Italy closes all their schools and universities: how will you cope if we follow?

[ChristmasFlint]

I can work from home but not everyone can. It made me wonder how on earth people with sort childcare?

Wouldn’t be great for me.
I work in a care home, if my dc can’t go to school, I can’t get to work. Who would care for our residents if we have to stay home because of school closures?

I’m a teacher so fine for my DD but I will also be offering to help out any friends who are struggling for childcare.

I'm the chair of a voluntary after-school care and summer playscheme and I've been asked about the possibility of us opening for children of essential workers if schools close.

We wouldn't be able to though as we run in the school building. Plus it's a volunteer lead organisation and it only works because usually I volunteer one of the weeks my kids are at sports camp/drama club or they also come to the playscheme

Several of the volunteers have already made plain they'll not be bringing their kids into contact with the kids of healthcare workers etc (so higher risk people) if we hit the point of schools closing. Which I can't blame them for at all.

We'd be ok as I'm a SAHM. We'd have a busy house as DH's SIL is a doctor and we've agreed that if schools close her two DC's can come and stay with us. No idea where we'll put them, but we'll fit them in somewhere!

DTs are doing GCSEs this year. I'm really worried about this happening.

I am unemployed at the moment and my industry is going to get hit by this situation so don’t think I’ll be getting any work any time soon. My kids are 12 and 16 and it’s exam year for the 16 year old. They both have IPads from their schools so we’re lucky in that I imagine lessons can be delivered online to some extent should the schools have to close. Thankfully my DH has a staff job. If he was freelance (as he was for many years) we would be well and truly fucked. Mortgage-defaulting fucked. I feel for anyone self-employed/zero hours. The impact will be horrendous.

It's 9 weeks to GCSEs and A-levels for the 200 kids I'm responsible for. Whilst I can't do my job from home, they can do revision (or not ) at home and I can catch up with some bits. Bloody nightmare if it hits during exam time though.

DP and I both unable to wfh. If push came to shove I think 10yo would be ok alone but I'm not entirely comfortable with it.

Couldnt risk ILs having him as they are vulenerable and one with a weakened immune system. My own parents are too far away and both work.

I'd hope my work might help a bit by letting me compress my hours/ nip home to check on him. Otherwise I'd need to take the time off which I cannot afford and I don't know if they'd pay me.

I would hope that teachers continue to work from home, providing teaching online or via email or recorded teaching, setting work and marking work via email. email yes, but Don’t think in most British schools there is the infrastructure to deal with this. We could set homework via class charts, seneca, educake etc, but at some point there will need to be new teaching. And, I hate to say it, there often isn’t the commitment to learning like that as there in in China.

I would hope that teachers continue to work from home, providing teaching online or via email or recorded teaching, setting work and marking work via email

With their own dc underfoot?

My friend is a teaching assistant in Italy, she tells me that the children are all socialising in each other's houses (partly out of boredom and partly to share childcare around) so I'm not sure shutting schools is that effective. Surely better to keep them in school and implement lots of hand-washing/hygiene procedures under close supervision?

My daughter is in Y11 so should be doing GCSEs in May/June, I really hope they go ahead, she's worked so hard .

Reality is, there are many people that would struggle if this happened, but they would make it through the two weeks with a few, pain free sacrifices.
There will be others though that will have zero income, possibly face loosing job all together, struggle to cover basic daily living costs, such as food, electricity/gas.
If this happened in the UK, it could really destroy lower income and single parent families.

well I work at schools and nurseries as a subcontractor (self-employed) so all my income will vanish. At least I won't have to worry about looking after my own kids though. Very fortunately DH earns enough to see us through as long as it doesn't last that long.

Farmer here. I'd have to do my paperwork whilst they slept. Dh would step up outside work.

I'd also be looking after the kids of our staff so they can work!!

We'd survive but dear lord I'd be happy to see them go back.

Also surprised at how many who work in schools wouldn't be expecting to provide a level of work remotely.

I am on maternity leave so would happily have any children that needed looking after so their parents could continue to work. If they are of school age, I would expect them to be doing some sort of educational activity each day.

I to work in a university, and have two primary aged DCs.
We had an emergency a few years ago where all the students had to be sent home early. However it was a campus infrastructure issue so the students didn't want to be there - I think overseas students would have had to go to a B&B or something till their booked flights home.
Assuming children were allowed out I imagine everyone will just take them to the cinema/soft play so it would be completely pointless.

I’d be ecstatic!

I would be extremely grateful that DH works at a university. I am a nurse so will have to go to work, regardless of any kind of apocalypse, so it's lucky that DH would be at home.

I'd really rather they didn't close school (I'm a teacher) but if they do I'll be setting work via the online homework system and responding to emails from students. We aren't set up for recorded or remote teaching though, and there's no way I'm throwing safeguarding out the window to teach using my personal Skype/FaceTime/WhatsApp!

Hope the banks and utility companies fancy chucking us a freebie, because if the schools close, I don't get paid and neither will my mortgage or utility bills.

Will need to manage groceries from child benefit.

On the bright side, bailiffs will likely be thin on the ground.

Chocolatedaim - the plan is for schools to close for 2 months.

At my school, we could set maths online, and ask for children to continue with learning times tables, and reading, but we currently have no other learning portals.

Surely better to keep them in school and implement lots of hand-washing/hygiene procedures under close supervision?
Well yes, wouldn't that be nice? Except we have no extra soap or hot water in our Western world leafy commuter-belt school.

Farmer here.

Might get more difficult if it properly hits as it has been confirmed for cross contamination

www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/experts-confirm-human-animal-spread-coronavirus/

We would be fine as I wfh most of the time anyway and dc older so would have work set online, not exam years and fairly self motivated. Those of you supply teaching could you do 121 GCSE/ A level prep?

I wonder if we can keep going a few more weeks if a longer Easter break would help.

@lyralalala Well shame on them for saying they wouldn't look after NHS workers kids. Unless you want to just let everyone who falls seriously ill die people are going to have step up for the families of NHS workers.

In Torbay we had five schools closed, 4 reopened and now another one has closed. 2 GP surgeries closed as well. You wouldn't know anything was going on though, I can't see any panic buying or people getting upset. Maybe we are all a bit laid back in sunny muddy south Devon. I do wish the rain would stop and let the ground recover.