Key worker children in school

[wembollian]

The original message was definitely that the children of key workers should only go into school as a last resort, but has this message seemed to alter to anyone else recently?

I've seen key worker posters encouraged to send children in while they work from home.Yesterday a BBC article said that parents who don't send their children on 1st June wouldn't be fined, just as key workers haven't been fined if they haven't been sending their children in recently. Of course they haven't been fined - they were encouraged not to.

I am a key-worker on a rota, and would love to send my child in to school occasionally while I get work done on my days at home, but I wouldn't because of the guidance (as well as some safety concerns, but that's a different thread). Has the message changed, though?

I'm going to start sending one of my children to school 1 day a week. Although these new rules don't apply, as we aren't in England. I am a key worker but my hubby doesn't work due to a mental health condition. My son is dyslexic and is prone to meltdowns. We are finding it difficult to get him to do work esp English and he's off to high school in September. I guess we are very lucky the school is ok with this. There are only 5-6 kids in the Juniors at the moment, so I'm not too worried about the virus. We've had no deaths here.

In terms of what we do the rest of the week- dh (teacher) is in two days a week, he then does three days home schilling our kids 9-3 then does all his own work after 3. I'm at work three days (two from home) and in the hospital two days but do school hours. On my day off I home scjooo the kids and they go to school the day we are both at work away from home

OP if you feel you need to I would say send them in for a day or two but I wouldn't do it from the idea that they would really benefit from it as it's a very strange place to be at the moment, in a small group with a random assortment of children of different ages.

Ugh no way would I put my child through that only as a last resort. This is secondary though.

Another 3 pages of whining and attempts to egg parents on not to bring their kids back to school just arrived from our school.

Huh 3 pages? Sure it wasn't whining.

If you don't need to, I wouldn't put your children.

As a previous poster said, it is not a normal school environment.

My DC have been going to school 2 or 3 days a week while I work. I wonder whether the new guidance means I should send them everyday even when I am not at work. I won't, much as I am desperate for peace and quiet, because the school is not teaching them while they are there (which is fine, I knew that would be the case and am extremely grateful for what the school has done with them over the past couple of months) which means I have to fit the work set for the week into 2 or 3 days at home. If I sent them to school everyday, they would presumably still not be taught there and I would have to fit all the online school work into the weekend even though I work at least 1 day most weekends. Ironically, they lose out on their education the more they go to school at the moment, because, even though I am a crap teacher, at least I am getting through some school work when we are at home.

Our kids have been going into school 4 days a week since lockdown. DD is year 1, so she'll go back when that year returns anyway, but I'm not expecting it to change for my DS in year 5, I'd be amazed if the school suddenly says he has to stay home.

At my kids schools primary and secondary, it was made crystal clear from the begging that keyworker children should only be in if there is no other carer to look after them-because you are a single parent keyworker and that if one of you is not a keyworker, but still working, the expectation is the non keyworker stays off work to look after the children.

It was made clear that you could not send your child if you were a keyworker if your partner was not.

I haven’t read the guidelines but I don’t know if they correct in what they were saying or not.
All I know is the secondary has circa 1400 pupils and they’ve had an average of 4 a day attending, the primary 300 pupils and roughly 10 a day.

Put me in a bit of a position as was starting new job, LD adults but was postponed as residents couldn’t move to new residential and so far I have not started as although they need people and dp is furloughed, work are giving no indication for how long as have the workplace is back at work and if he’s asked to go back, I then have no childcare and according to our schools rules he’d have to stay at home to look after them which is not viable as he’s the higher earner, my work would be part time. Can’t really offer myself up to work if his work could want him back in a week.

What do the kids do at school all day?

When my kids are at school they do the same online learning that they'd do at home in the hall in the morning - even get joe wicks on ! then our in the playground all afternoon on scooters, trim trails etc ...they say it's like playgroup in the afternoon ! Def not a normal routine though they like seeing their teachers

Thanks for answering

In many cases, the most vulnerable children (socially) are the least likely to have good standards of attendance and this is likely to continue throughout the phased return of children into school.

The new guidance says now keyworkers are encouraged to send their children to school and the "must stay at home if possible" guidance isn't the case any more.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings
It says:
"Education and childcare settings are already open to priority groups. Now that we have made progress in reducing the transmission of coronavirus we are encouraging all eligible children to attend - it is no longer necessary for parents of eligible children to keep them at home if they can."

Send them to school.
I've been sending mine 2 days a week and using those days to do visits but if I wasn't going out I'd send him anyway. It's very difficult to do my job with DS around therefore he needs to go to school.
It's not actually the school's concern whether you're at an office or not. I'm still working from home so maybe only going out for 1.5-2 hours of my day when he's at school.

Education and childcare settings are already open to priority groups. Now that we have made progress in reducing the transmission of coronavirus we are encouraging all eligible children to attend - it is no longer necessary for parents of eligible children to keep them at home if they can.

We are 'critical workers' (makes me image we complain all the time) and have kept ours home as DP entirely at home and I only go in on occasion. Not sure what to do for the best now but I do think my employer will expect me to put them in now (as they tried to insist in the first place.) I don't have any issues with them going or not going but just want to do the right thing. Aggghhh WHAT IS THE RIGHT THING????

The right thing is to send them to school.

My dds are at school. I am a sw and a lone parent. I tried keeping them at home it was unfeasible and beyond stressful. I could keep them home a couple of days a week but the break in routine stresses my 7 year old so I'm keeping them in.

I think the Head was so firm in the beginning that they could only go in if they couldn't be kept safe at home (which they are), that it never occurred to me to send them in. I'm still worried that they might call my work and find that I'm not actually there, but working from home instead!

As you say, @CodenameVillanelle, it's not really up to them where I am physically doing the work, but I think the Head might still argue that it is.

Im considering sending my dc in Y7 and Y9 and possibly my Y11 Dc who also has an EHCP. I am an NHS clinician, Dh is a teacher. So far dh has been wfh a lot, but this may well now change. Technically they would be old enough to stay at home and also have an 18yr old dd at home, so they don't "need" to go for childcare reasone, but tbh I think it might be good for them to go depending on the set up. It would also reduce some of the pressure on my and dh trying to supervise home learning for the very reluctant Y7 (Yd dc is much more motivated and just getting on with it!)
It is a bit of a dilema tbh, Im also waiting to see if school contacts me.
If their school years were going back I would defintiely be sending them.

Just email the school and ask for a space for her. Don't get drawn into whether you'll be at the office or not.

I have been worrying if I should send DS in as I am NHS but WFH and have been struggling along for the last 7 weeks to work with him in here so this solves my dilemma. Thank you.

My local authority pushed back on the schools being funny about people working from home.

Head has said he doesn’t want more children in. It must be tricky to manage as one family at our school (part time a&e worker and a decorator who is furloughed so off) are still sending their 3 kids in, each day! Can’t believe the cheek of it!

My DH and I are both working from home. I am a key worker. Our DC have been going in for the last two months starting at one day a week now up to four days a week. We have been very transparent that both DH and I are home (and working) and school has been happy to have children - they encouraged us to up the days for our and the children’s benefit.