Are some parents just never going to send their children back?

[thewheelsonthebus23]

It seems to me that it’s going to take an awful lot to change some parents’ minds on sending their children to school. We may still be in this position come September. On some Facebook groups and articles the comments are astonishing.
Someone said parents who send their children back are dicing with death. And another said something along the lines of ‘if these parents care about their children, they won’t be sending them in’.

DS year 3 so not due back.
I would send him back depending on School conditions, R0 etc.
The R0 is too high at the moment.

Lots of people already choose to home educate, although generally it’s not the same as the ‘recreating school at home’ that people with kids temporarily out of school are doing. It makes sense that some people will have either really enjoyed this time or choose to home educate due to not feeling schools are a safe place due to covid. What will change is that they’ll no longer get work provided by schools so they’ll need to find an approach that works for them. The downside for us long term home educators is that everyone will will have opinions on home education having sat their dc round the kitchen table for lessons provided by someone else for a few months and think they’re experts on home ed.

I’m thinking September for DS (Pre-School age) because:

• It’ll unsettle him to go back, only to have the summer anyway, then have to settle him again in September.
• I feel that this decision has been rushed and I am concerned that this is also the judgement of the teacher’s unions and BMA.
• Whilst I accept that we are likely to catch it, I would like to avoid being caught up in the second peak to ensure that there are NHS resources available for DH and I, who are both higher risk.
• I feel that the government are getting younger children back to get the economy moving again- this is about childcare for working parents. There’s nothing necessarily ‘wrong’ with that, but they should be honest about their intentions so that we can make an informed choice.
• Finally, and most crucially- we can make a choice. DH and I are both working from home, the childcare situation is intense but manageable. I completely understand that lots of people don’t have a choice, and I think it makes sense to keep numbers of children in schools low initially to keep teachers and children who are there safe.

So no- it’s not that I won’t ever send DS back. It’s about waiting until I feel the benefits outweigh the risks- which I don’t think is now, with the risk of a second peak on the horizon.

Of course not, but many of us don't want our kids to be guinea pigs and that's exactly what this first tranche is. If it's not ok to mix households and see our parents then I don't see how they can justify mixing more than 15 households (including teachers) in these 'pods'. It makes no sense, and quite frankly if I don't believe this is for education. It's for childcare.

I’m not never going to send my kids back but I’m worried due to the complete fuck up the government has made of all this so far. My dd has autism and we have to know of the plan to think of the best way to reintroduce her to school as it is now. Other European countries seem to have a better education system than us. Do I want to keep my kids out of education? No I don’t. Do I want to know it’s as safe as it can be? Yes I do. We’ve not been supported at all since schools shut down. So I would like to get her back to education. Her elder sibling is due to go back as he’s in year 6 but her youngest sibling looks unlikely until September as she’s in a specialist school.

Ours has 450 and only 15min commute into a city.

Fantasisa- why wouldthey say that when it is NOT true?

Kids catch it as much as adults.
They get less sick.
But 500 hospitalised. Several ventilated. They do get pneumonia sometimes when asymptomatic and can get the same ground glass opacities in the lungs.

People are concerned not just about dying but the over1/100 rate of hospitalisation for adults.

I don't live in England, but was wondering...

What happens when schools close for the summer? Will there be childcare available for those who have gone back to work?? What difference is 8 weeks of being in school during a pandemic going to make to children's overall education?

Very few children are being offered a chance to go back before the end of the academic year, and many with other children who are pre school age or in other year groups won't see the point for a few weeks. This will have a higher impact for those with medical issues which mean they should be minimising trips out.

Re September - isn't that supposed to be the top of the (much higher) second peak of infection? To get all children back in school whilst maintaining social distancing would require a massive school building programme over the summer, and recruitment of thousands of additional teachers, TAs, and other school support staff.

Can't see it happening. September 2021 maybe.

Will there be childcare available for those who have gone back to work??

Doubt it.

Maybe it is the governments plan all along. Open schools but scare everyone into not using them and staying at home long term which means they can run the schools with small numbers long term 🤷‍♀️.

Maybe they will encourage all SAHP to keep children at home so schools aren't overburdened with numbers, much like the WFH if you can currently.

I'm partly hoping they don't.
I would rather DC didn't get influenced by other DC who have 'caught' anxiety from their panicking parents.
We were already in the middle of a mental health crisis amongst the young and that is clearly going to get a lot worse, so in an ideal world i would minimise the risks to my DC by 'isolating' from those purposely spreading anxiety.

Actually, if I didn't have to work I would love to homeschool now. I have really enjoyed being involved with her education like this and it's really opened my eyes to a different way. But that can't happen so she will be going back as soon as she's allowed, and when I return to work which will probably be at a similar time.

I give it a week of very low numbers before parents will be sending them back in drives

We need antibody tests and confirmation of whether kids can pass the disease to adults. If lots of kids are already immune or don't pass the disease to adults that could be a game changer about school reopening.

flamegame those unleashed resources might not be available anymore when the achools go back(for free anyway)

Of course kids are capable of passing the disease to adults. The reported theory that it's impossible for children to transmit is a bit "magical thinking". However if they have generally very mild illness and cough less etc, they likely transmit at a lower level. Nevertheless, adults spread widely and they aren't confined to home, so neither should children be.

DD will go back when:

• we better understand the Kawasaki response we are starting to see in children
• we have track and trace in place
• we have wider testing available and ideally antibody testing although that has its limits as we don't know how long immunity lasts

But mainly, when we have the confidence and tools to open schools in a meaningful way. I see no point in sending my yr 1 DD in for a few weeks if she's going to be in a small group with a teacher she doesn't know, not all of her friends, no toys, no outside play and only minimal teaching that isn't delivered in a hands on group method. She may as well stay home where she is happy, having fun and healthy. Me and DH can WFH while she is here and she's doing schoolwork so keeping on top of her learning.

We've been asked whether we intend to send DD3 back (y6). The letter was very measured and clear.

I'm wondering if it's actually a bit selfish and irresponsible to send her back. I'm at home, so we don't 'need' school. The children will be put in a group of 8 which will stay the same all term, and they won't be able to mix, so she won't see her friends. She won't be taught by 'her' teachers (they were both shielding for very good reasons before lockdown). The work they do will be exactly the same as at home, with staff for supervision only, not teaching. She'll eat lunch in her classroom.

There seems little point sending her to school for them to supervise her work when I can supervise it at home.

Undecided about long term, seeing the benefits of teaching myself but definitely not until there’s a vaccine/treatment/enough immunity for it not to be so dangerous. Will dereg without hesitation if I need too.
I’m quite confident even come September, we won’t feel it’s safe. My husband is on the frontline, so it isn’t an uniformed decision. I’m a SAHM and can afford to buy workbooks and other resources.

I think people are waiting for the media to get behind school openings and then go "oh, it's ok now". Currently there are no positive reports about what might come from reopening schools - just constant doom and gloom. That doesn't fill people with confidence. Maybe I'm an optimist but I think my reception aged child will do just fine come 1st June and his school have a positive attitude which I really appreciate. I recognise that people are worried but we have to try and move forward somehow.

I'll be sending my year 6 child in because I want to see what it will be like. Keeping an open mind about whether I'll continue once I see what the school is doing. But feel better trying it out rather than leaving it til September when more children will be back

DS is year 6. We'd be quite relaxed about sending him back - he wants to go. However the email we received from school yesterday made it clear that there was going to be very limited provision for yr 6 ( as Year R&1) are priority. So we've decided not to take up a space that another family might need more desperately.

I'm just wondering what's going to happen from sept onwards. DS's will be yr 7 & 12 - so both in a new school/college. I don't feel confident in the idea of home schooling DS2 without help from school

I think more people will send their kids back when employers’ patience runs out. Mine and DH’s bosses have been incredibly flexible with us in terms of working hours while looking after DD (11 months) but I think that if we turned down her place at nursery and expected work to continue to accept flexibility that if I’m being honest means I am not being as productive as normal, we’d not get a lot of sympathy. Especially if we expected to continue like that until there was a vaccine

@Abbccc I’m sure some won’t be there for free but it’s more the skills to navigate and structure the work, reasonable timetabling expectations and confidence in progress - it was the ideal starting point as the stakes are so low with everyone being off.

The content that has come from the school for the dc looks largely downloaded from websites for teachers you can sign up to.

School costs you money after all for trips, uniform, snacks, events etc.