To ask if your primary school will open this week and if not what will you do?

[Draineddraineddrained]

Our primary isn't opening tomorrow (today's an inset day). Can't face any more tag teaming with DP like last lockdown/bubble closures so I'm going to take A/L this week then see what happens. I just can't keep working and looking after 4yo simultaneously, it's doing my head in and I'm 8 mths pregnant.

What are other people doing???

So far the primaries where I am are all still opening as normal. I know there's the virus and everything but dh was made redundant after the 1st lockdown so we have to rely on my income. I'm a supply teacher and if the schools close I don't get work. If I don't work I don't get paid so fuck knows what we'll do if/when that happens. We're living hand to mouth as it is.

Ours is opening tomorrow. Wrong decision if you ask me. We're in a tier4 area where rates have quadrupled in less then 3 weeks, and that's with the schools having been off on Xmas holidays for 2 weeks. Our rates (though not in the 600+s like other counties) are the highest they've ever been. DH is a primary teacher and his is opening too - about 50% of staff admitted to feeling much more anxious than the first wave, and some are now shielding again on advice from
Nhs. They've discussed whether to follow their union advice and issue s44 letter, but most feel concerned about whether this could negatively impact them in SLTs view (legally, the legislation protects them from unfair dismissal etc.but SLT can still make life hard for you in other ways!). I really feel for them all.

We’re off to school in an hour.

Ours is shut (London). My DH is going to have to stop working realistically. It’s a bit of a disaster.

Obviously different as I am SAHM, but I've got my two at home. Was pleased the decision to close was made (tier 4) and just awaiting further instruction for going forward.

I am planning that the earliest they will go back is February half term. Presumably you’ll be on maternity leave soon. Annual leave is not going to cut it so we shall be working and homeschooling.

We received an email last night saying school wasn't opening on Tuesday - no suggestion of how long for, either. Work have a leave policy related to the pandemic for parents and carers so I'm going to talk to my boss today about what it is and if I can have any. I'm already on my mental knees, not sure how to do another school closure plus work, especially as work is far busier than normal.

I get that the teachers need to protect themselves and I do support their decision - it can't have been an easy one to make and I'm sure it won't be without consequences for them, too. We're all stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Nothing. We both have to work, too busy to take time off, she's 4, she'll have to watch a fair bit of TV. We're can't homeschool her when we're working all hours.
I'm gutted, we're in T3 and were expecting her to go back. Even more annoyed that we were in T2 until people flocked here to the pubs etc, if it wasn't for that in think our cases would be better and school would have opened.
I'm desperately hoping the closure is only until 18th like the govt have said for secondaries

Not opening here (secondary and primary, North Kent). I've had to change my non-keyworker work role so I can wfh, and the small company I work for have been very understanding about homeschool while I'm working. I can do this until at least Easter or when the company reopens (which will be one of the very last to reopen).

I'm a single parent so I know its going to be difficult but I do appreciate how fortunate we have been so far, even if my DCs mental health is in tatters. Still, parents are going to have to suck it up. Schools need to be safe. Teachers should be up with health care workers in getting their first doses of vaccine imo. Then more of us can get back to normal.

(Oh, and anyone who says 'school isn't childcare', try telling that to UC/DWP. They expect you to work at least school hours and will sanction you if you don't/won't.)

Today is an inset day, but otherwise our primary school is due to open as normal (fingers crossed!).

I guess op you will be on mat leave soon anyway. Appreciate it will be harder with a 4 year old around. I had a 2 year old when I was On Mat leave with my second. Lots of Peppa pig was in order!
You can only do what you can do. But at least you know you will be at home for the foreseeable.

Being on Mat Leave soon will help.

I wfh and at the moment the dc are due back tomorrow. I really hope they do go back, even just for a few days as I've got a mad busy work week and the alternative is them home and entertaining themselves while I work (6&9yo).

Ours is closed. School starts today. I’ve got one in year 4 and one in year 2. I’m working from home (part-time, three full days) DH is also WFH full-time.
Unlike the last time schools were closed, the school will be doing full days of learning via Teams. It means we’ve had to buy an extra laptop so that both DC can be online at the same time but I’m hoping the school online timetable will mean I don’t have to intervene so much and can get on with my own work. Homeschooling and working last spring almost broke me.

I know I'm lucky to have the option of starting mat early - just feel like I'm robbing baby as will obvs have to go back sooner than I would have. Own fault for getting pregnant I suppose... Was rather stupidly hoping things would be back to normal by now 9 mths ago!

My partner is getting more and more depressed though and we both struggled to keep in top of work last time so it is what it is! Just hope school is open again before baby comes, I so don't want my little girl to feel pushed out by baby and was relying on the school routine to give me 121 time with baby and still have time for her as we

Ours is closed until the 18th. We knew this before Christmas though to be fair. We use a CM for wrap around care and holidays. She's still allowed to open, so they're going there 3 days a week. We're lucky that DH works weekends so has days off in the week too.

I'm fully expecting them not to go back until after Easter though. Plan for the worst, hope for the best and all that.

I totally see where the teachers are coming from however. They're not being adequately protected or prioritised. But not being able to plan at all makes it so hard to give kids stability. We held off on talking to little girl about back to school until this weekend (usually we give her a lot more prep as she adapts slowly to things changing), now we're having to back pedal and try to reset her expectations - but to what?? DP had today off with her for inset so I can work today, but I'm worried about them spending the day together as he's so depressed and anxious 😟

Poor kids. It's all just such a mess.

We're in Cardiff so it was confirmed before Christmas that the first week back would be making the most of the flexible return offered by the Welsh Government and at home learning would be used.

I think they're opening for key workers from Wednesday and potentially all back in on 11th but that's looking increasingly unlikely. Fortunately I can work from home so whilst it's stressful and means I'm working early/late to compensate at least I can continue to work.

As to at home learning, if my children can't do their assigned tasks with the information and support from the school they aren't being done. Keeping them warm, safe and fed is as much as I can stretch to when working.

In tier 3 and ours has shut today due to trying to work through the staff ratio issues. We've just had a message that the home learning platform is now active again so despite being told they're trying to reopen can see it being shut for two weeks. We are lucky in that partner and i work opposing shifts but will mean hard work for the pair of us

Ds's (10) school is opening, but he is learning from home, as he did from Oct half term - I stopped working in the first lockdown as ds was shielding and I realised it was going to be too tricky to go back to work (in early years)
Dd1 and 2 (14 and 13) are learning remotely (just trying to juggle what screens we have) supposedly until the 18th. It depends on what happens with cases and lateral flow testing instead of isolating, but I am really worried about them going back.

Not opening, dcs aged 10, 8 and 6. Both work full time but luckily can do it from home. We'll divvy up the days, I'll start work at 6 to get a couple of hours in before they wake then we'll tag team through the day. Already decided the kids will get 1 full hour of supervised school work each a day. In the case of the 2 youngest that's already way more than they did in the last lockdown

Due to open on Wednesday. No need so far. I really hope he goes back, it’s better for him mentally as an only child and it means I can work.

My ex point blank refused to have him there during lockdown 1 and his girlfriend covered a couple of half days a week during lockdown 2 but it wasn’t too bad as DP was furloughed. Although he couldn’t homeschool due to his dyslexia, he did take him out/supervised him a lot. DP is now back to work and entering his busiest time of year.

My job is very intense with lots of client calls and the need to focus on scientific reports. It nearly killed me doing it and home schooling last year and I suspect this time will be more regimented as they’ve all been given Teams log ins so no doing it in the evenings/at your own pace.

Argh I feel bad now with how many people are carrying on wfh alongside childcare. I just can't face it again, I was working well into the evenings to keep up and I'm just so tired at the moment... But I know that means I'll be robbing my baby of extra time with me at the other end just because I can't hack it

Will have to see what work say. I wish I could get furloughed by they absolutely aren't offering this for childcare reasons, they say they will be 'flexible' but realistically they still want all the work to get done.

Don't feel bad op. We're all different personalities with individual situations. One solution doesn't fit all. My work is reasonably flexible and i could probably request some leave and get it but i just know I'd be a wreck from having tried to be a teacher supreme with the kids! We're better off in this house with snippets of education between "normal",work. I fully expect my plan to come crashing around my ears by around day 4

I think that if they close the schools again (for which I really want to see some actual data, not just anecdata, on whether it's contributing to the spread) then they have to mandate firms to give paid time off to parents of school age children. WFH and trying to home-school DC 6 and 9 was so hard, and nearly broke me (and my DC) and i was lucky to be so quiet at work that I could get away with only doing half days (DH and I tag-teamed). We are going to use our critical worker status if they close schools again - we didn't last time, as we were trying to do the right thing

Ours is open, thank god.

You're not "robbing baby" of anything. The sooner you get all that out of your head the easier it'll be.

It's a weeks leave, you get to chill out with your DD for a week before the new addition comes along. She's 4, not being in school won't affect her whatsoever.

Enjoy it.