To think that those people calling for the schools to shut should check their privilege

[berryfull]

It’s all very well and good to decide to keep your kids home or call for the schools to shut when you have enough space/have a garden/ have enough bedrooms/ have a home office/ can work from home/one parent doesn’t work/ you can work flexibly / your work can furlough you/ you have enough savings/ you have enough money/ you have WiFi / you have a device per child/ your children can read and write/ your children are independent/ your children are neurotypical/ your children don’t have disabilities/ you’re not scared of your partner/ you’re not scared of your children/ your mental health doesn’t make you a danger to your children/ yiu can cope with the stress/ your partner isn’t a danger to your children/ your health is good enough to allow you to look after your children/ your education level is sufficient for you to help educate your children you can feed your children throughout the day ..... etc etc

Stop presuming that all children will be safer at home. There are bigger and comparable dangers to the Covid that school keeps children safe from. And the vunerable ones are not being looked after.

Keep the schools open .... please!

Lucidas What’s disingenuous here is posters acting like they’re completely altruistic and not motivated by self-preservation and their families.

Very very well put.

The situation we have is that we need to control the virus. And it sounds like that involves closing schools for a time. We need businesses and life for everyone to get back to normal as soon as possible, and if that means that parents have to step up and look after their children for a month, then that’s what we have to do.

I think that hideous phrase needs to disappear

Indeed. I daresay it is easy to look out on the world and think my life would be easier if/they have it better than me/if only this could happen.

But out in the real world, as I said above, you don’t know what others are coping with.

I feel ‘check your privilege’ is oft wrongly used by some who feel entitled. And they give no hoots if their want affects someone else negatively.

I’d also support you getting your kids a place
As a key worker or use whatever excuse you can
I know you probably have tried this
I did the form for a friend
Her husband is a frontline worker and they are all recovering
Her kids are no risk now
I do feel for you really
I don’t know what the answer is

@berrfull I hear you. My ds with asd was not looked after at all by his school during the 1st lockdown. We were 12 weeks in before he even got a phone call from the school!! He is still struggling with school attendance and engagement even now....

How avout you check your privilage ?
Are you privilaged because you dont have a medically vunerable child? Can you understand how awful it is for parents whos child is vunerable to covid but are still being told their child must attend.
Or maybe your privage is that you arent a medically vunerable adult working in a school with no safety mitagation.
Or maybe its that you dont have any ECV household members that you would prefer not to be exposed.
There are more than one way to be privilaged

I would like to add myself and partner both work shifts and last lockdown doing this and my sons needs made me feel like jumping off a bridge. I still won’t send my son in.schools and teachers Ned to be safe a lot of the children at his school have high medicinal needs some with short life expectancy. They need to be protected. This is our government’s fault for not investing in school social workers therapy ect. Please let’s stop point scouring and help our Teachers which will In affect help children and ourselves

@nosswith

How about having first:

A working test, trace and isolate system for all.
The testing of pupils in place, with the right resources.
Meaningful sanctions for rule breaking, not just a glorified parking fine.
Face coverings (or shields/visors) being compulsory, or at least any shop being entitled to refuse entry.
Vaccines for teachers and others who work in schools.

Then schools could reasonably be expected to open, for more than children of key workers and vulnerable children.

Surely the first lockdown was to buy time to have these in place. It was never going to irradiacate the virus, but should have given the government time to prepare. Time they wasted. Time that cost our children their education. I don't know what the solution is at this point, but I don't think repeated lockdowns and shutting of the schools is the answer. It will be our children carrying the cost of all this in the future, so I think its our responsibility to ensure they're getting a proper education (both in terms of the curriculum and social skills etc).

I personally believe my children are better off in school, but also recognise the difficulties that presents to others who are not as low risk as them.

We should be aiming our frustration at the government who failed, and continues to fail to prioritise the education of our children. The sheer lack of investment into preparing for blended learning to prolong the time before schools would need to inevitably close again, for example, is a complete disgrace. As is the lack of preparation for adequate homeschooling for the repeated and foreseeable school closures. Time and money should have been invested into leveling the field for all students home learning, as these shut downs have been heavily reported to increase the gap between the richest and the poorest of children.

@HeyBaby2020 What makes you think you will die? Have you seen the survival rate I said become severely ill or die - and my consultant and my shielding letter.

I'm getting fed up with this.
I have no choice but to be in school tomorrow, specifically to have a bubble of keyworker and vulnerable children. I have colleagues who are vulnerable themselves and who have to be in school, at considerable risk to their own health. Because of the cuts to the education budget over the last decade we do not actually have enough staff to cover these bubbles.
We could make the bubbles bigger ( eg 2 or more year groups) but then that increases the risk to children and adults as they won't have the space to socially distance.
We could use a 1 :1 TA but, but then the child who is legally entitled to 1:1 support because of their needs,, won't actually get the support they need to access their learning.
We need to keep staff safe, and we can't do that by having rooms of 30 children crammed in with no social distancing.
If the vulnerable staff refuse to come in, then not even the keyworker children will get a place. So we are coming in, sitting in classrooms with windows and outside doors wide open in what what is expected to be literally freezing temperatures, with insufficient cover for breaks and without adequate staffing. I'm quite scared actually, even though I had covid back in March. Scared I will catch it again, scared that I won't be able to manage all the children with additional needs by myself, scared that the cold will adversely affect my arthritis, scared that my very vulnerable colleague will get ill.
If one of us gets ill, there is no-one else to take over their bubble, unless one of the teachers does a double duty of running online classes and running a bubble of children in school.
If the school stays open to all children, no-one can socially distance at all. Most classes do not have enough space to have even a metre between the children and the staff, and certainly not between the children, who share desks. There are not enough toilets (1 for 60 children in some cases) and not enough handwashing stations. We have no budget to do anything about that, nor to hire in cover staff in the event that anyone is off sick.
It is far easier to have everyone in school ( our SLT have spent all weekend and most of Christmas trying to to make appropriate plans) but it is just not safe. We offer full time schooling online and with several Meets a day for each class, we know it is not ideal but all of us are working really hard trying to meet all the childrens needs.
Schools know which children are vulnerable, and certainly in our school all the children who we have concerns about have been offered a place in school. It is not like the first lockdown, we have all been gearing up to this. Schools are obliged to be offering a full timetable remotely.

Schools don’t stay open to vulnerable children. One of the local special schools is closed.Totally closed. All of those pupils would be classed as vulnerable. And none of them are in school. And some of their parents are NHS keyworkers, who are juggling working in the NHS with managing SEN children who aren’t in school. I agree we have to consider all sides, but the fact is: some schools are closed, even to vulnerable kids.

@TinyTroubleMaker Not a troll, just someone who is concerned for the welfare of OP's kids.

@mamamilkmachine

If the schools are closing to protect teachers then should the food shops close to protect workers? The world cannot just stop!

Food vs education... Do you see which one is essential to continue to live?

This 'open schools' argument is getting desperate every passing day

I have two disabled children, and am in ongoing treatment after recent cancer.

I want the schools to close, to all except at-risk children, or children with additional needs whose parents need and deserve that support, because I'm very unlikely to get a bed if the hospitals are swamped, and equally likely to be very unwell indeed if I get Covid. I'm one of the highest priority groups for the vaccination but I've not had it yet.

Sometimes, it's the lack of privilege that means you DO want schools to close to most, to flatten that curve. Unless you're counting being extremely clinically vulnerable as a privilege, anyway. My kids need me alive even more than most small children do, because one has an EHCP and the other is likely to need one in time. And my health is more precarious than most.

As another PP put it, we all have our own buckets of shit to carry.

Retty
Yes, I’ve heard this. SEN schools should be open even if reduced hours/different routines have to be established.

As for mainstream, they ARE open to all vulnerable children. They are the people I will be working with this week and next.

** Food vs education...
Do you see which one is essential to continue to live?

Id say both. Without education these kids are going to struggle in the future mentally and to have a career. Last year they lost 3-4 months of their education and this year quite a few more ... yes it’s only a bit between 5-18 yet it’ll have an impact. Also their social skills will be impacted and self confidence. So for me eating as well as education is essential.

The most impoverished in our society will be relying on their children being fed this week. Children in abusive homes get the chance of respite from abuse. Schools must remain open.

A society that thinks the solution to the problems listed above is 'School' has a real challenge on its hands, given that 'School' isn't normally available for at least 13 weeks of the year. I suppose the Government could do something about it should they feel the need to.

Rettypriddle. Special schools like my sons have a lot of children with life limiting conditions. If the special school can’t stay open it’s not safe to do so. Special school staff are amazing if this has happened it happened for a reason.

Children shouldn't be in abusive homes full stop, they shouldn't just get respite when they are in school

Fascinating that this has had so many votes and it's 50/50.
I work for the NHS but also have 2 kids who have not copied with home learning. One is about to fail her A Levels which will have a fairly massive affect on her future, she is also trying to get assessed for ADHD which has been pretty difficult during Covid times. My youngest started self harming within a few weeks of last lockdown so despite having a DH WFH we sent her back to school as I am key worker and she has been far better. Her best friend was admitted to hospital with serious overdose at start of lockdown and had not been at school much since. Not many of our local schools have had cases but I have seen new variant infections going up and in my team of therapists at local acute hospital there are only 3 of us left who have not had Covid, everyone else has had it either asymptomatically or mildly. Worst case had a couple of extra days after her 2 weeks isolating. Mostly headachy, nauseaus and fatigued with periods of feeling fine. A couple of my team has vulnerable partners who also got Covid and were fine.
I think that vulnerable teachers should not be in classrooms full of kids and could maybe be used for the online teaching of vulnerable kids or kids with vulnerable parents. I think parents should have a choice about whether their kids attend as that will keep numbers down. I think teachers should be allowed to wear masks if they want to. But I do think schools should be open and I don't think the kids are at an unacceptable level of risk at all.

Delphinium Blue
We need to keep staff safe, and we can't do that by having rooms of 30 children crammed in with no social distancing

If the vulnerable staff refuse to come in, then not even the keyworker children will get a place. So we are coming in, sitting in classrooms with windows and outside doors wide open in what what is expected to be literally freezing temperatures, with insufficient cover for breaks and without adequate staffing

If the school stays open to all children, no-one can socially distance at all. Most classes do not have enough space to have even a metre between the children and the staff, and certainly not between the children, who share desks

There are not enough toilets (1 for 60 children in some cases) and not enough handwashing stations

It is far easier to have everyone in school ( our SLT have spent all weekend and most of Christmas trying to to make appropriate plans) but it is just not safe

Chilling reality. I just hope enough people are mindful of this.

Keep safe and well.

@frumpety

The most impoverished in our society will be relying on their children being fed this week. Children in abusive homes get the chance of respite from abuse. Schools must remain open.

A society that thinks the solution to the problems listed above is 'School' has a real challenge on its hands, given that 'School' isn't normally available for at least 13 weeks of the year. I suppose the Government could do something about it should they feel the need to.

Yes, it’s basically saying ‘in normal times we tolerate children being in an abusive environment 25% of the time’.

I totally support SEN kids attending school during this pandemic
If we took every parent that lies and swindled a place for their NT kids ...
even though I’m a single parent I can cope
I’ve learnt that it’s unbearable for others
I don’t understand the rules here
So I support you OP

A perfect example of what made me angry here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4123424-Weaponising-the-most-vulnerable-children?msgid=103213399

@MrsHamlet

A union's job is to represent the interests of its members. If I were an optician, and felt my workplace was unsafe, my union would be there to support me in refusing to go into work. It's their role. Incidentally, I had a contact lens check up before Christmas. Online. Because they're not seeing patients face to face.

Spot on.

Of the 4 people I know who've had Covid, 3 of them are positive that they caught it from their school-age children. One of them has an underlying health problem and came very close to being hospitalised.

The 4th is a paramedic, so it's likely he caught it from a patient.