School as child care

[Differentforgirls]

From another thread.

A poster said that state schools are there for helping parents to work. Therefore teachers are childminders. Teachers!

I think schools are there to educate our children and, though the staff go above and beyond these days, that is their primary function.

AIBU?

I’m still waiting to find out if we need to report the OP for child neglect as she sent them to a school with no “general care” provided at aged 5. I know I would be quite rightly reported to local children’s safeguarding if I was boasting about my child needing no supervision for 6 hours a day.

There is help available.

Thank you for this ❤️

Paraphrasing:

OP: Pharmacies exist just to give medication. Some people seem to use them as just a shop! Using them to buy makeup or cuddly toys or hair dye or whatever else is insulting to the pharmacists that went for years to uni and got educated. You can’t use it as a corner shop!

Posters: well actually we can also use them to buy other things, and if I’m in there anyway, might as well take advantage of that and stock up on other things or buy that box of hair dye. .It has multiple uses. You can’t even get something diagnosed and prescribed without seeing a GP .

OP: You are all insulting pharmacists and I never used a pharmacy in that way. Well, I did, but I still thought of it as a pharmacy , not a corner shop.

Posters: well actually, my pharmacy is on the way to work and it’s handy to stop by. After all, if they didn’t want us to buy those items, why would they sell it? It is just convenience and a secondary use , but we can’t ignore the fact that it exists.

OP: You’re all awful people. I’ve learned people use pharmacies as normal shop.

Flounces!

As I said , the pure definition of a circular argument. Nevermind the fact that using your (wrong) premise to prove that exact same premise is highly frowned upon in academic circles (and frankly, in primary schools too).

But you accuse every other working parents as viewing as so …

Aw was it meant to? Is that not normally called bullying?

Do I? I wasn’t aware that every single working parent is on mumsnet, never mind this thread.

Bullying?? Is that what you got from my post?

I never said you couldn't post. Just in the same way no one said teachers are babysitters....

Your arguments makes no sense … you send your child to school and work yet moan about other doing the same … are you a teacher by any chance?!? Full of your self importance and work harder than anyone else 🙄

I send what child to school?

Don’t attack teachers just because the OP is being a doughnut!

Hope you had good Easter 2 weeks off op😂

The ones you had years ago.

Yes when you got 18 weeks maternity leave in total, then not one hour of free childcare.

You all get 9 months paid leave?

Not sure but you get free childcare from 9 months. 30 hours?

We got zero.

However, this thread was never about my children.

But people have played the man rather than the ball, this usually happens through guilt.

This is a general observation about the thread.

It’s been enlightening 😬

Very few people get 9 months of properly paid leave. SMP works out at far less than minimum wage. The funded hours start the term after you return from maternity leave. So for a parent returning to work now the funded hours would start from Sept, not from when they turn 9 months.

When you say you got zero free childcare, did you pay the grandparents that enabled you to work a proper wage for doing so?

The 30 funded hours are not free for most parents.

@Differentforgirls No, I paid for my childcare. My middle two went to a private day nursery that we paid for, youngest went to a childminder that we paid for. My dads dead and the rest of our parents worked when my children were of the age where they needed childcare.

i also didn’t get nine months off, although I could have claimed SMP, it’s not even remotely comparable to a wage and we wouldn’t have survived on it.

Why are you talking about 30 funded hours to me? I’m well aware of how they work but haven’t mentioned them.

Not everyone qualifies for free childcare either.

Not to mention it is a very new scheme, parents of DC now school age did not get the funded hours until their DC turned three.

I got zero.

Not everyone on this thread has young children.
I certainly didn’t get free childcare from 9 months.

And what exactly are we supposed to feel guilty about?

So what? Sounds like you wouldn’t have used it anyway

I have no skin in the school game because my kids are little or home educated but obviously school is a
form of childcare. You drop them off and aren’t fully responsible for them while they’re there (obviously you have some responsibility but not total). I have taken my kids to an educational setting that was most definitely not childcare and you know the major difference? I had to stay with them the whole time, no chance of working while they were there.

Now they go to a childcare setting that has zero responsibility to educate them because that remains with me but of course they do gain some education from being there.

just because the primary purpose is one thing doesn’t mean there isn’t a secondary purpose. I’m reading a book about unschooling atm and the author points out that no research was done to determine that Monday-Friday 9-3 was the best for children, it was just convenient(ish)

Maternity leave for most people is only paid at 90% of your wages for the first six weeks and then some much smaller calculation for a period of time afterwards. SMP isn't enough to pay my mortgage unfortunately.

And I'm in Scotland so we don't get free childcare at 9 months. The 30 hours free funding doesn't kick in until 3 and even then it isn't completely free as there's all sorts of extra like food you have to pay for.

You say you got "zero" free childcare but made reference to the fact you had grandparent help when you were at work. Did you pay them? Many people don't have this luxury, what do you suggest they do?

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Are we to feel sorry for you? I'm not one to hate on "boomers" or blame the older generation but I'm guessing it's a long time since you're children. Many people now don't have the luxury of grandparents help and it takes two incomes to just barely survive.

And you were able to retire at 60. I can't think anyone my age who will have that luxury.

I'm not sure what I'm meant to feel guilty about? For working and putting a roof over my children's head and food in their stomach? That the fact when I'm at work they (or will be when they turn school age) are being looked after trained professionals whether that be nursery or school where they will also be receiving an education.

Because I feel absolutely no guilt over any of that.

Just to clarify the OPs point that only her and her husband brought up their kids and had zero help with childcare, I thought I'd just point out the above.

How is your using grandparent support different from people using nursery? You still had others help facilitate you being at work. You weren't any less bringing up your kids then those that do use paid childcare.