Is the world and their dog key workers!!!

[anxiouscrazymum]

So I am not a key worker, I work 3 days a week and have 2 KS1 children.
I am having to adapt my hours around my children's school work and will just have to run myself ragged over the next few months like many others!
AIBU to think that some parents are taking the P@@s and using Key worker benefits to be bloody lazy.
Why are the allowed to send children 5 days if they only work 2/3?
Why are they allowed to send in if their partner is furloughed or working from home?
Why are they allowed to send children in of the just work weekends in a supermarket normally?
We have 14 out of 30 children in my DS class at school, they have the class teacher with them and also have each other.
I feel my children are being penalised and will miss out on school and social interaction all because I am not a key worker:
If there were less children in, the teacher would be able to undertake zoom classes and online interactions. Because of the number of children in we just get set daily tasks!
Sorry for my rant AIBU x

YABU I'm a keyworker and so is my husband, I'd love to be WFH with my son. I'm pregnant and the whole thing terrifies me. No one is being lazy to send their children to school, they're doing jobs too but we don't have the opportunity to WFH

@pringlebells I don’t think anyone has any issue at all with genuine key workers and even one key worker and one other parent working any job. The issue comes when one parent is a key worker and the other is is not working at all or is furloughed. That’s what is happening at our school. Ask people who only work say three days as a key worker and are using 5 days of school.

70% of DS’s class is in. All teachers are in and teaching the school curriculum as normal. There is the full daily timetable of literacy, maths, PE, art, music, PHSE, RE etc. There is 1 zoom call a day that the kids at home are allowed to join when the teacher panned the camera round and showed all the other kids sat there in the classroom as normal.

Last spring provision was a childcare hub at another school. Only 1 child from my son’s class attended. Now it’s school as normal everyone wants to attend.

I’m not as bothered as much about us having to juggle our work with childcare/home schooling during the day, we’ll do what we need to do to get through it. What I am bothered about is that my son, who is an only child, is being excluded from formal education and from socialisation for months on end whilst school carries on as normal for the majority.

I would rather they had returned to the central childcare hub concept for a few weeks then only those who really needed to use it would send their kids in. Then perhaps we would get through this and return to schools being open more quickly.

@Nectarines

A huge part of the problem is that many workplaces are issuing letters to their employees stating they they are key workers and qualify for school places. I’m talking places like McDonald’s. Why is there no pressure from the government on such places to work with us and be flexible towards families with school age children?

We have parents whose work have told them they must access school places and continue to go to work. The result is that we have 85% requesting places.

We can’t accommodate that many children just now when you take into account shielding staff etc.

This. There needs to be something in place to prevent employers taking advantage and force them to support their working parents. Of course workers are going to have to use places that they're only tenuously entitled to if their employers expect it of them. Same with me (as a teacher) when my own DC's school has messed about with closures (I say messed about because there weren't any cases) and I couldn't get a KW place because I live and work over a border: my employer wasn't going to let me have the time off paid.

Workers don't have the power to change this. Those who are knowingly sending their children to school while they WfH should be prevented from doing so IMO, but I don't think that's the main problem here.

What I don't get is if you don't need to send your kids why would you? Key workers are often nurses, doctors and teachers. Why would you potentially expose them when you don't have to?

Orangeteddy I completely agree, the R rate is never going to fall if we have such high attendance rates so it’s really unfair. I didn’t want schools to close, but we’ve done what we thought was the right thing to do by keeping our DD off as instructed only to find 70% of class in, meaning schools will be closed for much longer than needed. It needs to return to March style childcare for 2 out of home keyworkers or single parent keyworkers, or they open the schools for everyone.

I know of at least 3 stay at home parents that have requested a place for their child because their partner is a key worker. Some people are definitely taking the piss. I'm sure a lot of others genuinely need it though and deserve a break.

Yabu

I also think people are being really over the top about learning and development being massively negatively impacted. A ks1 child has years to catch up and in a few years there will be no difference. Just so much drama.

@WolfHunter

What I don't get is if you don't need to send your kids why would you? Key workers are often nurses, doctors and teachers. Why would you potentially expose them when you don't have to?

Not all areas have high numbers of cases. We have had consistently low numbers throughout and they've been reducing even further over the last few weeks.

My local area has had just 6 cases over the last 7 days and the figures for the wider area (previously a hot spot) are significantly lower than when we went into the last lockdown and all schools were open. They are well below the national average.

What's the point of closing schools if so many return? And if you are the minority not in school struggling working all hours to home school, wouldnt you feel mad?

I have a key worker letter but I dont use it as both of us wfh. I know a SAHP who lied (said she has a freelance job that requires travel). I'm never speaking to her again.

I don’t think anyone has any issue at all with genuine key workers and even one key worker and one other parent working any job

This isn't the case @pringlebells lots of people on other threads yesterday were complaining about exactly this. We are one such family. We didn't send our junior aged ds in last time, but having attempted homeschooling with both our jobs (I am a key worker) we decided to take our place this time. Lots and lots of shaming of people like us. I can totally understand that if one parent is furloughed or not currently working that's a blatant abuse of the system. And I do believe that there is abuse of entitlemt going on. But some people on here have made themselves judge and jury about who is deserves a place and who is behaving in a 'selfish entitled way'. I work in policing and supporting forces responding to Covid and wfh. January for me is even busier than the rest of the year. Dh is an engineer/ customer complaint resolution who has to go into work to inspect hydraulics. He doesn't go in every day and much can be done from home, but our school says full time. Out of a year group of 65, 17 children are in and I was completely honest with the school so as not to take the place of 'someone more deserving'. They were absolutely fine with me and welcomed ds with open arms.

Everyone has very unique circumstances but plenty of people believe they have a devine right to assess who deserves a place and who doesn't. It's entirely down to the school to work out capacity with parents and apply restrictions where necessary.

What I don't get is if you don't need to send your kids why would you? Key workers are often nurses, doctors and teachers. Why would you potentially expose them when you don't have to?
Because they signed up to looking after their kids after 5 during term time. It's bad enough they have to entertain their kids during school holidays. You just have to read all the threads about how they can't wait for their kids to go back to school after summer holidays to understand that some parents love the concept of kids but not so much looking after them.

Not all areas have high numbers of cases. We have had consistently low numbers throughout and they've been reducing even further over the last few weeks
And they could pick up at significant speed spreading through the school's just as it has in some of the worse areas that were previously one of the lowest.

There is 1 zoom call a day that the kids at home are allowed to join when the teacher panned the camera round and showed all the other kids sat there in the classroom as normal.

Wow, that’s rubbing kids noses in it!

It’s precisely because a 2 tier system has been created that parents are so desperate to have their children in. The curriculum has not been suspended this time, and some (not all) school are continuing with regular teaching for the children who are in. Parents at home, even those with flexible employers, can’t hope to provide the same. Of course people don’t want their children to miss out!

Not all areas have high numbers of cases. We have had consistently low numbers throughout and they've been reducing even further over the last few weeks

And they could pick up at significant speed spreading through the school's just as it has in some of the worse areas that were previously one of the lowest.

They could but they haven't yet, not once since March. Not even when our surrounding areas had high cases ( Oldham and Greater Manchester)
We had a spike in October which I later found out was a jump from an average of 2 cases to 4 cases. Not all areas have had high numbers.

I'm a governor at my sons school and our head is gutted they've had to close and is happy to take as many key worker children as possible. They have around 30% of children in and they haven't turned any children away.

Anyone have any UK average statistics on how many keyworker children are in school? I am hearing lots from certain urban areas, but schools local to me still have small numbers. There is a perception out there that schools are half full, but I'm not sure at all that's the case. It's all very anecdotal.

Why assume it always preferred??? My step daughter is being kept at home but her mum COULD send her to school under the key worker premise because her boss prevents her working from home and flys the key worker flag even though she can work from home, has worked from home and she is definitely not a key worker in commonly assume sense of the word! Some people are just trying to keep their jobs?

I'm a keyworker who cannot WFH as I'm a tube station supervisor. My husband also a keyworker, a postal worker. We were offered a place at school for our Y9 dd but we decided as I work shifts and DH works earlies, she'd be left alone at most 2 hours at a time and she'd get a full day's education via Teams provided by her school so she was better off staying at home. If she was in Y7 or younger I'd have sent her in. Her school have got their act together and keep her plugged into the laptop all day, plus give homework. They are trying their best to keep the kids on track with their education.

I’m jealous. If I had known so many where going to be in school anyway I would have pushed to get our kids in school too. My DH is a key worker but on furlough.

I’m feeling like I’m punishing my children, like they are paying the price for us as a family keep sticking to the rules.

I'm really confused, your DH is furloughed i.e not working?

I didn't need a place last time as I wasn't f/t & could juggle the work & homeschooling.

A parent/care giver who can sit with their dc to do their work will be providing a superior to those dc in school & those juggling wfh.

Caveat: obviously this is age dependent.

Key worker here (education specialist), but I'm home schooling my DD. I just didn't feel right taking up a keyworker space. Firstly, I'm pregnant, so didn't want to chance it (saw a few pregnant ladies on ventilators on the news, which really scared me). Secondly my job can be easily done at home.

I just heard that 12 out 30 pupils are in my DD reception class.

Yes I raise an eyebrow at a SAHP taking a place but they could have vulnerable dc. Schools don't tend to advertise these info.

@rolliy

Yes I raise an eyebrow at a SAHP taking a place but they could have vulnerable dc. Schools don't tend to advertise these info.

This is true.

I have a friend who, to the outside world, appears completely content, is kind and chatty and interesting to everyone she talks to. Behind closed doors she struggles so much that her dd is a Young Carer. She plasters A Face on for school runs and that is her maxed out.

Anyone who knew she had a place would probably question it to themselves (she doesn't work).

Thank goodness school recognise the need for her dd to have time away from Mum to just be a kid.

What jobs have been added to the critical work list? (I know people critical to Brexit transition have but assuming that's not many)

Anyone involved in safeguarding knows the distressing reality of what goes on behind closed doors.

@Littlebelina

What jobs have been added to the critical work list? (I know people critical to Brexit transition have but assuming that's not many)

I work for a university. We weren't classed as critical workers last time but we are now.