One key worker, child should stay home

[Areyouactuallyseriousrightnow]

Not sure if there has already been a thread but AIBU to think that if only one parent is key worker and other is WFH, child should be staying home as school provision is for key workers who cannot complete their important role if they have to look after child at home, not so that the other parent can continue with work without interruption?

My partner is a key worker, but I don’t consider us eligible as I am home and therefore technically can be with the children.

YABU- if there’s one key worker take that opportunity to send the child in.
YANBU- if there’s another parent at home, child should stay home.

Schools should ask more questions. I knew of a family who sent both daughters in because dad was a policeman. Mum didn’t work at all.

I'm a key worker, higher earner than dh but able to wfh. We decided against sending ds to school for two reasons: 1. we believed our place could be better used by a child with two key worker parents. 2. (and probably the deciding factor tbh) that we were told in no uncertain terms that schools would no longer be education centres but a childcare option. We believed that whatever limited learning we'd have been able to provide at home would probably still be better than continuing to send him to school.

Both my sisters are intending to send their dc in this time around, as they're a key worker and wife of a key worker. We'd muddle through again I think. However, what helped us is that our 3yo was able to still go to her cm. If she'd been at home too it would have been much harder to continue to work. As it was, I wish one of us had been furloughed instead.

I kept mine home last time (both nhs workers) because the head threatened that children who took up key worker spaces would be isolated from their peers when schools returned. Mine was Y6 at the time.

I ended up off sick to home educate because she literally wouldn’t get out of bed.

By the time secondaries go back now, we will both have been vaccinated, so I’m certainly taking up our keyworker places this time around. The argument that keyworker kids are ‘more likely to have covid if their parents work in the nhs’ has been turned on its head with vaccination. They are FAR less likely.

I think it had to be on a case by case basis. I'm a KW and it is impossible for me to do my job with the kids at home (some of the work is online some of it face to face). DH is our main breadwinner at the moment and we will be in dire financial straits if he were to lose his job. He is unable to work from home because of the nature of his work. The school are fully aware of our situation and have offered places for our two children (primary) and we have accepted. We are deeply grateful.

When schools and childcare closed in the lockdown in March, for many key workers the 'choice' of childcare wasn't their child's usual nursery or school. For many babies and young children this meant a hub of children from all different ages and settings bought together in a different building with totally new staff, changing regularly. It wasn't school learning for school aged children, it was basic childcare. Add to this the fact that these parents don't get to keep their children safe at home while there is a new virus going round... I don't think many would be taking advantage of the situation. I don't envy those parents who had no choice but to put their young child in totally unfamiliar settings with no notice.

I am a key worker (p/t), DH is not. Our DC stayed home, we could both wfh luckily so muddled through and they watched tv and played on their tablets too much.

I think they should have closed schools for the first week in jan, to give a clear 2 week period from people mixing on Christmas Day.

Surely that, along with increased , regular testing of kids and teachers should be safe?

If more is needed, Perhaps they should start with asking those parents where one doesn’t work, or are furloughed to keep their children home. And those, like me who work part time, could keep their dc home on the days they don’t work.

High school kids could probably manage a week or 2 online, or half the class alternate weeks through January?

@ofgavin what do you mean 'people like me'?
My point is not about what the key worker should/shouldnt do, but with the non-keyworkers attitude of not being able to help out with childcare at all because they 'work'. I wonder how many actual formal requests to reduce/modify their hours to help accommodate their key worker spouse there have been.

So depressed with the way this divides people and the level of negativity towards people who want to do the best for the family. What really annoys me is the blanket request from schools that both parents need to be keyworkers to get school place. We are a family of one key worker parent and one non key worker parent so officially the school do not want to provide space for our children. However the non key worker is the main bread winner who could lose their job if having to take time off to look after the kids, the keyworker is out at work and can't provide any childcare. We really need our children in school without it we will be stuck and very stressed. Other parents can probably manage and jiggle things more than us so may not need school. In addition I imagine people may want their health care workers to be focusing on their jobs to save your lives not worrying about whether they are going to lose the roof from over their heads or worrying about their children's education.

The guidelines for my area quite clearly states that if one parent isn’t a keyworker they have to stay at home and provide childcare. Isn’t that the same for most areas? I thought the whole point was for the least amount of kids to be at school for the spread of covid? Our area is 2 keyworkers per family will only be accepted into school.

We have lots of children in. Insert with only one key worker parent. And they used very tenuous links to declare themselves networkers in lockdown!

single mum of two - key worker refused school space told to get their father to stay home
Father one lives 200 miles away and oh is deployed with the military

Watching the parents of "key airline workers" - circa transport both not working at the same time insist on claiming their place was slightly irking.

Worked it out in the end - been at work every day of every lockdown that I needed to and worked from home on others. Food prepared and strict rules with neighbours knocking on the open window and every 30 mins, keeping distanced and thank god for my lovely sensible kids who got the rules and never once broke them.

some people just take the fecking piss - you can look after oyur DCs and work form home

If an NHS nurse cannot go to work because the school will not offer a key/critical worker place (because her husband who earns a lot of money will be sacked if he does not turn up to work) does the nurse get paid?

but with the non-keyworkers attitude of not being able to help out with childcare at all because they 'work'. I wonder how many actual formal requests to reduce/modify their hours to help accommodate their key worker spouse there have been.

My DH was told he could take our kids into his workplace, to play in one of the empty offices unsupervised. He had to argue his point under equalities legislation at which point his boss agreed 1 day unpaid leave per week, which he took. I still had two days of my own job a week to cover and two kids to teach at the same time with no school support. The stress impacted us hugely as a family.

I won’t be doing it this time. If schools are closed for prolonged period, and I don’t meet the criteria for key worker provision I will be unable to work.

^some people just take the fecking piss - you can look after oyur DCs and work form home^

I'm sure my 2 year old will manage to sort his own lunch out while I am on conference calls about food sustainability after Brexit then...

If an NHS nurse cannot go to work because the school will not offer a key/critical worker place (because her husband who earns a lot of money will be sacked if he does not turn up to work) does the nurse get paid?

I imagine it depends on her contract. As a social worker I would need to request unpaid leave so no, I won’t be paid.

@Xenia

If an NHS nurse cannot go to work because the school will not offer a key/critical worker place (because her husband who earns a lot of money will be sacked if he does not turn up to work) does the nurse get paid?

No she wouldn't and rightly so. Most trusts special leave policy allow one day of paid leave for childcare emergencies and then it is annual/unpaid leave.

It would be exceptionally unfair to be paying us not to work when we have made that choice in the interest of our family

The list of keyworkers needs to be looked at. They are as well just keeping the schools open as it seems they are going to be very busy. The whole system is unfair. The guidelines for one/two keyworkers per family should be the same throughout the uk.

@bogoffmda

single mum of two - key worker refused school space told to get their father to stay home Father one lives 200 miles away and oh is deployed with the military

Watching the parents of "key airline workers" - circa transport both not working at the same time insist on claiming their place was slightly irking.

Worked it out in the end - been at work every day of every lockdown that I needed to and worked from home on others. Food prepared and strict rules with neighbours knocking on the open window and every 30 mins, keeping distanced and thank god for my lovely sensible kids who got the rules and never once broke them.

some people just take the fecking piss - you can look after oyur DCs and work form home

If you have young children aged 5 who need attention and guidance you cannot effectively do a job which requires you to be in multiple meetings from 9am to 5pm each day

@Lippylooksnice

The list of keyworkers needs to be looked at. They are as well just keeping the schools open as it seems they are going to be very busy. The whole system is unfair. The guidelines for one/two keyworkers per family should be the same throughout the uk.

It varies because demand varies, not all schools are the same.

some people just take the fecking piss - you can look after oyur DCs and work form home

So DP should have just left the 1 and 3 year olds to fend for themselves the last time schools were closed? We have a lake at the back of our garden so they cannot just play out there whilst he is on a call, neighbours also working from home. All sorts of dangers in the house too at that age, but don't worry, I'm sure social service will happily accept that he was working from home if something were to happen.

Honestly don't understand how some people can be so narrow minded

@TheNortherner -I did last time . I worked 6am till school start time, during their lunch break and after school finished. My DH was out of the house 7am - 6.30pm. Covering both parents childcare/schooling obligations was detrimental to my career and mental health. I can cover more than half but I am not doing 100 percent again. We are an equal partnership, earning roughly the same and I value my job as much as I value his.

some people just take the fecking piss - you can look after oyur DCs and work form home

I'm sure my just turned 6 year old will be fine left alone all day then while I'm delivering online lectures- I'll just chuck him some food when I give my students a comfort break. What could possibly go wrong 🤷🏼‍♀️

Er....what about nursery age kids that cannot be left alone at all and do nothing independently? How exactly do we manage that and work full time from home?

@riddles26 completely agree with you but also suspect that @BadTattoosAndSmellLikeBooze doesn't want to listen to reason, because her friend miraculously managed to bend time to care for a toddler (plus puppy and 2 primary age kids) while doing a long hours job by 'doing an hour or two extra' in the evening.

Either he is being untruthful, you have misunderstood, he was worryingly neglectful of his children, or the story is highly imaginative.

My DP is a keyworker. I WFH. We have a young child who can't just be left to their own devices. Why on earth should my job suffer if it doesn't have to?