So who will be returning their children to school in June?

[Bigfishylittlefishy]

Just that really. Parents of reception, year 1 and year 6, IF schools return on the 1st of June, will you send your child in?

My son is in reception and I would be willing to send him in.

Mine will be going, I think the risk to them is minimal and would be outweighed if the alternative is missing more school.

Did anyone else see the interview with the headteacher on the BBC news this morning? I was amazed- she hadn’t even read the guidance, but started out by saying the proposals were totally unworkable. They then interviewed a teacher from Denmark, where they have introduced the measures suggested here- regular hand washing, split classes into small groups, staggered arrival times, allocating toys to each group of children so they aren’t all sharing. The English head teacher looked a bit amazed and said “lots of good ideas to think about there”. It was as if she hadn’t put any thought to it at all, just dismissed it out of hand as too difficult.

That's terrifying, didn't see it but I'm not surprised.

This is why I'm so furious at all the people just screaming no. It doesn't help to find workable solutions. Just screaming how 4 year olds can't socially distance. Well no, but they won't be expected to.

Mixing with 15 children and a teacher/TA is massively minimising the risk compared to mixing with 200 plus children.

Yes there will be many questions raised and issues to work through.

But instead of just shouting no, no, no. Why not demand the extra resources schools will need?

But instead of just shouting no, no, no. Why not demand the extra resources schools will need?

Because I suspect they'd get them and have to go back to work and that is clearly not what they want!

Many of us aren’t shouting no we’re explaining why it fits us rationally.

I understand why it doesn’t fit others

We should all understand everyone’s situation is different.

Some are vulnerable.

Those who don’t send their kids in make it easier for the school to teach those who are going in.

It should be like work. If you can do it from home do. It helps

“It should be like work. If you can do it from home do. It helps.“

Agree: as long as vulnerable children aren’t forgotten and remote provision is made for them. They’re not responsible for their health problems and shouldn’t be disadvantaged because of them.

@Artesia yes it was a very interesting interview, the Denmark teacher was so up beat and was making it work quite well. I thought she said 700 children had gone back to her school?

Chillipeanuts I agree and if you are vulnerable it's completely understandable that you would not want/not be able to return to school. However this may still be the case in September, at Christmas and beyond. These are questions that need to be raised with schools and the government.

Equally however, children are already being left behind. Maybe those who have parents/a parent wfh who cannot give their child the attention they need. Maybe those from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Those who have additional needs.

No child should be left behind.

But people have to be solution focused.

This isn’t the interview but an article on how Denmark have managed getting children back to school:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52550470

@fabulouslyElegantTits

It makes total sense why reception and year one, it even explains it in the guidance. These children are at a crucial point in time and stand to lose the most (this is not just about exams and learning algebra!)

Well nurses and carers and people looking after children in residential homes would like to social distance too. And no they don't get PPE for every task and no we don't have it on breaks when they're sat 6 to a small coffee table as there is nowhere else.

But yes, all these people shall stop working tomorrow.

I'm not going to participate in the thread anymore, I have always sided with teachers previously and I am quite sure the ones acting in this way are a minority, but I find it quite shocking.

The whole country is going back to work, you can all bang on about children not social distancing etc but it is not just children who do not understand how to do this, there are other groups too and some of us have been working with them throughout.

You can all bang on about PPE, Covid patients are not made to wear it and do you think a flimsy paper mask does much for the staff member giving them oral care? Cleaning their faeces? Having to use break away techniques when attacked by that patient?

The risk to (especially) very young children being away from school from an extended period is far, far more than them catching Covid, and if people can't see that from the statistics then that is a sorry state of affairs.

I’m not participating anymore either because some refuse to accept we all have different situations, health concerns and views.

I understand everyone else it’s a shame others can’t do the same.

Yes, we've had the virus anyway, I'm surprised there aren't more on this thread saying the same considering an estimated 5-10% of the population have had it so far. Also I'm not working my full hours at the moment - I doubt my employer would be sympathetic to me refusing childcare when it's offered. So I would send them even if we hadn't had it because of work, and because we're low risk. I wouldn't if one of us was shielding.

I’ve got a year six dc. We’ll probably send back but I’d have preferred a different year group to go back. His sister is in year 5 and has Sen and the school have been utterly useless. My year 6 son isn’t fussed about going back. Transition to secondary might be tough as our high school is shut for most pupils except keyworkers children. I’ve also got a year 2 child but they’re in a specialist school which is pretty much shut to all but key workers children.

I would like to see more research about children. I do feel for the staff as our school is small. My dh saw the assistant head on his walk with our dog yesterday and they had a socially distanced chat and he said they will really struggle to socially distance. It’s a really hard situation to manage.

The experience so far has been tricky as we have three primary aged kids at home and two have Sen. The youngest has very complex Sen and me and my dh are both working. But we’ve had a lot of issues with education where our kids have been in and out of education so this isn’t as unusual to us.

The difference is, those care workers are doing their job because otherwise people would starve to death and die in their own filth. Not because Mrs Bennett can't video conference with little Tommy in the background. And the other difference is, when all this is done, I will happily march on Downing Street, demanding to know why patients were released to care homes without testing and why we didn't have enough PPE. I won't decry carers on mumsnet saying "We had to work without PPE too, what makes you so special?"

Shall we cancel school forever then @nellodee if that's all it's there for?

Do not pretend for one moment that this is about education. It's about childcare, plain and simple.

Ah right and are teachers too good for that?

Ps it's barely going to be childcare as it it won't be anywhere near FT.

If it was about education, people would be up in arms that their children were going to be taught by unqualified TAs in rooms with no appropriate equipment. If it was about children with special needs they would be complaining about TAs being stolen from statemented children to run classes of their own. It is not about education. People want primary school teachers to risk themselves so they can work.

I have utmost respect for care workers. I have worked in care homes for many years of my life and have a very good understanding of what the job involves. Those workers are being treated appallingly. I imagine if the stakes of them not turning up to work were not so high, many of them would not. I cannot imagine how hard that decision must be for many people. I have read on this site about people having to turn up with covid symptoms to a home with little PPE because they knew there was no one else to cover their shift if they did not. How anyone can hold that up and say, "If you're not in this position, quit complaining", I honestly do not understand.

I wont be. It's easy for people who haven't had a loved one die to harp on about statistics but when those statistics hit your fanily and tear it apart you see things very differently. My dad passed away three weeks ago after 12 days in intensive care. He was 59. No underlying conditions. He was not naturally going to die without him the virus. He is not a statistic. He is a great loss. So when people accuse you of being hysterical, not being rational I say its its BS. When it hurts your family see how much you downplay the risks then.

ds is in yr6 and I will send him back when his school requires it (they are still on half term on the 1st though). I would be more happy if they were asked to wear masks and teachers and staff were also allowed to wear them. I think 11 year olds are more than capable of following that rule and understanding about germs etc.
I also have one in preschool that I will send back but not necessarily all the hours it was before. He misses his friends dreadfully and this is they only way of him socialising legally with other households at the moment

If it was about education, people would be up in arms that their children were going to be taught by unqualified TAs in rooms with no appropriate equipment. If it was about children with special needs they would be complaining about TAs being stolen from statemented children to run classes of their own. It is not about education. People want primary school teachers to risk themselves so they can work.

This is an absolute crock of shit.

I'm extremely worried about all of those things. People can be worried about more than one thing at the same time.

But I believe that schools should be lobbying the government for the things they are going to need not just a blanket no.

Yes I will be sending my children to school. The risks are much lower now and the country needs to get back to work

I won't be able to ..both have an EHC Plan and 1-1 support.. won't work in a social distancing setting.. so the answer is NO. Anyway, we are loving being off together and have made ourselves a go kart.. far more fun!

DH is shielding so DS is unlikely to be going back until the medical team are ok with it.

If DH was healthy we would probably send DS back.

@PerfectPenguins. So sorry for your loss.