School Closures and Key Workers - I am so frustrated with the government

[Whatsername177]

I am a teacher. Over the last two days I've been through the mill with everything that has happened. The closure of schools was a devastating blow, especially to my yr11 pupils whose future is now uncertain. I have cried, they have cried. It has been fucking awful. I am gutted, genuinly gutted. It has been compounded by the fact that I've had to self isolate since Wednesday because my husband has symptoms - I'm frustrated because I am well and feel blody useless at home, communicating virtually with my kids. When the government announced that schools would stay open to provide childcare for front line staff I was happy. I knew I'd be rota'd in - good. I will happily provide childcare if that is what the key people need to do their job. It is literally the only thing helpful that I can do. But, now the list has been released - there are 8 categories, pretty much most jobs can be covered by the list and it seems it applies to two parent households even if only one parent meets the criteria. We could potentially still have hundreds of pupils in school. Parents are frightened about losing their jobs and I understand that. But social distancing is the only way to beat the virus. We have just thrown the entire education system out of the window, but if it doesn't result in an increase in social distancing to save lives, what was it for?!

Here is the list:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision

We could use this to keep our kids in school - but we won't. Head has sent out an openly pissed off and frustrated email at this - and our Head normally never ever lets the ultra-professional veneer slip in the slightest (I know her very very well). They're now down 50% of their staffing already from staff in the at risk groups or self-isolating already.

I'm devastated for my kids who are really missing their friends (they've been off this week) and terrified for my younger child with SN - who really needs the intervention and social support in school and isn't likely to even have any transition planning in place for moving onto the different junior school now... but still not going to take the piss and use DH's employment status to try to get a keyworker place.

I'm probably going to fail this year of my university course (in an allied healthcare profession as well) because of having the kids at home.

I’m worried about my sister. She is a teacher in a secondary and will be exekcted to go in, but she has twins almost two years old at a private nursery. Their bursary has closed except to families of two key workers and her husband is self-employed so they don’t count. He cannotnwork from home (taxi driver). Her husband and her earn fairly equal wages and they’ll lose their house if either doesn’t work. I’ve offered to help or but worried to offer to have the twins if she’s bringing home germs from school each day to their family. My husband is high risk and we could all catch it! It’s a lose lose situation.

@Haggisfish I fully agree, it should only be available to keyworkers who are single parents or both parents are keyworkers. Pointless otherwise.

@SushiGo my daughter is the same but honestly I value her life, mine (I'm high risk), and those of the teachers far more than squeezing a bit of human interaction in. This is not a game people need to take it seriously.

Some people are really missing the point that we are in crisis and crisis means survival. Most people around the world will lose out one way of the other.

Doctors and nurses are exposing themselves risking their lives. Having to look after children in difficult times to allow them to save lives is really a small ask in the scale of things.

Let's not compare ourselves to our family, friends, neighbours who will less affected. Let's just do what right for society for once.

Oh and my husband is a key worker but we wont be using the school, the kids will stay with me.

What’s your solution? Hospitals have no staff? Supermarkets have no staff? Police can’t work. Firefighters can’t work.

The country need to still be able to function, if we don’t open schools to those kids and have a controlled environment where precautions, proper hand washing can take place, then people will take childcare into their own hands and that means grandparents, friends using other friends, kids being in uncontrolled environments risking the spread even more.

Remember, the key here isn’t to stop everyone getting it, is to ensure we have the right balance in place so that when people do get it and need medical help, the system isn’t overwhelmed and more people can get help when they need it.

I'm an ITU nurse and I'm not sending my kids to school. I'll get friends or family to have them to try to limit their social contact. I find this scenario demonstrates very clearly the number of people who do not get how serious this is. My husband is also a keyworker and what pisses me off the most is we are risking our families and our own lives to try to save people and idiots want to send their kids to school cos they cant be bothered to look after them. Those same people will be the first ones on the front of the daily mail "Mother dies in hospital corridor" cos they thought this was just bloody flu and they are invincible

@WhenYouveAFirstInEnglish that’s the situation single parents are in permanently!! Many are nurses/critical workers

@MintyMabel the problem is that viruses list is all encompassing; most workers are in those lists. He hasn’t closed the schools at all. But he has been very careful to make it appear as if he has

@Nursing83 you’ve much more chance of spreading the virus around if they are in different households every time you have a shift!

@SubjectMatterExpert yes and it must be extremely hard. Not sure what you mean though in relation to my comments?

my council have said that unless both parents are key workers then your child cannot return to school

Noone is saying that schools or hubs shouldn't open but fgs it shouldn't be open to everybody!
Absolutely it should be a single parent or two parents that are key workers.
Quite frankly, don't the people with children who take the piss realise there will be more risk of them bringing home this illness to their family? This isn't bloody war time Britain. This is a contagious virus spread through social contact.

my council have said that unless both parents are key workers then your child cannot return to school

Which council, please? Will be interesting to see if the government allow councils to overrule them like this.

If my dc's school cannot offer wraparound care (and to be clear, I neither expect them to nor feel that they should), I will only be able to be on site 10am-2pm anyway. I could do a lot of my job from home; DH has secured compressed hours at his job so will be home Thursday and Friday and on those days and weekends I am happy to come to site and work long days. But regional SMT are being difficult about me working from home or not working Monday- Wednesday, because they think that key worker status means I will have full childcare provision. Argh.

I work in the financial industry in a call Center for a building society.. I'm not going to be taking my children into school though because I can change my shift.

Although I don't know how I feel about being in a call centre with at least 100-200 other people, how are we going to practice social distancing?! I'm in the 'at risk' group due to health issues

The list is necessarily inclusive. It relies on individuals and employers taking sensible, decent decisions about who is actually necessary to ensure essential services continue to run.

Not all workers in banks are needed for essential financial services provision, not all lawyers are essential to the running of the justice system etc etc.

The system would work fine if only genuinely essential workers who genuinely don't have an alternative use the service. The problem is people, and employers, being arseholes.

Our school have been clear that this is not a drop in option as they need to plan. My dc with an EHCP is staying home. I used to do a role that supports directly front line services. I am with the same employer but do a strategic job now so if staff illness requires me to drop back to that support role I will but I would do that from home.

Loads of you seem to have had communication from schools and councils? We’ve had nothing except an audit asking whether we need the provision

Hi there, OP. We're moving this to the Coronavirus topic now.

the first key principle in the guidance is "If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be."

I'm on the list but will only use it if I absolutely cannot find another solution... Which is currently child staying in car while I do site visit.. Unfortunately husbands work are being useless and not commiting to anything and I need a job at the end of this....

the first key principle in the guidance is "If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be

Does that then get translated as all school staff with kids can stay at home, but those who haven’t (even if they are 50/60) will have to staff the school without them for key workers and vulnerable children?

MolyHoly not in my LEA,they are not just found out this morning that ds2_special school is closing for the foreseeable future ,but parents who work in essential services can contact the school about childcare ,we have two SEN primary schools in my town so I think the other might be covering the child care.

I expect most wont take up the offer

Almost everyone I know is on the list and I don’t know anyone using the school

Most will only use if absolutely desperate - most wont risk their kids if they don’t need to

Loads of you seem to have had communication from schools and councils? We’ve had nothing except an audit asking whether we need the provision

I'm an SEN teacher working directly for the county council. We don't know yet where we will be deployed and for which children. It could be children I know in a setting I know, or it could be some random school and random children. It's stressful to say the least!

The government really could have given us a little more time to get things sorted!