Anyone taken their kids out of school?

[mac12]

My husband wants to take our 3 kids out of school (ages 8-13). He’s involved in an international study on the incubation period (he works on comms side) so has lots of access to clinical data, which means he’s read some scary stuff & often sees worst case scenarios, which maybe skews our thinking.
I am v conflicted & worried, what is the process, will we get into trouble with the local authority, can heads have discretion at times like this? Has anyone else done it or thinking of it? Or are we mad to be even thinking about it? The eldest definitely would hate it as loves school (yeah, strange)
I was hoping the govt would follow Japan & shut schools for early containment but that doesn’t appear to be on the cards for now.

The kids are getting off lightly, so are you thinking about protecting older relatives? I am mainly wondering how to look after all my oldies especially as they are stubborn as mules and not into hygiene at the best of times.

Yes that’s exactly it. Elderly parents on both sides & friends having chemo. I’ve also read several articles about getting reinfected ie there’s no immunity like you get with flu, which if true means we need to contain & eradicate otherwise we’ll all just keep getting reinfected.

How long would you keep them off for?

And what would you do with them? Would they have to stay at home in their rooms, and not mix with you and DH as I assume you are still going outside and mixing with other people?

I did keep mine off last Tuesday until Friday but have gone back today.

I don't have any info on it or how to doit but I think families should be allowed to do what's best for them right now.

Confirmed case at the school or someone who has had contact with the school. Yes, of course. Other than that, no.

Are you all going to stay at home for the two weeks , with no visitors?
What happens if the school closes in two weeks time? That means the children have 4 weeks off.
I would be sending my children to school until there’s a need to keep them off

It depends on how long you want yo keep them out for. You will have to give up their place if it's longer than a week or you will be fined.
It's easy to give up the place if you are in England. Just a letter to the school saying you are now home educating.

@mac12 Heads have some discretion, but not much. I think unless you have a very sympathetic head, they'd be unlikely to authorise this except for a child with pre-existing serious health conditions. If you kept them off for long enough, you would potentially be looking at fines/EWO visits.

I'd think about this in practical terms:

-How long could you viably keep them off for? Does one of you work from home/is a SAHP? It's likely we are just at the very start of this, so you'd be looking at keeping them off until May/June, maybe longer. How realistic is this actually for you?

-Realistically at this stage they are more likely to pick up flu/another nasty winter virus at school- so I'd bear this in mind when visiting your friends. My school had a properly nasty virus doing the rounds last half term, which could have been really bad for someone on chemo. Obviously it might have had a shorter incubation period, but it's still a problem.

-You could consider keeping them off on days that might be especially risky e.g. if there is a school trip to a large event, or an event like a sports tournament where they'd be mixing with lots of other people.

-Speak to the school about the handwashing facilities they have available. Send them to school with hand sanitiser if you can.

Have the school had a ski trip return from Italy, or are you in an area with known cases?

I think each family should do what they believe is right for them.

What is the worst that could happen, if you take them all out? Surely it would just be a fine - and surely no one is going to worry about that at the moment.

I've just watched Newsnight and this is not something light. We are in for a big shock. Not everyone is aware of this now - but we very soon will all be.

Your husband is probably right. Honestly - it's better to trust your instincts on this I think.

Thank you for the responses, it does help get things in perspective. I work from home in a job likely to be cut so will have time on my hands & no money to go out. I think my anxiety is in overload.

What do you mean @Dusty01?

How long does he want to keep them off for op?

It has crossed my mind but I won't be keeping them off unless there's a confirmed/suspected case. I've 3 in 3 schools so if someone in one school had it I'd keep them all off as a precaution. No idea how long for though. Bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question

Sorry - wasn't I clear. I'm very tired.

Do you mean the bit about we're in for a shock?

twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1234612516363350016

twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1234611555280531456

I'm not sure that these two clips contain the bit where they say the report will shock people. What was the name of the meeting today that Boris went to - Cobra? was it? The report is coming out tomorrow.

We have, but it is a private school so more flexible obviously. Main reason is because DD has asthma so not taking any chances. 4 weeks ish left till the Easter holidays then Easter takes us up to May is likely period to stay away from school and crowded places. I am a SAHM but husband still going to work - trying to see if he can WFH.

Surely your husband would have to stay home too, with only minimal outings/ shopping delivered.

I de registered my children yesterday. It's a very hard decision to make as it's quite drastic and most people IRL aren't reacting to the information that is out there about this virus yet. I don't think most people will realise how serious it is until it's on their doorstep. By which time the locale would have been spreading asymptomatically for up to two to four weeks already. I have a baby and although they're saying it doesn't affect children much, id rather be safe than sorry. I also have an elderly father with cancer and don't want to risk it. I'm actually not going to have as minimal physical contact with him as I can now and have set him up with Tesco deliveries so he doesn't have to go out, except to walk his dog.

I do feel sad and have mixed feelings about taking the kids out...but I can't really justify keeping them in when I balance the worst case scenario for the decision to keep them in vs take them out.

However. I am a SAHM with the luxury of being able to home educate.
I have accepted that they will be out of school until the start of the next school year in September at least.

My DH works but in a very autonomous role as a sole trader so doesn't come into contact with people much, and he is taking steps to protect himself when out. Therefore I believe taking the kids out of school will make a huge difference to the whole families exposure to it.

If you take them out of school where they are mixing with an age group least likely to be infected, then you logically must stop them going into shops, cinemas, offices, medical facilities, public transport and other public places where they are more likely to come into contact with the ages most likely to have the infection. And you and your DH must avoid those places too. Maybe for several months. If that’s your plan then ok otherwise coming out of school is totally illogical.

It’s very difficult. The time to go into isolation is obviously before it becomes apparent that you should. Would it be possible for your vulnerable contacts to go into isolation rather than your own family at this point?

Regarding the reinfection- I think the evidence for this is very weak and it’s far more likely that there have been false negatives in the middle of a chain of positive tests.

Why would there be no immunity after having coronavirus? Is it like herpes?

@Moctodtensmum children are not least likely to be infected.
Children are least likely to suffer from severe symptoms.

Big difference.

Also if you're willing to take your children out of school surely it's a given you will also be avoiding places such as cinemas, supermarkets etc as well. I will be.

But how long will you keep them out for? Until there's a vaccine - at least a year away.