How the hell are parents meant to work?

[worzelsnurzel123]

With this latest blow from schools and yet further delays, I predict employers will cease to be “ fair” and they will run out of the patience BJ vaguely muttered about hoping they’d have. So what are the options?

1. Resign from jobs? This could have massive impact on income, likely to affect women and the future of women’s’ rights and progress in the workplace, creation of mental health issues and socio economic problems
2. Will some parents be pushed in to feeling the have no choice but to leave kids home alone? Esp those who are borderline age group eg 8-12. Not ideal at all. Clearly this will impact on MH, safety, parental work performance.
3. Leave kids with grandparents who are likely to be over 70 in many cases, shielding or vulnerable. Risks of passing the virus on would lead to guilt , worry on both sides.
4. Wait for everything to fuck up work wise, scrabble for child care here there and everywhere, lose employers good will due to time off needed and eventually get dismissed for poor attendance, breach of conduct and or poor performance

This is a disgrace. An absolute disgrace

@GoldenOmber which authority are you? Scotland here too- Absolutely no info from our authority so far about the August model and yet I’ve heard through teacher friends that ‘blended learning’ will be in place until January.
Scottish ‘school term’ ends for summer in two weeks time, we realistically have no chance to respond and push back on anything

Woolly hugs to everyone worried about this situation. 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

It's all arse about tit, isn't it? Not practical or helpful at all.

@SueEllenMishke I might write to my MP. Thanks for the inspiration. (not that it would do much)

@lickyicelollies

We probably got the same response from our MSPs. I think all we can do is just keep raising it over and over again. Did yours have reference to South Korea to back up the 'why we need to be cautious' argument 🙄

Timefor45 West Lothian. Announcement is here: www.westlothian.gov.uk/blended-learning Nothing about how long it'll last though other than saying they're 'planning to return to normal full-time attendance at school as soon as it is safe to do so'.

We received a letter from our head teacher today going on about how they are working through the blended learning for August and working tirelessly to work out what days our children will be in. Here's a suggestion - Monday-Friday as there is no bloody reason for them not to be in school now. What a joke. All these poor women stressed out their bloody box and it feels like nobody gives a damn.

Which authority are you, I know Glasgow North Lanarkshire are offering 10 hours a week, presumably 9-2 across 2 days per year group. Primary schools organised by family group and secondary schools across year groups S1-S4 with S5&6 on 1.5 days to be agreed locally. School week will be Monday - Thursday, not sure what’s happening on Fridays.

My guess is South Lanarkshire will go the same way.

@GoldenOmber

Oh god the dreaded 'safe to do so' shite.

The whole thing is a complete shitshow.
I'm a single parent, a nurse managing a care home, no support from my children's dad and they are both in primary school. Yes I can access key-worker provision but this is 9- 3pm and now they are taking about a midweek half day close for cleaning. How do they think parents can work these hours?? My children were previously in breakfast/ after school club which is no longer available to me, I have no idea what I will do over the summer, if I can't work I will not be able to pay my mortgage and I will lose our home.

It's absolute madness.

Dh and I are both working full time with four children. My parents are abroad and call them most days as I am so worried and have no chance of seeing them, dh's mum is very elderly and shielding so he has jad to make trips to drop off stuff and ensure she is OK, plus calling her every day.

I am exhausted and have only jad 4 days off since Christmas as work is crazy and frankly flexibility is non existent and unheard of, we are expected to be 100% productive.

Dh has been furloughed today and whilst it's a relief short term, now I worry that after killo g ourselves for months we see now rewarded with potentially a loss of his income and zero chance of another job - a disaster financially.

Life has felt very very grim and my kids need to see their friends, get a proper education etc...

Hi everyone, I have been reading this thread with interest. I am a parent to 2 boys aged 3 and 9, my son is in Year 5. As a stay at home mum, I am probably one of the more fortunate, however I have a job waiting for me that I will most likely have to reject.

Although I have been able to stay at home with my boys and help with providing some form of education, I have been increasingly worried about the effect this situation is having on all of our kids. My son has told me today that he feels so hopeless that he wants to hurt himself. We are a family who are comfortable and supported, my kids have many people around them who love them and our whole lives revolve around them. If my child, in such a fortunate position can feel this way, I dread to think of the effect this is having on those from a disadvantaged or abusive family.

I am genuinely ashamed at how children seem to have been completely forgotten during this crisis. It is a national disgrace.

I don't know if anybody is aware but there is an active, parent led campaign called Us For Them that you might find useful. I would also encourage you to write to your headteacher and MP with your concerns, you can find templates on usforthem.co.uk

It's so difficult. Workplaces being flexible relies on other employees being flexible which isn't always possible. I'm childfree and wouldn't want to work longer or more unsocialable hours without remuneration. Employers wouldn't necessarily be able to afford this due to having to pay others who are working flexibly.

The answer isn't as simple as open schools but the current plan isnt acceptable either.

I plan to write to my MSP asking for the outcome of their equalities impact assessment in terms of planned schooling - I’m sure they need to do one by law, it’ll be interesting to see what they have to say.

Totally screwed.

I get 1 day a week key worker place that's all they will give me. All local holiday clubs are not running over summer.

I genuinely feel despair at the moment. I'm so depressed, tearful, feel like I just want to leave and never come back. I was clinging on thinking there was some hope but this has dashed it.

I have no time to homeschool as work saps me totally and child won't leave me alone.

This is totally unacceptable. More lives lost to mental health than Covid I think.

@Jellycatspyjamas do you have a link to details of the equalities impact assessments? I'd like to include that in my next email

Open the effing schools! Pay at risk staff 80% pay to NOT work so they are not pressured to work..draft in student teachers on bonus pay. Use some fucking initiative to get kids into a school setting (don't care about curriculum just give them stimulation in a learning setting) and to enable people , esp women, to fulfil their work obligations.

Let parents decide if they want to send their kids. The ones who need to or are happy with the risks will.
Others can home school for as long as they desire!

@lickyicelollies, here you go. Apparently all changes to service, policy or legislation must be assessed to ensure it meets the government’s duty to equality. Enjoy!

www2.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality/Equalities/EqualFramework/EvidencePSED/EQIA

@jellycatspyjamas thank you

Totally agree. The only option is childminders who will be full and expensive and will involve mixing with more families hence negating the effect of the social distancing in school!

@gapp

Many many people are thinking about reducing hours or resigning because of this. It's just too hard

And employers don't know what to do and are in difficult situation. They know they can't be unreasonable or discriminate but ultimately they need productive employees! Even if their employees can work from home they are inevitably less productive when they also have to look after young kids

If in fact they are as productive that will be coming at a cost as they will be working all night at the expense of their own mental health or just chucking their kids in front of screens ( which I am) at the expense of their kids mental health..

The government has a responsibility to do something here. They have made the decision to shut schools without putting any alternatives in place

One of the reasons the government shut the schools was because so many parents stopped sending their children as they believed the 'risk' to be too high!

What alternatives should the government or councils should have used. Setting up a lot of out of school schemes would have defeated the purpose of closing schools, surely.

Or maybe the government should have told all parents to stay home indefinitely and get paid, while the colleagues without children that can't be left alone have to go into work no matter what.

It's a pandemic folks! Just because we chose to have children, doesn't give us priorities over that of other colleagues that don't have childcare responsibilities.

And for goodness sake, schools are not childcare providers. They are there to educate children. If they can't do that job successfully, people have to make other arrangements!

If they can't do that job successfully, people have to make other arrangements!

Like what arrangements do you suggest to take the place of a functioning state education system?

It's a pandemic folks! Just because we chose to have children, doesn't give us priorities over that of other colleagues that don't have childcare responsibilities

No it doesn't but they'll get priority over parents when it comes to saving jobs.

And for goodness sake, schools are not childcare providers. They are there to educate children. If they can't do that job successfully, people have to make other arrangements!

What other arrangements? All childcare was outlawed Ffs.

You make it sound so simple how thick and shit we must be not to be coping!

Agreed- enough is enough now. Time to protest. Our children can not continue to suffer like this, the detriment to their mental health and education is immeasurable. It needs to be addressed and NOW! We need to get back to work, teachers need to get back to work. Time to open up shop and get life moving. This “ blended” learning shit ( wtf “blended”? Sounds like some kind of aromatherapy oil!) is a travesty to their learning and to parents ability to continue to work. We have too much to lose here. Too much is at stake, for some our homes, our progress in trying to gain equality in the work place and our children’s physical and mental health. Enough.

Suppose we could drive them all to Barnard Castle and drop them off with Dom’s family?

Any chance that MNHQ could add their voice ?