Are you going to send your kids back in when they reopen?

[Keepdistance]

Wondering if people will send them back.
As they think only 4-10% of population might have had it. And this peak was only 4w of school.
Im not shielding but isolating as much as possible because im
asthmatic.

I hope they say attendance isnt mandatory so people who need to/want to or are still WFH can keep them home if needed.

I’ll have to as I’ll have to go back to work (currently WFH) unless DH can still work from home then.

I'm pretty sure we've all had it already. Symptoms went away a couple of weeks ago. There's always a chance it wasn't and it just just a bug but myself and DH are self employed so we don't have a huge amount of choice.

No I won't be it's just to risky I mean if they announced there's an effective treatment or vaccine then yes I'd send them back in tomorrow if I could. But for their safety and mine home is where they'll be until then.

I could keep them home. I think I’ll wait and see what the situation is if/when schools reopen.

I suspect most people will have to. WFH means working. At the moment employers are sympathetic to a child in the background or some time taken out of the working day to supervise school work but if you can send your child in and choose not to then you cannot possibly work from home properly and I suspect most employers will not be that sympathetic (for children under a certain age anyway). I guess if one of you is a stay at home parent then you have the luxury of choice if you are able to adequately school your children. A vaccine is likely not a short way off so how long would you even do it for?!

Yes, as it’s my child’s best interests.

I am happy to be at home with him but he needs his routine, friends and social contact

If schools reopen what choice will state school parents have? Previously unless it was self-isolating parents were expected to send them in weren't they?

Yes because my job is not possible to do from home so I've had to stop working at the moment. I'm a single parent and need to work.

It’s wholly impractical to keep them at home til there’s a vaccine. Well, in the real world anyway.

I will be, DS is at secondary school. It's hardly fair to expect teachers to teach a class of students in school and set work for those at home as well. Unless the students who attend school are only doing work they could do at home, or those at home are placed in separate classes to those at school maybe?

I wouldn’t next week but if numbers do fall by May then yes I will then.

For her mental health as much as anything.

I was talking to adult DSD about this. She's at breaking point with her little boy who has ASD plus two other DC. But she doesn't want to send them back to school too early, and she is also worried for the teachers who will also face a potential onslaught of viral load.

Which may or may not be part of the plan. Who knows.

Where is Dominic Cummings btw?

Regardless of stories in the media, I really don't believe that reopening schools is imminent. Please don't stress about it now. I think that we will be a little further along the road when schools reopen. Assess the situation then and see how you feel. Schools, head teachers and school staff will hopefully be sympathetic to parent's anxieties. I don't think they will be recording unauthorised absences and fines to parents who are apprehensive about children returning to school.

It depends on when they go back, and how many parents have lost their jobs.
Some need schools for childcare and will send them whenever they get to.
Others not needing childcare, or not agreeing with the proposed date, especially if unemployed could keep them off if they choose to.

Mine isn't in until September anyway, but had they proposed sooner, then I'd have declined. I don't need childcare.

yes I'll be sending them to school, because it's in their best interests

No. I have a child with autoimmune condition and asthma, so I can’t risk it. Not sure what to do with other DC. I don’t feel confident sending any in without a vaccine in place, as it’ll lead to another spike

The numbers will fall but once everyone is back at work and school thry will rise very quickly.

It's similar to vulnerable young adults. All very well to stop for 12w but what happens after?

No. One of mine is abroad already and we're emigrating in August so my other one won't be going back.

Yes. There would be risks with a new vaccine too (and im not anti vaccination at all kids and i have full schedule)

I think the problem with all this is that there has been confusion about what lock down is for. It is simply to slow the spread so that the NHS can cope, it was never intended to be until there is a vaccine which realistically I am sure is way off until it has been tested and then properly rolled out. Therefore we have to go back to real life (vulnerable or not) and trust that the NHS will be better able to cope if it’s needed, which in many cases it is not. I can’t imagine the impact of young people’s mental health and future if parents choose to keep them isolated from anyone at all for potentially nearly 2 years.

I certainly am. It can't come soon enough.

There would undoubtedly of been more deaths (including children) had the schools not shut.

I fail to see how schools can safely create social distancing measures to keep staff and pupils safe if they are to reopen. Children are by nature tactile and lack hygiene. Older kids in 1000+ pupil schools walking down narrow corridors don’t stand a chance

So, no, is my answer. Mine won’t be going in.

I could keep my DC home as I wfh anyway.

But if schools open again I would assume its because it is safe to reopen. So they will definitely be there whether they've had CV or not.

And I would really not be happy if schools did not open until a vaccine (which is essentuslly what many on MN want).

Kids do need some consideration too. I know they're not pets so not held in the same regard. I know they are hated on mumsnet. But education is important. Mental Health is important. Physical exercise is important.

My children will have to go in, I work in a school and DH will need to go to work if he still has a job at the end of this. We won't have the choice just to stay at home as Bills need paying to keep a roof over our heads