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

I didn’t give it up. It was taken from me without debate.

Has everyone here written to their MP spelling out what their current difficulty is? I also picked a member of the HoL who has had an interest in childcare. Even if it doesn't resolve things directly, it means they have the information to ask the right questions of the government.

Seeing as though schools wont be doing any field trips or recreational extras for a while then why cant the money saved be temporarily diverted to pay cleaners for additional hours worked if this is such a sticking point. Its not like this is going to be the situation for ever but in the interim, if it helps ease the way to getting our children back into the classroom.

Jeremy vine is covering this now.

12 infections in THE WHOLE OF SCOTLAND today. Why oh why would schools be part time in 9 weeks time ?!

I'm in Scotland and it was said pretty much from the beginning that it was highly unlikely that kids would be back until August. So we were limping along as best we could thinking it's ok as the kids would be back to proper full time education in August instead of this awful attempt of online learning our schools have put up. It was a complete body blow to learn that they are likely only to be in 1/3 of the time in August and online learning is the way forward.

To answer what we normally do for childcare cover in the holidays - I usually take 3 weeks leave (made up of toil and annual leave, and was booked off in February and subsequently been cancelled by my employer) and oh usually takes one week at a different time to me as well, again not happening this year. The other days are covered by grandparents - both sets are over 70 and have various health issues so
Not an option this year.

Employers need people to be fully functioning at work - many are really struggling as it is. It's not necessarily them being inflexible, it's they are fighting for survival. We have had 90 day redundancy notice at work as we are expecting to lose 25% of our clients as a result of the economic impact from covid.

Schools need to reopen, and reopen fully. Not just from the viewpoint of getting people back to work now, but to properly educate our future workers. Children will be the ones paying for this for some time

@pennylane83 - no such thing as a free trip anymore. A lot of the nice extras tend to come out of the PTA coffers which is why schools are so dependent upon an active PTA to generate much-needed funds.

@cyclingmad I completely agree, schools should never have been closed

@MinesAPintOfTea

Has everyone here written to their MP spelling out what their current difficulty is? I also picked a member of the HoL who has had an interest in childcare. Even if it doesn't resolve things directly, it means they have the information to ask the right questions of the government.

Yes. Two local MPs actually, one labour one conservative. Conservative one surprisingly much more helpful and concerned. This was mainly about our council stopping schools re opening which they now admit they did not base on actual evidence. I will be emailing again re september being a shit show. I have also just emailed the childrens commissioner.

@tigger1001 and that’s the problem the economy has. Businesses are fighting for survival and businesses want workers who are productive and not childminding at the same time. Unfortunately working mums who do all of the childcare will feel the brunt of this. More than a quarter of workforce on furlough. The jobless figures about to sky rocket between July and October. It is tough for everyone. Schools going back will help but the damage is done

For some reason over on the education boards Mums like us don’t exist in real life. Apparently only Mums who are delighted with the situation exist and tell schools how grateful they are! Clearly some are doing the best they can at the moment but the Government need to give very clear instructions to all local authorities to get Schools open by September. The children deserve to get back in to school and hit the ground running. None of this blended shenanigans. If anything the pupils should increase the hours by half an hour a day to get some extra hours per week in order to make up for lost time.

@Pootle40

12 infections in THE WHOLE OF SCOTLAND today. Why oh why would schools be part time in 9 weeks time ?!

Because the reason infections are so low is due to lockdown and social distancing....

The children deserve to get back in to school and hit the ground running. None of this blended shenanigans. If anything the pupils should increase the hours by half an hour a day to get some extra hours per week in order to make up for lost time.

The thing is.. most teachers also want to be back teaching in the classroom. But everyone is being tied up by government guidence.
Likewise a extra half hour a day may not be simply black and white as i imagine it would mean rewriting most teachers contracts and result in pay needing to increase as half a hour a day adds up. I am also hugely sceptical if children would really manage with even just a additional half hour, as to my experience (not a teacher, but worked with children) by the end of the school day many children are restless and exhausted. School dinner time and break time have already been peeled back to the minimum and children simply are not made to sit still and quietly for so long. It may work for older children, but I doubt it would be that effective with primary unless you changed the day structure eg breaks which would mean you would probably lose the extra half hour a day anyway.

The children deserve to get back in to school and hit the ground running. None of this blended shenanigans. If anything the pupils should increase the hours by half an hour a day to get some extra hours per week in order to make up for lost time.

Not going to happen, though, is it?

Social distancing will still mean half size classes even if it's reduced to 1m (which it shouldn't be).

You can "demand" all you like, won't happen though.

So what are your suggestions then? To enable parents to continue to work (and pay tax etc) and children to be educated? Very few parents work for ‘Starbucks money’ (as I saw charmingly suggested on a previous thread) but to feed, clothe and house their children. Jobs were trained for and accepted, then factored into huge decisions such As housing, on the basis their children would be either in school Orleans wrap around when needed. This is how the U.K. system is set up - if not, why the constant pressure to get people into work? In our house we need two incomes to meet bills, not for holidays or to pay for sports clubs, options al niceties etc. We have a buffer but not forever.

I totally appreciate teachers will be best placed to know what will/won’t work - but I’ve seen very little suggestions as to how to make things work tbh. The general vibe on here (from most, not all) has been basically, tough shit to working parents.

Orleans?! Random, sorry.

Tough shits to working parents...well I think everyone needs to realise lots of different people are having to make sacrifices some have lost their business or jobs already, some are going to stuck with no opportunity to move upward in their role for some time, some might have to take a pay cut, unemployed will find it harder to find jobs. Yet working parents are making it out that it's so unfair to them like they are the ones having to give up so much. If you life might mean no more holidays, a bit more having to cut out some extra luxuries then so be it.

Because the reason infections are so low is due to lockdown and social distancing....
Not convinced. The overwhelming majority of covid cases in Scotland were contracted in hospitals and care homes, very little spread in the community.

If you life might mean no more holidays, a bit more having to cut out some extra luxuries then so be it.

You're joking right? Losing my job won't mean no more holidays ffs, it'll mean me and my child going hungry and ending up homeless.

All that is also happening to working parents. And is now likely to happen to working mothers as we sacrifice our careers to protect our children's wellbeing.

If the schools are shut the children have to go somewhere, and someone has to educate them.

So, no suggestions then still.

@TakemetoGreeceplease exactly!! Holiday money 😂

And ‘working parents’ make up a huge proportion of those people being shafted already by this pandemic. It’s not a race to the bottom. Many teachers are ‘working parents’ and in a hole too, even more so, if no school/childcare.

Tbh I’m not even suggesting schools just open in full, now and immediately (though i can see why some are). My question was what, if any suggestions are being made to try and negate the situation.

@Littlefoxkit

That wasn't my question. With infections so low and seemingly track and trace in place why would schools remain part time? Ie what would children be socially distancing from? Assuming trajectory continues for 9 weeks as is.

I didn't say anything about how lockdown has reduced it.

I had a suggestion for primary schools months ago but I can't find it now. One way to get all the children back, albeit part time, but on reflection I'm not sure it would work.

It would need more teachers but most schools could manage with the classrooms they have.

Half the class in at 8.30. Short break at 10am then back to class until 12.30. Cleaner has an hour to clean the room thoroughly then the rest of the class in from 1.30 to 4.30. Again with a short break.

Shielded children doing the same work as far as possible supervised by another teacher.

It will mean no frills teaching but it could work until such time as schools can open fully.

Interesting, @Dom - Agree that for those working out of the home and/or inflexible employers, it would still be a struggle. But short of ‘open now full time as normal’, no suggestion will please/suit everyone’s circumstances. But thank you for responding to my question (not sarky!).

Just for a positive view- it actually works for me. Without having to work around the school day, means I can compress 3 days into two. My self employed oh does one day with kids, my parents the other (that they do out of term time anyway). I write lesson plans for the week, plan food ahead... it’s ok.

I know most people it doesn’t work for, but I prefer my days without the school run