Schools won't be reoping on 1 June, and if they do, I won't be sending my child

[effingterrified]

Unions will be doing what they exist to do and protecting the health of their members.

Until Boris can provide teachers with a safe workplace ie PPE for all staff, adequate social distancing, etc, unions will be telling members not to go in.

And if they do open, I won't be sending my child in as they wouldn't learn anything in the last few weeks under these conditions, and the health risks not only to the children, but to the teachers and parents, are not worth it.

Plus my child relies on a school bus to get to school and there is zero way of socially distancing on one of them. Or of running 3 school buses, say, per route, at an affordable cost.

Also, my dc is happy as Larry off school, and learning as much or more. Let's face it, how many kids object to longer school holidays? I know there are some eg vulnerable kids, but they can already attend at present.

Fed up of threads pretending all parents can't wait for schools to reopen. Not among the ones I know.

[excitedmumtobe87]

@0v9c99f9g9d939d9f9g9h8h sorry previous post was for @carolbaskin not you

I see we’re on the same page!

[StinkyWizzleteets]

Op was goady, that is general consensus.

What does surprise me though are the numbers of people saying if the government say it’s ok then it must be ok. It’s not as if they have a record for making good decisions in this pandemic, is it? They’ve pretty much gotten it wrong from day one on everything and continue to do so. Never has a Government appeared so incompetent and out of their depth and there has been some great Competition in that category. How can any responsible parents put their faith and the safety of their most precious loved ones in the hands of these over privileged out of their depth morons who care more for their rich mates than the health of their voters

I’ll trust the teachers and none that I know are supporting a return in June. It’s not them being lazy, most are already Working shifts in the hubs for keyworkers kids but they know how kids behave in groups and policing distancing & hygiene measures will be a nightmare. The risks to the adults and vulnerable family members will be greater even if the kids themselves don’t get very ill.

I’d love to send my kids back to school/nursery - we’ve already had covid once but there’s not enough data to say we can’t get it again. The fact symptoms come and go in waves over long periods of time may mean the virus reawakens and does that make us spreaders again?

So many unknowns and we’re sending our 5 year olds out as guinea pigs for the rest of society. You do you as they say in mumsy circles...

[Bubblebee7]

How long can we continue like? When will a vaccination be produced? It’s all Unknown’s.
What we do know is that in the meantime some people will have to send their kids back to school due to financial reasons... so when you make bold statements such as these. Think on that maybe people are hesitant about sending their kids to school but they are also weighing up the prospect of loosing their income or home.

[Utterlydespairing]

have also noticed there are a lot of posters who automatically leap to defend the government's policies

No one allowed to support the goverment then?
Do you have to be Left to post on Mumsnet? Didn’t realise that.

[Utterlydespairing]

I’ve also noticed there are a lot of posters who will criticise the goverment no matter what.

Funny that...

[Bubblebee7]

It’s not for the government though is it? They get paid enough money. It’s the harsh reality let’s be honest if we didn’t have to work most of us wouldn’t!
Furlough won’t last forever. It’s all well and good if you are in a secure job (I am). I feel for those who are not though.

[tickertyboo]

Queenofmyprincess; thank you for sharing that information with us. It is very helpful to know when the government are being non-transparent with us. Keep up your good work. x

[user68901]

Queenofmyprincess . I'm sorry for what you have seeing at your hospital . It would be interesting to know whether any of these children were premature. I do wonder now that medical science being able to keep babies alive ever earlier is a factor in any these cases especially as and it is well known that lungs are greatly affected by being born prematurely.

[mrpumblechook]

How long can we continue like? When will a vaccination be produced? It’s all Unknown’s.

True but we do know that we don't have enough information at the moment to assess whether it's safe to send children back not only for them but for their parents and wider community. If coronavirus cases surge again it will have a knock-on effect for the economy. There is no way around it other than being cautious and I don't think we are if young children are back at school in a couple of weeks. Maybe by September we will know more and even though we don't have a vaccine we may have worked out which treatments can reduce serious illness and deaths.

[Flower34]

OP, what’s the fcuking point of your post? You decided not to send your kids in. It’s your decision. Why would you broadcast it and try to make a fcuking point about how right you are! No one cares! There is no right or wrong in current circumstances. You do what’s good for you and your family and STFU!

[tickertyboo]

Flower34, you seem very angry about things. Are you okay?

[PicsInRed]

People do tend to become angry when others attempt to force their own choices on them.

[Concerned7777]

We are all just doing WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR CHILD what anyone does is no one else's concern. Whether you have decided to keep them home or send them to school I'm sure none of us have come to the decision lightly theres many pros and cons for both options. There Is no right and wrong just what is best for your own family no one should told they're being irresponsible or have to justify why they made that choice.
Arguing the toss with strangers in the internet if their children are going to school or not is going to have zero impact on your own life. Move on!

[KittyMcKitty]

I would send my children back - they are years 10 & 12 with GCSEs starting in less then a year. I’m worried for their future.

[tickertyboo]

PicsInRed, I think people get angry too when they feel that they don't have a choice.

[Wtfdoipick]

I'll send mine back asap. I can deal with the teaching but as an only child she is lonely as anything and needs to socialise with other children other than just over a computer. The risk is low enough and I'm happy to risk that, all other social interactions will be pretty much non existent so I feel this is important for her mental health.

[mrpumblechook]

I would send my children back - they are years 10 & 12 with GCSEs starting in less then a year. I’m worried for their future.

Those are the years I think they should send back first as they can socially distance and it would be for their educational benefit rather than for childcare reasons..

[PicsInRed]

PicsInRed, I think people get angry too when they feel that they don't have a choice.

But they do have a choice, tickertyboo, they can withdraw their kids from physical school and officially homeschool like so many families have done before them.

[Spillinteas]

There is actually a really good chance the kids won’t be back in September if we have another spike which is being predicted for summer or it might be winter. Or we might have people signing petitions for not opening them up till a vaccine is ready - which one might not be - or it might not be able to be eradicated and be here forever - like the FLU.

Lock down was never supposed to be about staying in forever - it was about slowing the flow of people needing to be hospitalised.

I don’t get why people just don’t understand that. It might be because of the massive scare mongering of the media or idiots like Piers Morgan - whilst at work ( sitting on his millions) berating any one that goes to work or the government for trying to get the economy going.

People that won’t go to work should give their jobs up for the people that want them - same goes to school places.

If your happy cooped in your house and keeping your kids in - fine. Others are happy to carry on.

Sweden carried on and they are doing great. Tens of millions of people in the U.K. will be completely fine if they catch the virus. My families education and income should not have to thrown under the bus for a tiny tiny minority

[tickertyboo]

PicsinRed; yes, one can choose to send their children back to school or one can choose to keep their children at home. The choice may be straightforward for some but not so for others. Any choice, involves a consideration of one's housing situation, the ability to pay the bills versus the risk to your child's health. This, therefore may not be a happy choice to make for some. It is wrong of the government to place families in this situation.

[mrpumblechook]

Sweden carried on and they are doing great. Tens of millions of people in the U.K. will be completely fine if they catch the virus. My families education and income should not have to thrown under the bus for a tiny tiny minority

In what way are they doing "great". Their death rate is not far below ours and much higher than their neighbouring countries. A lot of economists don't think their economy will fare any better either. The café's etc may be open but few people are in them (as they have been told to avoid them and are doing so) so they are probably not making any profit.

[CurlyEndive]

@tickertyboo I agree with you that it is not a happy choice, but that doesn't mean the government should make it for everyone. We need to be able to make the choice ourselves and take responsibility for our decision.

[knittingaddict]

My daughter (a single parent) had a phone call yesterday from the headmistress to say that her 2 children, year R and year 1 could go in to school today. She jumped at the chance and I fully support her decision. It means that we will probably not see them for the foreseeable future, but it seems like the right thing to do.

[tickertyboo]

CurlyEndive. I am a firm believer in making our own choices and taking responsibility for them.

However, the greater the economic clout a family has the more choices they have. Correspondingly, the more comfortable they will be taking them. Those with very little economic clout as a family do not have this.

[Kazzyhoward]

I am a firm believer in making our own choices and taking responsibility for them.

But you need to have a choice to do that. If schools remain closed, what "choice" do you have??

If cancer treatment continues to be stopped, what "choice" does a cancer sufferer have?

Such services need to be restarted asap and then, and only then, can the person make an informed choice whether to use that service or not!