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.

I can't believe people aren't observing what's happened in other countries, that this is about exponential growth that is about to spike massively...and pre emptive action is better than reactive action.

Also, those of us who are in the position to home school for a few/several or more months, there's really no harm in it - I love spending time with my children and giving them one on one learning time that they don't usually get in school.

Just my opinion, but the issue is that in other countries it's possible to close schools without a huge knock on effect on other services. We don't have enough healthcare professionals as it is, we are an island which depends on delivery for a lot of 'essential' items and medications. Closing schools means that at least a sizable proportion of these workers are likely to need to be at home as there will be zero childcare. We don't have other people we can call on to fill the gaps, if the whole country does so rather than provinces we don't have nurses, doctor's etc to move across the country. To a lot of people this is their biggest health concern right now which is understandable, but for many with long term conditions and those in accidents etc they will also require care, plenty of people will die from that alone if the NHS and emergency services are stretched even further. For people who can work from home and are comfortable taking their children out of school then great, but presumably you would expect people to still go in to help in the effort to treat and hopefully reduce the threat. We also need the economy to remain at least a tiny bit bouyant, because services cost money, yes human life is more important, but the reality is that we need it. It's more complicated then let's just shut everything and hope it blows over. Numbers will rise, but the solution is far from simple.

If this gets out of control, the main factor will be because the government won’t close schools because

schools=childcare.

It's worth remembering that 85 cases is the total number that have tested positive. The number of ACTIVE cases will be significantly lower as a decent proportion of those diagnosed will have now recovered.

I can't believe people aren't observing what's happened in other countries, that this is about exponential growth that is about to spike massively...and pre emptive action is better than reactive action

I think some people ought to go back to school as 83 people out of 67 million is a tiny percentage. It's about risk management at moment not preemptive measures.

@HeresMe ironic you telling me I need schooling when you are the one who can not grasp the concept of exponential growth or asymptomatic spreading 🤦🏻‍♀️

What would you do @DominicCummingsForehead?

I think many people do realise what is happening, but there's so much more to consider and it's a balancing act.

I can grasp all this but 83 cases in this country most of them people coming back from infected country's.

I can grasp the concept of the growth except it isn't there at all you are grasping at panicky straws.

I work daily with a lot of health care professionals guess who isn't panicking at all.

If you want to be anxious about this fair enough just don't let it impact your children.

I've taken my kids out, but only because I can afford to do so.
The government cannot close schools because like a pp said, schools are childcare and this would have a huge negative effect on the economy.

@HeresMe so you don't think that the virus will spread here as it is doing in Italy? What is it that Britain is doing that Italy didn't do?

*will not spread

I don't think it will we are isolating people from abroad quicker than Italy.

How long you keeping you kids off for, are you planning on keeping them in the house for all this time as if not a chance they can get it.

There's evidence of community spread now and we are still only testing people that have come from one of the 'hotspots' abroad or had direct extended contact with a confirmed case.

I'll be keeping them off til it's clear what's happening one way or the other and I can reassess.

We're not going to shops often at all, which massively reduces the risk as well as with hand washing straight afterwards etc. We live rurally so plenty of walks etc here without having to see other people in close proximity.

Schools are covered in secretions at a volume that isn't comparable to many places - especially primary schools.

@grumpysotherhalf most expats here in the uae hire live in nannies from the Philippines, unfortunately the nannies will bear the brunt with the DC if both parents need to go to work. I don't have a nanny but I'm lucky that I'm a SAHP so it won't affect us. However it is annoying that we didn't get any choice in the matter of the school closing, the decision was issued by the government to all the education sectors including nurseries and Unis. I don't know what to think as some parents at our school are thinking of flying back to the UK or abroad for an extended holiday which I think is counterproductive. I think the children would be safer at school and I'm also concerned on them missing out on their learning for so long. They said the schools will implement online learning but I wonder how effective that will be.

I'll be keeping them off til it's clear what's happening one way or the other and I can reassess.

Likelyhood there isn't vacinations until end of year at earliest so it could be indefinite for something that most likely will be mild.

I'm not sure what's more scary the virus or idiot people panicking about it

What happens if there's an older teenager who doesn't want to be taken out of school when there's no official need? Can an older child be deregistered against his or her will in these circumstances?

You can't make an 18yo stay somewhere s/he doesn't want to be, or prevent them from going somewhere they (legally) want to go. What happens if a 16/17 yo says s/he is going to school regardless? What about a 15yo?

@caoixr I’m in the same situation as you - kid goes to private secondary school and has asthma and would like to pull her out. Myself and hubby work from home. Did you just explain to the school that you don’t want to take chances and they said ok ? I’m quite anxious how to word my email for absence!

We home ed anyway but I am starting to think about reducing a few groups. If you take your children out to home ed then only do it if you are in it for the long run.

@subzerotemp school have been supportive, understanding and emailing over work and encouraging to keep in touch.

Mine is in primary school so understand this is a bigger decision possibly for those in secondary. I should think being private they would understand part of their selling point is their flexibility vs state school.

I spoke to my child’s teacher about this yesterday, she told me that the local authority has said that if there is a suspected case amongst the children, their immediate family or any staff the school will be closed. This is fine with me, until then they go to school.

I don't agree with those saying school is 'childcare'. It really isn't and we should all have actual childcare ready as back up in case our child is sick or there's a snow day or the school boiler breaks. The issue isn't that school is childcare, it is that there will be NO childcare available if the schools close - how could holiday clubs etc run in place of school, that would defeat the purpose of school closing.

It is the lack of alternative childcare that will be the issue, which is a huge problem for the likes of my family. Me and and my husband and sister all work in 'essential services', my mother is often a back up plan for emergency childcare but she is currently undergoing chemotherapy so I won't be considering sending the children there.

Most of my friends have 'essential' jobs too. I usually am all about pulling together and taking turns to mind the kids but I don't think that will be an option for me either. The only alternative I can see is asking if I can move to a different post so I can work night shifts but how safe will I be in the NHS with no sleep?

I am more than happy for others to pull their kids out as smaller class sizes and less traffic on the roads can only be of benefit to the rest of us, but if schools close for longer than say 2 weeks, it is going to be incredibly difficult for a lot of us.

Thinking about keeping my kids off now. They're reception and nursery.

Is this madness?

@screamer1 yes. They will shut the school if there are any issues, this is likely to esculate and a vaccine is at least a year away, I would wait personally.