to health and safety reasons. Ultimately it isn't a safe environment for anyone when there is a rapidly spreading virus. In the current time with numbers rising so fast I really do believe that closing schools should be considered. I think sen schools need to remain open but believe the blended learning approach we had planned for in August might be for the best. It isn't ideal for anyone but with less numbers it allows for more natural social distancing which might help. Believe me I know online learning isnt great for my kids but them losing a member of the class or a family member if they bring it home from school will have a much bigger longer term impact on them.
Despite being in the middle of a pandemic I have still had parents send their child in unwell saying things like "well they really wanted to come to school " or "im sure it's just the cold nothing a bit of calpol won't cure " (when the child's temp spikes at 12 o'clock and it transpires they were given calpol at 8am before being sent in anyway)
One of my classroom assistants daughter had to isolate for most of the Christmas break - her primary friend tested positive on the second last day. The childs mum had symptoms but sent child to school anyway. She later got a test and tested positive so booked the kids in for a test the next day where they all also tested positive, they had spent 2 days in school while their mum was at home with symptoms. It's no wonder why it is spreading in schools.
The vaccine is on the horizon I'm hoping for a quick roll out and hopefully things can begin to return to normal soon.

@Smurf123
I can’t believe parents send children into school unwell at anytime, but especially in present times, it’s so selfish!
It sounds like you have many more challenges/ risks with sen set up.
I don’t understand when people compare someone working in a supermarket to a person working in a school. No ppe at all and children are renowned for being germ spreaders.
The government should have put measures into place from the start to make schools safer. Instead they told us it was safe. If it is safe why have secondary schools and a huge chunk of primary closed?!

@Catcrazy008 you've still not really answered what you think the risk is? If your school is open, and nobody in your house is especially vulnerable, send the kids in. Count your lucky stars your school is open and your kids don't have to miss out on important education.

@StormcloakNord
I am scared of anyone in my family catching the virus! The true risk with the new strain is not fully understood as yet.
I am concerned that the hospitals and staff are at braking point.
I am cross at how the teaching staff have been treated.

@Catcrazy008 but none of you are vulnerable and it's already been said that the virus, while possibly more infectious, isn't more "deadly".

Your family would be fine if any of you caught it. You'd be doing your kid more damage keeping them away from education unnecessarily than you would be if you got covid.

From a safety perspective (speaking as someone who has had Covid) the risk of someone in your household becoming seriously ill are minimal. It was barely more than a cold and DH and I were fine within 7 days.

From a 'getting this virus under control' perspective then I think schools all need to close for a short while. I am pretty certain I caught it from my primary school-age DDs, who didn't have any of the classic symptoms at all, so I didn't test them. It is being spread in schools without a doubt.
If it wasn't safe enough to see any family whatsoever on Xmas day (tier 4) how can it be safe to send kids to school with up to 30 other households? 🤷🏻‍♀️

@curlyLJ it's about the well-being of children.

We are adults therefore can cope better than children with being isolated and not getting to see family.

Children are far more fragile and need the routine, education, socialisation far more than we do.

It's not that one is safe and the other isn't, it's that children need their education more than we need socialisation with others.

@StormcloakNord I agree that children need their school/education, routine etc and everything that goes with it, I don't say it lightly, believe me.
However I think for a short period of a couple of weeks, it might help to get this bloody virus under some control and so we can get some semblance of life back. I know a number of adults whose mental health is at rock bottom.

Why have the teachers been told by unions it is not safe? Not to go into schools? If it’s not safe for adults, then surely it’s the same for children.
Yes I think education is massively important. But without knowing how anyone will react to COVID, I think it’s not safe

I agree with you OP. I don't think it's safe either.