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Original poster

Who is keeping their kids home from school from Monday?

249 replies

alloutoffucks · 13/03/2020 13:24

I am. I am at real risk if I catch this. I am not locking my kids in the house. But it will mean they see a small number of kids rather than the hundreds they do in school.
And yes I will be keeping them away from clubs or any large gatherings as well.
Anyone else?

OP posts:
MrsMeg1 · 13/03/2020 17:40

I am going to keep mine off from Monday, I don’t trust the school are doing enough to protect the pupils or staff. I will limit social contact but seeing very small groups of friends is nowhere like 1500 kids squashed into corridors or not having access to frequent hand washing. This way they can also see grandparents.

As it stands without schools closing it will run rife, with the children infecting not only the teachers and parents but also grandparents unless you are stopping contact and I bet many won’t.

PanicAndRun · 13/03/2020 17:41

DD is going in and so am I, but none of us have underlying health conditions,breathing problems or anything that would make us vulnerable. So it's easy for me to be "brave" and not over react or whatever. I can see why for some people it can feel as a life or death situation. I don't understand why people are being so snarky and dismissive.

NellyGrace · 13/03/2020 17:44

It is amazing how many people on forums know more than the scientists who have spent all their life researching diseases.

Do you want us all to be like sheep and not question anything @Coffeeandgin24?

We're all like lambs to the slaughter here.

Hoggleludo · 13/03/2020 17:52

@ProveThemWrong2014

Nope. The government have allowed parents to keep their kids at home and they legally have to put a Y in the register

Lalalalalalalalaland · 13/03/2020 18:11

DS has a respiratory problem and we provide care to in laws who both have COPD.

We have 3 DC in 3 different primaries. DD1 school have agreed to authorise her abscence for as long as needed and will set work to do at home.

DD2 school have said it will be unauthorised but we will not be fined and there will be no repercussions.

DS special school have said they will authorise any abscenses for fanilies who wish to not send their children.

Our children will be staying off for as long as needed. They will do school work at home and we have ponies who are kept in a self contained field that noone else has access to so we will use our fields for them to be able to get out and blow of steam.

We are quite introvert people so have no problem battening down the hatches until it blows over.

We are continuing other things as much as we can. Dds will still have riding lessons, however we will do them in the day when other people arent around and we will sort ponies and kids and the instructor is stood in the middle so never gets too close.

We will not attend other clubs that are group things.

Overkill... maybe... but i would rather overreact and look silly than risk DS or IL health.

ILS are already self isolating

Patchworkpatty · 13/03/2020 18:14

I only have one still at school but I really can't get my head around the 'they are going to miss so much education' .. 'they have GCSEs.. ' 'I can't afford to keep them off' .. (actually I do have sympathy for the latter but the point still stands) ... I am immune compromised , if my child catches a dose and gives it to me , I will more than likely die... quite frankly if my daughter has to resit her A levels because she is either not able to sit them, OR not attending school for the last 8 weeks before exams means she won't get the university she wants .. well she just sits it again next year .. but everybody lives..

This is NOT about the kids getting it. (Unless they have underlying health issues..) this IS about them getting such mild symptoms that their immunosuppressed parents or elderly grandparents may not even notice until too late.

But I guess it's a huge money saver for government. What did the CMO say yesterday ? He expects 80% of the population to get it.. 1% of those infected to die. Most of whom will be elderly.. our population is 66m. Which means about half a million additional deaths in the elderly population. At £115 a week for state pension ... dying 5 years early... as the saying goes. Do the maths..

SerendipityJane · 13/03/2020 18:18

Do the maths..

The only maths I can do is £350million a week for the NHS Grin

colouringinpro · 13/03/2020 18:25

I'm seriously considering it. I'm not convinced by our government's approach given that it's so different from almost every other country.

My dd is asthmatic and I don't have great immune system. I'm not convinced that enough hand washing is taking place at their massive comprehensive. I'm also certain that actual cases are above 10k estimate. I'm constantly reading about people with high fever and cough who are refused a test.

Difficult decision though...

DartmoorDoughnut · 13/03/2020 18:32

I am considering not sending my two in to school as of Monday. They’re both healthy and have no underlying conditions that have so far come to light (5 and 3 so reception and nursery). The school they attend is massive, three form intake across each year so what 90ish students in each year? I have asthma I do NOT want this horrible virus.

Slightly freaking out about home education though but I’m sure we’ll muddle through. Will probably will say DS (5) has a cough so we’re self isolating and take it from there.

myhandsareverycold · 13/03/2020 18:39

Mine will continue to go to school. I'll work from home if required.

Gin96 · 13/03/2020 18:40

Everyone has to make the right decision for them. After seeing a couple of films of people self isolating in Wuhan, I am going to enjoy my freedom and allow my daughter to enjoy her freedom as much as possible before we are forced to lock down. I don’t think life is going to be quite he same even after the coronavirus has passed so I am going to enjoy every day

blossombabies · 13/03/2020 18:43

our school has confirmed that we can take them out for as long as we feel we need to and it will be authorised (not going against their records)

FacingtheAbess · 13/03/2020 18:47

Blossom
Bless your school!..

Can you say roughly where in the country this is?

cptartapp · 13/03/2020 18:48

No. They're going in. As a nurse I've had people coughing over me all week. Kind of resigned to at least one of us getting it anyway, if we haven't already.

idontlike789 · 13/03/2020 18:48

How many have actually died though ? All old all have severe medical conditions.
All this panicking is not helping no one has died who is young and well . It's a extreme worry for the elderly and the sick but if they catch flu anyway .
So how long are you planning on keeping them off for ? Are you actually going to stay home during this time ?

FacingtheAbess · 13/03/2020 18:49

Gin there are big differences in forcing people to be in close quarters, in schools, colleges, unis...

And having people out in the open..

Out in fresh air and sun!

Original poster
alloutoffucks · 13/03/2020 18:52

@idontlike789 I am 50. Officially "older" for this virus. And for as long as necessary.

OP posts:
Original poster
alloutoffucks · 13/03/2020 18:54

Yes I will be at home, my company have everyone working from home who can. Official policy.

OP posts:
Beebityboo · 13/03/2020 18:56

Strongly considering it from Monday. The school have told me though that they are expecting to close and that when they do it will be until September.
They seemed very surprised they weren't closed yesterday tbh.

tellmetostopbutikeepongoing · 13/03/2020 19:03

Those links are great, thank you!

FamilyOfAliens · 13/03/2020 19:03

Schools can kick you out if you don't attend for 20 days.

Only if the school has done all its safeguarding checks to find out where the child is, have carried out a home visit, they can’t contact the parents by phone, and cannot say whether the child is at the address they should be at.

So basically they can only take you off roll if you have not attended for 20 days and you are nowhere to be found.

mondaynoon · 13/03/2020 19:08

I'm considering it. I am at home anyway so no problem there. I think the schools will close in a couple of weeks anyway.

idontlike789 · 13/03/2020 19:09

. And for as long as necessary
So .,, weeks , months ?
And you didn't answer my question will you stay home during this time ?
50 is not old !!

5zeds · 13/03/2020 19:13

I am, but I am already self isolating and I don’t think I can stop the kids catching it. If they would test me it would make things simpler.

EYProvider · 13/03/2020 19:17

@SnoozyLou - Yes, if you are not accessing Early Years funding and continuing to pay the nursery, you can tell them why you are not sending your child in.

The government have the timing all worked out here. They will only pay funding for children who are registered at the nursery on the headcount day, which is always two weeks after the start of term (so the beginning of May). Meanwhile, they are banking on 50% of parents pulling kids out of nursery before then so that they are not liable to pay. I imagine school funding will work the same way.

No wonder they are not closing schools now. They can save 50% of costs by relying on parents to pull kids out.

Remove children by all means. But don’t inform nurseries that you are doing so because of coronavirus concerns. Say your child is under the weather and will be resting at home. Or that you are going on holiday. But don’t say you are withdrawing your child. That way, the government will have to pay the funding to your nursery and you can help prevent the childcare industry from collapsing.