Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

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

602 replies

Bigfishylittlefishy · 11/05/2020 10:45

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
TinyTear · 12/05/2020 13:14

yes, sending in the Reception one, as it will make it easier to sort out the y3 by herself without seeing the sister having less to do...

PerfectPenquins · 12/05/2020 13:16

Thank you Danny, I really shouldn't reply to these threads I'm still so angry about it. I just wish people would realise not only are we losing loved ones but saying goodbye is made so much worse during the restrictions. The service isn't what it should be to say goodbye to someone. Definitely too raw still.

JassyRadlett · 12/05/2020 14:07

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

There is another aspect to this that is neither education nor childcare, which is children’s wider wellbeing.

My four year old, who gets to go back, is pretty much fine. My eight year old is miserable, struggling, lonely and angry. We are supporting him as best we can but rude and thoughtless characterisations of why some of us might want our children back at school even with marginal educational benefit reinforce that many have lost sight of the fact that children are people too, that we choose schools based on more than their test scores, and this situation is damaging to them in ways that stretch well beyond education.

But sure, stick with black and white binary characterisations that set this up as a teachers vs parents issue. Why not. It’s that plain and simple, right?

AllTheUserNamesAreTaken · 12/05/2020 14:14

DS is in Y2 so don’t be first lot in anyway but I think we will send him in. He is an only child and weighing the risks up, I think the risks to him mentally and developmentally by having no children to play with are greater than the risk from covid19.

This isn’t a case of perhaps just waiting a little longer and there won’t be a risk from covid. It is not feasible (from a work perspective) and would be harmful and cruel to keep him away from other children until (and if) there is a vaccine so we’re going to have to take that risk eventually

However, we will be considering what the school day will actually look like before making a definite decision, and also seeing how DS deals with it and how it is affecting him (stress wise) when he does go back. If needs be, we will then pull him out again

Aneta12345 · 12/05/2020 14:34

Definitely not , I think it’s far to early ! We still have around 4000 daily cases of covid 19 around the UK at the moment and I just don’t understand how they can even think about re opening schools right now ! It’s just couple of weeks to go!

SueEllenMishke · 12/05/2020 16:33

We are supporting him as best we can but rude and thoughtless characterisations of why some of us might want our children back at school even with marginal educational benefit reinforce that many have lost sight of the fact that children are people too, that we choose schools based on more than their test scores, and this situation is damaging to them in ways that stretch well beyond education.

This 100%. My only child DS is desperate to go back. he misses other children. Both me and DH are WFH full time and doing that alongside trying to home school is increasingly becoming unsustainable. I've looked at the risks and applied them to my family and have decided he will be going back as soon as he can.

nellodee · 12/05/2020 16:50

This isn't about childcare, but I'm working from home and it's unsustainable. Okaaaaay.

SueEllenMishke · 12/05/2020 17:08

It isn't just about childcare. Or did you miss the bit about him being an only child and missing social interaction with other children...?
But yeah, childcare is important if we want to keep our jobs and a roof over our heads.

longhaulstress · 12/05/2020 17:14

Yes I'll be sending my year 1 dd in if it ends up being June.

greensnail · 12/05/2020 17:21

Absolutely, my y6 is desperate to go back so I think I'd struggle to stop her even if I wanted to.

cadburyegg · 12/05/2020 17:36

Some of these replies have me a bit 🤔 so I’ll explain my reasoning as to why DS will return if schools open. We believe the risk to him and us is minimal, statistically children under 10 have under a 0.01% risk from dying from coronavirus, and adults under 40 (us) have a 0.1% risk. None of us have any relevant health problems. The R is currently between 0.5-0.9 and back in March before schools closed it was thought to be closer to 4. And we sent DS to school right up until the last day, so I feel technically it will be safer to send him now than it was 2 months ago. Also we live in an area with a low proportion of cases, less than 10 confirmed cases per 10,000 people. So I think the risks are outweighed by the benefits of going, particularly as his best friend will also be going back. I am not under any illusion that it will be business as usual. I’m not expecting them to be able to socially distance and in the guidelines it is reinforced they won’t be expected to.

I completely understand that some people don’t feel comfortable with the idea of sending their children back and that’s their decision to make. You won’t be fined. I’d urge anyone on the fence to try to make an informed decision based on your level of risk, the statistics available and the health/situation of their own family. Don’t expect the government to make it for you. But please don’t use terms like “guinea pigs” and “canaries” referring to children of parents willing to send them back, particularly given the statistics I’ve quoted above. My child is a person who deserves an education and social interaction, not an animal that I’m going to throw under a bus just for my own convenience. I’ve even seen comments on Facebook from people who actually want the infection rate to spike again over the next 3 weeks so schools don’t reopen so they don’t have to decide what to do!! Please. Let’s not forget some key workers children have been attending the whole time. We are lucky in that we can wfh but others cannot and will lose their jobs if they are not able to return to work soon. Others (like us) are struggling to cope with homeschooling, looking after toddlers and trying to work all at the same time and this isn’t sustainable for us long term. So no, it’s not “just about childcare” for us, but it is a consideration. Even if he was able to attend just 1-2 days a week it would make a big difference to us. Not everyone is furloughed (my DH is currently in a key worker role, and my work won’t furlough anyone), or has a parent not working. Being able to keep your child at home long-term without any/few financial repercussions to your family is a very privileged position to be in.

fishfingersandtrashtv · 12/05/2020 17:37

Not to school but to the childminders.
A tiny part of me feels sad but a huge part of me feels f&&ing relieved I might just about be able to keep my job and sanity.
We will be working from home for the foreseeable future so it will be a bubble of home & childminder.

SueEllenMishke · 12/05/2020 17:46

cadburyegg your post has perfectly explained how I feel and why I will be sending DS to school as soon as we can.
Thank you

Willowmartha1 · 12/05/2020 17:52

@cadburyegg thank you for your well informed and sensible post, I'm horrified at the comments I have seen about children being used as experiments or guinea pigs. As a single working mum (keyworker) my daughter has been going into school a couple of days a week and she will be going back full time when it is ok to do so, we don't all have the luxury of staying at home !

MonkeyToesOfDoom · 12/05/2020 18:09

But they are being used as test subjects. They're the first to go back and will be used to see if Covid spreads. Of it doesn't, or at least it doesn't exceed acceptable levels, they'll send more years back.
That's exactly what a guinea pig is.

Let's just hope your children aren't the ones contracting it within those acceptable levels.

Bollss · 12/05/2020 18:12

monkey even if they are it's very very unlikely they will get seriously ill or die.

Similarly someone has to be "first" even if it's September - no?

JassyRadlett · 12/05/2020 18:20

This isn't about childcare, but I'm working from home and it's unsustainable. Okaaaaay.

But no reply to the substantive point. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay indeed.

MonkeyToesOfDoom · 12/05/2020 18:22

"Similarly someone has to be "first" even if it's September - no?"

No what? What does thst mean? No?
If you can't pose a question correctly, retype it.

Some one does have to be first, that's painfully obvious. September is months away, giving more time for research, more time to gather PPE, more time to adapt settings for social distancing, more time to change rooms around and even secure more rooms if necessary. Schools could spread out to local town halls, church halls, libraries or even arrange outdoor classes in local parks.
Crow barring new ways of school life that incorporates teacher and child safety into the old structure of school buildings and the education system isn't going to work well. More time, better adjustment, better outcomes.

Insert random no wherever you like. No No Yes yes no.

Bollss · 12/05/2020 18:25

I'm pretty sure that made sense no need to be rude.

Ah right. Ppe will only protect students from teachers but ok!

Ellle · 12/05/2020 18:33

cadburyegg How can I check the number of cases in my area or postcode? Do you have a link? Thanks

SueEllenMishke · 12/05/2020 18:33

Schools could spread out to local town halls, church halls, libraries or even arrange outdoor classes in local parks
Sooooo many assumptions being made about facilities available.
Not all schools will be in walking distance to these and even if they do it's unlikely they would be suitable for use without significant investment.

cadburyegg · 12/05/2020 18:34

@MonkeyToesOfDoom

Like I said - and it’s backed up by statistics - any child under 10 has a 0.01% risk of dying from coronavirus. They have more chance of dying in a car accident. I assume you are going to tell people not to take their children in cars?

The guidelines say that primary school aged children are not required to social distance and the aim is to teach in smaller groups.

Maybe come back when you’ve read the guidelines Wink

cadburyegg · 12/05/2020 18:36

@Ellle here you go

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-51768274

MonkeyToesOfDoom · 12/05/2020 18:36

Maybe come back when you’ve read the guidelines

Maybe pop along to the funeral of a child and let the family know about statistics. It'll make them feel a shit ton better. Wink

lilmishap · 12/05/2020 18:40

.

From BJ in the beginning
"You could take it on the chin, take it all in one go and allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population, without taking as many draconian measures."

I'm starting to think the laissez faire lockdown and token closure of the schools was just a bit of razzle dazzle to appease the public because the plan is for us to just take it on the chin.

They know doing this will cause a second peak in Summer/Autumn, it's why they've extended Furlough to October. I genuinely feel my kids are being used to do something pretty horrid