What is it really like out there (keyworkers and schools)

[ToCaden]

BBC news has said most schools only have 20 percent of its pupils, but the keyworker parents I've talked to say they have much more than that and even with some keyworker parents choosing not to send their children to school, children are still being turned away at the school gates.

So what's the real situation with schools?

And there seems to be a lot of key workers out there. Including many who could be working from home but are not being allowed to. Any insights on this?

For my contribution I'm an admin worker for the government. My role is solely computer based and could be done from home. There are hundreds of thousands of staff across the UK with my job role in the same position. None of us are being allowed to work from home and no satisfactory answer as to why has been given.

Our village primary school (around 180 pupils) was only open 3 days this week as they didn't have any children needing it the other 2 days. Have only been a handful of children in. But we are rural South East.

5% in my school - 15% are entitled to send their children but some are self isolating and others have chosen to make other arrangements.

So what's the real situation with schools?

Think it varies massively between schools. Ours hasn’t had many in (5%) but some academies locally have grouped together and have hundreds.

My sister and her husband are both NHS workers - they've been taking g their daughter to school and say 4 pupils out of a class of 30 have been going in

This week our school looked like this
Monday expecting 40 14 turned up
Tuesday 10
Wednesday 6
Thursday 6
Friday 6

Expecting more next week as some were sent home to self isolate the week previously.

We usually have around 12 - 16 pupils. The whole situation is depressing. Constantly trying to soothe worried children, cleaning, tidying and making sure the children stay a suitable distance away from each other.

As for your job I thought everyone who could work from home is now supposed to be doing so?

My daughters secondary school (800+ kids) only had 5 pupils attending each day last week. I think they've now closed the school and have arranged to send those pupils to another local school.

I also know they've closed our small village primary school which has around 110 kids.

Small rural school here, we have around 12-13 children eligible but only 6 children using it, not all on the same days, we are working round them. That’s around 8% of the school.

3 form entry primary school. Max around 30 kids a day

Are staff trying to keep the children 2m apart from each other while at school? Or is the act of sending your child into school a sort of acceptance that 'normal times' contact will probably apply?

Just genuinely wondering. Used to be a TA and i can't imagine how hard it is to give these children a pleasant school day while pushing for social distancing. Hats off to all the staff

Are staff trying to keep the children 2m apart from each other while at school?

We are.

I work in a supported living home with 15 people we support. The only ones working from home are the senior management. mind you, we have the same one in every morning standing (masked up of course) on the patio listening to handover.
We are covering shifts without using agency as best we can and actually, we're doing really well. We locked down our home in the very early stages, so if it gets in its coming from one of us. Key 'on the floor' staff began social distancing then socially isolating quite early on. At handover we frequently discuss how much we are having to trust each other to protect ourselves and our own children.
Luckily, we have a large proportion of older staff whose dc are grown up, that makes it easier. Those with school age children all have keyworker school places but I think they aren't taking them up - they have some sort of rota between them I think.
We have documents identifying us as keyworkers but I haven't had the gall to use mine during the priority shopping hours yet! Yes, I'm doing important work but it doesn't compare with hospital based staff.
I'm working my usual hours plus half again to help make up for the 3 staff members who are 'shielding'.

@Eggcited must be hard. As a parent i salute and thank you.

Our school made it very difficult to use the key worker service even though we are genuinely entitled to use it. It is not freely provided even when details of work /job title clearly indicate a need. There was no wish to make the children feel welcome. And parents were challenged and questioned over and over as to why they brought children in. I feel very let down by the school and I think when they look back in hindsight over their actions they will be mortified. They also told the children they wouldn’t do any teaching with them even though they had more staff than children so actually could have done one to one (at a safe distance of course).

They also told the children they wouldn’t do any teaching with them even though they had more staff than children so actually could have done one to one

We've been told we're not allowed to teach. School at the minute is a very strange kind of childcare, it doesn't resemble anything like our usual routine / environment. If we started offering 1-1 teaching we'd have even more angry parents phoning us. Complaining it's not fair, and demanding to know why their child wasn't able to attend.

They also told the children they wouldn’t do any teaching with them even though they had more staff than children so actually could have done one to one (at a safe distance of course).

We have also been told we are not allowed to teach. It’s a playscheme.

Babymamama - ours has been just like this too. I am so disappointed in them. I know it’s been hard (I’m a teacher too), but they have been utterly dismissive and unpleasant.
DD is in year 6. I may well move DS in September.

I'm a teacher and my school is open for a dwindling number of children.

We try to ensure social distancing with children sat apart on different table and with separate sets of resources. We are a big primary school so have around 30 in and children are grouped in to small 'classes' and these small groups even play out separately. Staff are on a rota with 2 or 3 members of staff covering each group through the day, so although children are familiar with the staff, there are changes through the day.

Even though staff are being cheerful and calm, it's so different to the usual school day that it can't help but be unsettling for children.

I couldn't help but feel anxious this week when I see all the changes around how we can shop in the supermarket.

I'm sure children feel the same about somewhere that is usually so familiar to them.

@Babymamamama - schools at the moment are emergency childcare centres, there's no teaching.

Local primary school had about 10-15 children a day. Local secondary school 5-10.
Heard of another local secondary school that had 1 child some days last week.

We usually have 330 pupils. My HT created her own list of key workers before the official list was announced so we had over 70 eligible pupils. Around 50 turned up on Monday, with 25 per class. By Friday, there were 15 students. Nearly 150 pupils get free school meals so a staff member has been delivering those. Students have been doing the Joe Wicks PE lesson, followed by maths and English, then creative activities in the afternoon. The government stated we shouldn't teach, but needed to provide care for the students who turned up.

London

My school had 12 kids. 3 form entry.

My year 7 DS's secondary school had 10.

We’ve had between 0-28 in our (large) secondary school. My children will come with me to school on Tuesday because they go to school in the same education authority so I’m allowed to take them (I had pulled them out thinking that DH and I would be able to sort it between us. He’s also a teacher. But teachers are sick so he has to go in extra days).

ToCaden, same role as you, classed as keyworker and working from home, so it's not being consistently applied.

Key worker working from home, so is my husband. Have a toddler. Can't access any childcare until Friday. Having a nightmare as I can't watch my kid and work. My kid has managed to break her nose and has an egg sized bump on her head. I am stressed to the nines.

Around 8 a day at my school (a village primary in a very rural area.)