Reasons why you will not be sending your children back to school in June?

[saylor]

Unless you live with an adult over 65 (2% of UK households with under 16s and over 65s according to ONS), your child has an underlying health condition, or someone in your household has an underlying health condition/is shielding, what are your reasons for not sending your child/re back until September or beyond?

I've read that poorer households are much less likely to send their children back to school than wealthier households (paper copy of Economist magazine last week before anyone asks for a link!) which will widen the achievement gap even further.

For context, I'm SAHM and DH a high earner - we are both in agreement DD will be going back the minute school reopens.

I have a secondary age ds and we live in London.

Imo, the bigger dangers to him are knife crime and traffic.

Covid isn't affecting children in enough numbers to make me think it's worth destroying their education and mental health.

Year 1 Dd.

Reasons are

a) I’m pregnant, due to have my third section at the end of August and it’s going to be risky enough anyway with some complications I’ve got going on. Not willing to risk covid in top so we’ve all been strictly self isolating.

2. We had only moved here at the end of Jan and she wasn’t even offered a school place until the week before lockdown so hadn’t started here yet anyway - so no friends to miss other than the ones we’d left behind anyway.

3. I home educated her teenage brother through out his primary education so it’s no big deal to me carrying on the work aspect (have obviously had no work/communication from the new school as she hadn’t started, but as I know what I’m doing that’s fine). The school she was offered is shite anyway so was pondering home ed.

4. We are very fortunate to be in a good position to keep her at home for as long as needed.

5. we’ve moved to one of the most affected areas in the country.

So many people think the aim of lockdown is to eradicate covid/ wait for a vaccine- it was always to control the numbers and the masses will be fine if they catch covid. This message has been lost and twisted and that’s why I think many many parents are reluctant to Let their children return.

This, with bells on.

I happen to think that my year 6's mental health is deteriorating at a rate of knots. He needs go back. I strongly suspect that the highest risk of death to my child will be, as it always has been, getting knocked down on the road on the way in - I've never stopped him going for that. I'm not going to stop him going now.

My year 4 is not one of the first year groups back otherwise she'd be going too.

I'm slightly fed up with the dramatic "we're all going to die the minute we set foot out the door" statements that are abounding at the moment. It's just not true for the vast, vast majority of people.

I strongly suspect that the highest risk of death to my child will be, as it always has been, getting knocked down on the road on the way in - I've never stopped him going for that. I'm not going to stop him going now.

Yes exactly.

It probably depends on each school too. Our school is new and only half full so they've got space. Reception has their own loos accessible only via the classroom (not sure about other years). Reception has its own outdoor space too, so for us it's probably easier to space them out. I imagine an older building that's to capacity will have far more challenges!

We will be sending ours back but I can understand why others don't want to

And it’s not a class/earning issue.

We live off one wage from my Dh who does a very highly skilled finance role but is paid a pittance for it as it’s for a local authority in education. He’d earn four times more in the private sector but thank god he stuck with his role as he’s got job security in these times, his role will always be needed (plus the LEA rolled out a home working policy last year which is a godsend).

Poorer areas are more likely to have a higher number of cases per 100000 and poorer people have a higher instance of worse outcomes, pooper people have been fucked by the government for over a decade, us it so surprising if they see this situation differently to you, op?

Money won’t be going back in June as we live in Scotland and also until Boris decides I can go back to work (I’m furloughed as work in a bar/restaurant) then my child was stay home.

MIne not money. Predictive text

I can't answer this as there is not enough information yet to make an informed decision

• what measures our DCs school can put in place to minimise risks (not nationally, based in school infrastructure, staffing, resources etc)
• local rates of infection
• what provision they make for DDs age groups (Yr2&4)
• whether the risk of quarantine will adversely affect DHs ability to do his job (directly related to covid response, office based)
• how their health is

Im not sending mine back (I'm in France where the staggered return started this week).
They'd only be going back for the last 5 weeks of term and would only be able to go in 2 days a week due having to cut class sizes to allow for social distancing.
They have spray painted squares on the floor in the playground where children will play individually during the staggered playtime.

They miss their friends and the structure of school but the school they will be going back to will be very very different to the school they miss.

My business has been wiped out due to Covid so I'd rather keep them at home and hope that things will have improved somewhat in September.

I can’t understand what people think the difference will be between June and September

I can’t understand what people think the difference will be between June and September

Indeed.

Covid isn't going to just disappear...we need a vaccine. How long will that take? Are we really going to live like this until it happens?

The difference between June and September is that the schools and teaching unions will have had longer to properly prepare and the NHS will have learnt more about how to fight the virus.

Because I dont need to. Its worked well at home.

Im a lone parent with no family. We have underlying health conditions. If I get ill they have no one

Plus its an absolute farce so far. If the Government says its safe I think the opposite. Its all about money

DS is Y6 and has asthma (controlled so doesn’t need to shield). Our GP said he could return with social distancing in place but the school is too small to accommodate this at the moment. I’m therefore going keep him home for now.

I think people are hoping the infection rate may be lower in September and there may be more knowledge about the virus eg there are many conflicting reports at the moment whether children can transmit the virus. Also possible treatments may be available.

I dont understand how people dont understand a delay to September will be better. Its not hard to appreciate that time can buy better preparations/organisation

We have learnt so much about the virus since Feb/March so it stands to reason we will know much more again by September. I'm not saying we will have a vaccine or miracle cure but we may know a vaccine is looking possible and a timescale.

We may also know more in terms of cleaning and eradicating the virus from surfaces and transmission rates from children, all which may mean they can go back in a more secure and positive way in September.

I'm not sure won't have a second wave soon anyway which will mean the schools will not open or will only do so for a short time which would be even more disruptive.

I'm on the fence at the moment, both mine are in the age groups which are returning first but I think for the sake of the 6 weeks they will get before they break for summer I'm not sure it's worth the risks.

Because there isn’t good enough testing, tracking and isolation. There are not enough hand washing facilities. I don’t want him to go back to worried teachers. He is getting a good education at home. There is just no way he will stay a distance from his friends or staff.

Clinicians are working on treatments as we speak. By sept we may have a treatment that could lessen the severity (a tamiflu equivalent), we may have reduced case numbers enough to make testing and tracing viable, we may have rolled out antibody testing to know who may already be protected ... none of these will be achieved by 1st June. I would prefer to wait till Sept but I have a year 6 child and both she and my husband want her to go back - I have beeN outvoted so have to rely on the gov to ensure safety - not looking forward to the additional stress and anxiety I will have for those seven weeks until the end of term!!

I dont understand how people dont understand a delay to September will be better. won’t that mean the second peak coincides with the next flu season?
Better in what respect? 6 months of lost education for what has been single figure deaths of children. More children have died of dv thanks to lockdown

Mine probably will be providing numbers continue go down or they stabilise.

He's massively struggling with the lack of structure and not doing much work. If he goes straight into year 7, it will be such a shock for him. My Dd didn't transition well to secondary at all so am aware it's a big thing for some children.

I'm not sure what earnings have to do with it, really. If anything, you'd think the lower earners would be needing their kids at school so they can earn agsin

Mine are in Reception and Year 1, so both eligible to return. They attend an independent school.

They won’t be going back in June because I am a SAHP and I believe keeping my children at home may make it easier for the school to implement social distancing for those whose parents need to send them in for childcare reasons.

I believe the risk to children to be minimal, so I am not worried in that regard.

The school are providing great homeschooling packs and my DC have each other for company, but if that were not the case, I would likely send them in.

Because our schools won't be open.

However, seeing the recent idiocy of the mingling in England, I'll guess yours won't be open either.