Key worker children in school

[madeittotheend]

What's it like for the key worker kids at school? I'm thinking of sending my DS in for the days I WFH in my NHS job. DH also key worker and out of the house. But I keep struggling along at home with him when really I should send him so he isn't watching Netflix for 8 hours a day...he isn't happy. Are you sending your kids to school still and is it okay? Have any of them been ill?

My 2 DDs are going to school as I am a single parent working in the local hospital.

DD1 is getting the bus to school as normal and isn't too bothered about going but would be happier at home. She says they sit in the library doing the set home learning with occasional PE.

DD2 is loving going to school. I have some annual leave booked and she was very cross because she will miss one of the teachers who she says is the most fun! They are doing an hour a day of the home learning and then spending the rest of the time outside playing. They have a mud kitchen and den building amongst other exciting things! She would go every day if she could!

My 13 year old is doing work all morning, a miles walk, lunch and a film. Loves her 2 days in school. Send them in x

The government instruction is If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they must be. For that reason, even though we're both keyworkers, but WFH, our kids are at home with us. Whether that will change on Sunday, who knows?

@Redolent

But this probably describes what could potentially be happening in the households of anyone WFH at the minute?

Think we will have to agree to disagree on this one to be honest. There’s no right or wrong.

Yes some people are eligible and entitled to drop their children at school but morally if you can keep them at home I just believe you should.

Mine are going everyday. There's only a few kids in (about 4 in each year). They are doing the worksheets that school have sent home for their classmates, plus lots of fun and games and running around. They are not in uniform and I gather the teachers r more chilled and the kids are getting to know thier first names etc.. and see them in a more relaxed way! The school are amazing and I can't thank them enough.

It's a bit weird as my children are not with their friends and they have a different teacher each week as the teachers are on a rota system.

I'm just v grateful. Im pleased they r having social interaction. Pleased they are staying active. School r a bit fanatical about hand washing so my childrens hands are red raw, and u think the kids r finding social distance tough as they can't sit next to anyone in the class etc.. but those about the only downsides and we r talking about it all at home and they seem to be happy enough.

We've all had coronavirus so they were off school for a bit, but no cases (except us!) in the school that I can gather

To be blunt our LA is actively encouraging schools to be taking more kids as their own gradual increase. Granted my LA has got off very lightly (possibly one of the least affected) but schools here are definitely encouraging more in.

Our school has been encouraging more key worker parents to send their kids in over the past week or so, and made a big deal (in a good way) about when 20 kids were in last week (the highest so far).

I dunno, we discussed this a lot. Fact is, I'm not a key worker - only DP is. I COULD look after the kids at home, in a shitty way. And we had presumed we wouldn't be eligible, so back in March were gearing up for the full-time home schooling. But the school was totally ok with only one parent being a keyworker, the provision was there, and we took it. Judge away!

I'm worried about the impact on his mental health.

What are you doing to help him with that, aside from planning to send him into school?

We are both keyworkers working out of the home so we have no choice but to send them. We have altered our shifts so we only overlap two days a week - to minimise their attendance there. I don't feel guilty at all sending them, they absolutely love it.They do brilliant activities they would never usually get to do and sadly for me, no school work at all. It is a holiday club really. My kids are more than happy to go, they fully understand the situation and feel they are the lucky ones out of their peer group for getting to still go to school. I am so glad, I don't know what I would do if they were upset about going. I am blessed to have such a wonderful school who seem to be really enjoying it themselves from what I have saw and are really thinking outside the box to come up with really fun activities.

Our school were very strict that both parents have to be keyworkers working out of the home and preference was given to NHS staff. They only accepted around 10 families. This may be unusual, we are not in England.

I'm on the rota for a hub. It's more childcare with a lack of resources. This afternoon was lovely and they all played out until movie time. But the grounds are vast and the children love the freedom they get.

As a keyworker from home my children are not allowed in school; school checks with employers if at home or not!

In our school, around 6 children in, sometimes different kids. In the morning they do Joe Wicks, then time to do the provided work, long break, lunch, two hours with a PE coach which varies from day to day, then a hour of film/colouring/ board games etc. It seems to work well.

My daughter is loving it - gets to play with other children and learning lots.

@RhubarbFizz your school are being idiots. It makes no difference if you work from home and only one parent actually needs to be a key worker

There are children other than key workers in school.

Speak to your Head if you are experiencing difficulties.

We have some children on a rota who come and run around the school grounds/ climbing walls etc each day but don't enter school.

We are doing the 3 R's, RE and creative lessons.

I'm on a rota for our hub. Absolutely hate going in, goes against all the "stay at home" messages I have going round in my head. Quite a few staff in are older too. It worries me, and the children don't stay apart. I would not send my own child in the OP's situation. I would come to an arrangement with work that lets me spend a couple of hours one to one with my child/ren and then they could Netflix after that. That's basically what I'm doing now.

Safer at home if you can. I'm a teacher working in my school 1 or 2 days a week. I wouldnt send mine.... no social distancing.

Some people have been wft from home for 7 weeks now. Don't know how they are doing it. If the school are willing to take him I'd send him op

"My children go. 2 different schools. 1 quite enjoys it the other doesn't. 1 does some work and a lot of tree climbing and drawing. The other they plan structured activities so baking, arts and crafts, forest school..."

Our school does the same work that has been set for the children at home, so that keyworker children can relax at home with their families, knowing that all of the work has been done at school.

Tigertrees, I am sorry you feel that way about your keyworker job. Thankfully the parents of those children clearly are continuing to do their keyworker jobs, most will be full time not on a basic rota. I am sure they would rather be at home too but are helping society by fulfilling their roles. Some will be on half your income, but continuing to go to work so we can all eat etc.

If you are so unhappy now, what will you do when schools return fully?

As for your reply to the op, yes you can spend time with your dc during the working day, but surely you can see NHS jobs are not like that? Even ones that facilitate WFH? Obviously if the op could do what you suggest, she would be doing that already.

I non what gets me is that people followed the advice in the beginning and now are complacent about it. The rules haven’t changed and therefore your behaviour shouldn’t

I think it really varies by school as to what the day is like so it's difficult to give advice on what would happen at your sons school and what you should do. Your best bet might be to phone them on Monday and explain you are likely to need to use the provision soon could they give you some details on what the day is like for you to prepare your son. It would give you more of an idea what is happening at your setting.

The secondary where I work has around 10 students in a day, they are supposed to do set work all morning, mostly in computer rooms, with a break in between. Then PE and something creative in the afternoon. In all honesty it depends which staff are in as to what the students experience. You might have a day with a Maths, English and Science teacher who can help really well in the morning with the set work, but then not provide much in the afternoon of PE and creative stuff. I've tried to break it up a little when I have been in - we played a class game as individuals instead of in teams and made origami fortune tellers (with the help of a youtube video). Just to give you an idea of what a day might be like, though like I said every school, and indeed lots of staff will do things differently.

It took a lot of settling for children. 5,7 and 8. It is not normal however they finally settled in last week and have made new friends and our school have started to actually teach a little in the mornings. They now mostly play poke mon cards and I have had to spend a fortune on those in the last fee weeks Haha! If you need it then do it.

RhubarbFizz your school are being idiots. It makes no difference if you work from home and only one parent actually needs to be a key worker

Not true. The government guidance states clearly that children who can be safely looked after at home should not be in school.

This is the document schools are working to. Even children with a social worker will not always be in school. It depends whether the risk assessment has shown they can be safely looked after at home. We have to log details of children expected to be in school but who aren’t, through an online tracker. The primary goal is to have as few children in school as possible, to minimise the spread of infection. Any parents struggling to cope are supported in the usual way, through telephone advice and referral to appropriate agencies.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people