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Original poster

How will you cope logistically / financially / mentally if schools are still PT in September?

152 replies

Bollss · 12/06/2020 20:43

Just wanted to ask, really... Get an insight into how many families this will totally fuck things up for.

For us, if school is PT whatever we do we will be under massive financial / mental / logistical pressure.

We both work FT, and neither of us can WFH. I have so far been furloughed but am starting a new role where I won't be able to do that (NHS).

I guess there's a possibility key worker provision will still exist but I'm not certain.

If it doesnt, and we get say 10hrs a week (based on Scotland's plans!) Then really our only options are... One of us taking unpaid leave (which we cannot afford), finding a childminder for the 3 days a week ds isn't at school and having to leave work early for the other 2 days (no childminders pick up from his school) which will cost us more than a full time nursery place does now. Or keep him in ft nursery until school goes ft (which we could only afford to do if he keeps his funded hours half of which we haven't been able to use)

How will you cope? Will it affect you? Do you have any better ideas than my crap and expensive ones Grin

OP posts:
SoloMummy · 12/06/2020 22:42

@Bluewater1

As a single parent I honestly don't know what to do if Sept is pt. I'm a keyworker, currently off but will be back by September definitely if not sooner. My youngest a school will only let you have a keyworker place if both parents are keyworkers. So I haven't asked them for a place. I am wondering if this still applies if you are a single parent as my children's other parent is not a keyworker and they are 50/50 at each house
For lone parents if you're pcg claiming the cb you'd be deemed rp as such, so you being kW means you're entitled to a place, at least on your days.
sunrainwind · 12/06/2020 22:45

If they can't attend full time I will share care with their friend's parents. I have a day off a week which is flexible so I'd do a day with some other children from their classes and send mine to their parents other days.

ohthegoats · 12/06/2020 22:47

Vulnerable children aren't the responsibility of schools either and we should be seriously asking why they seem to be.

I agree with this. This last few months have really highlighted how many responsibilities schools seem to have.

Partner would reduce his hours if school was part time, I'd have to too.

It won't be part time for long, if at all. The distancing rules will be scrapped completely, there might be staged drop off and staggered breaks, and staying in bubbles etc, but it's the only way to do it fairly. Staffing needs to be addressed from a planning pov, nowt else.

Newkitty · 12/06/2020 22:55

I will have to give up work. Dh can’t go part time, although he would like to. I hope that we could find some childcare arrangements with other kids in the same bubble. But ultimately I will lose my career, will be devastated and very angry. Dh doesn’t want to be the bread winner either, but I’m the one who took maternity leave, I’m the one who took a more flexible job afterwards, and I’m the one who’s dropped my hours to homeschool (badly), so this is the only viable option.

It’s not just the education dd is missing out on but the socialising and the mental health aspect. I’m very worried about her. But I’m also so angry that once again it seems it’s women stitching up the holes in the social fabric

Kittywampus · 12/06/2020 23:11

We'd probably be OK with pt schooling so long as both children can go in the same days. If they are different days that's worse than useless from a childcare pov because if I only have one child home it's harder to entertain them.

newwnamme · 12/06/2020 23:11

My kids are not yet at school but I have the same issue with their childminder. I am fortunate to have been able to wfh since pre lockdown with an employer who has been understanding of the ridiculous situation I've been put in against my will. My current contract is up at the end of the academic year and whether a new one will be forthcoming is going to depend on enrollment (higher education) so obviously v much in doubt at present. If it is, I have decided I will opt for continued homeworking as far as possible (despite seriously less than ideal conditions) and my partner and I will work round each other as much as we can. We will avoid relying on the childminder or any other external support. In one way, life is very much harder (see my posts from early lockdown for just how badly I was coping) but I have come to see that when it is me who basically has to do everything, nobody can let me down, change their mind, or be put in a position where they cant offer the support they had offered / were paid to offer. And that is a very good thing.

If there is no new contract come September, I will become a stay at home mother benefit claimant. By the time you take off my commuting costs, need for office attire and childcare bill, I will probably be better off. It's a sad state of affairs, I've done my job for more than 10 years now and am highly qualified and good at what I do. I enjoy it way more than staying at home. But I will not be job hunting under these circumstances. How could I sit in an interview and tell someone how I could do the job when it's very likely I am facing a winter of interrupted childcare, possible further lockdown and the overwhelming likelihood that my kids will get sent home for 2 weeks every time someone coughs, which if the last 3 winters are anything to judge by, would mean more weeks at home than not.

gingajewel · 12/06/2020 23:20

I fucking loathe the saying “school isn’t childcare” not it’s not but you know your child will for the majority of the time be at school, therefore you plan your work around those hours. It really fucks me off! I don’t have to plan childcare for the hours my children are at school, because they are at school ffs!
Me and partner both work full time, of children aren’t back sept we are screwed. I am a key worker so potentially if there are key worker places still avaliable my children can go to school, in order for us to go to work and earn a living and keep a roof over our heads.

NeverTwerkNaked · 12/06/2020 23:37

@ohthegoats surely as a teacher you can have a keyworker place though?

Iggi999 · 12/06/2020 23:43

Need two keyworker parents (single parents must - surely - have a different arrangement)

dreamingbohemian · 12/06/2020 23:46

if the government want to prioritise working parents childcare over childrens education then they need to say that and then return all the funding for children who don't have a school place back to their families

Right, because that's how government works Hmm

Better refund all the people who pay taxes for schools even if they don't have any kids

YoungsterIwish · 12/06/2020 23:47

We'd probably be OK with pt schooling so long as both children can go in the same days

This as I work pt and dh has some flexibility

Alittleodd · 12/06/2020 23:54

I'm in a really weird situation where schools going back part time would actually be better for me financially. I'm well aware it's an unusual position but in the name of balance:

I'm remote teaching and part time schooling means I can run sessions during the school days when my son is in and my students are potentially off,

Previously I was only able to run sessions after school time which meant being out of the house 3 nights a week (and paying for a nanny as my husband doesn't get back until 8 or 9 most nights) with a limit on student numbers.... this new set up means fewer evening sessions needed (as well as none out of the house having gone remote) and no need to pay for childcare and petrol.

Frouby · 12/06/2020 23:55

@gingajewel school is not childcare tho. Doesn't matter if you like the phrase or not. School is provided for all children regardless of whether parents work or not. The majority of us do plan life and work around 6 hours a day, 38 weeks of the year.

But IF children go back in September on a part time basis then the same provision for school should be made for every child not for the parents to be able to work. Otherwise we are heading down a slippery slope towards the state educating children of working families only.

We would be ok. I can work for our firm and send mine in if necessary. But it needs to be equal provision for all children.

Maybe come September things will be back to normal. But keyworkers dcs will have still had more access to education than non key workers dcs. Even the social and emotional side is important.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 12/06/2020 23:55

DH is unemployed at present and we are managing financially. If we are both working FT in September we will both need to work FT from home. End of. My hours have been nuts so far and he has been carrying the complete load so I would have to step up massively if he got a new job.
Kids school have been great but the kids are climbing the walls. I'd send them back without any issue really but I recognise the impact on teaching staff would be much higher and their risk profile as a result.
Medical staff exposure is bad enough but no one is going to kit out teachers in full PPE to teach primary school maths.
So we'll try to fall in with whatever the school can sort out and make it work.

#fuckingbiffandchipthough

ballsdeep · 12/06/2020 23:58

I just think it's shit that no one is telling anyone, schools, parents, councils what is happening in soetember. To be honest this term is just a shit show but for the new year, we need to know in advance what is happening.

NeverTwerkNaked · 12/06/2020 23:59

I agree @ballsdeep. There's no clarity at all. We don't even know when our yr 1 child will go back. I would just like to be able to know the possible things that might happen in September

Artesia · 13/06/2020 00:03

Badly. We would cope very badly, not just financially but also mentally. The juggling at of work and 3 kids at home the moment is really taking a toll on me.

IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls · 13/06/2020 00:05

I really have no idea at the moment.

Im a nurse . I sat and cried and cried yesterday morning because im so stressed with juggling work / finances ( which have got worse since lockdown) and schooling my 2 young teenagers .

I cant leave them on their own all the time ... they are SO stressed with the volume of work & need support .

I really cant see a way out and feel so hopeless with it all at the minute.

Deblou43 · 13/06/2020 00:09

@IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls sorry to hear that I broke down last week .. DH a keyworker I am wfh with 2 kids but main earner

I hope my work will be fine if no school but hopefully my parents can help them

Holeywalls · 13/06/2020 00:10

This is just madness isn’t it! I can’t believe it’s June and we’re sitting here having this conversation when in early March it was all will they won’t they shut the schools and when will they shut the schools. I just can’t believe that this has happened.

IfOnlyOurEyesSawSouls · 13/06/2020 00:23

@Deblou43 Thankyou so much for your kind message Thanks

Chrisinthemorning · 13/06/2020 02:26

I’m a dentist and have been off since March (unpaid).
I intend to go back in September so he’ll have to go in as a key worker child. DH is a key worker (Financial services) so he will qualify and our school is being very relaxed about that anyway. It seems if you ring up and say you’re sending them they say yes- but it’s fee paying.

DoctorHildegardLanstrom · 13/06/2020 02:43

My partner was out of work for the 10 weeks and the only thing that got us through financially was PIP and ESA, plus a gift from my family. Which is more than a lot of people had.

I am classed as a stay at home parent, but I am not, its not a decision that we as a family made, I am classed as disabled by the government and my mental health is taking a real battering and the appointments I need to attend, it is not possible to take my son into. If he can not go back in September then everything I (and my family) have worked towards is going to take a massive back step as it is, I can already feel anxiety towards leaving my house, when before I was able to do the school run, we are trying to correct it, but I don't have the motivation anymore.

Financially that depends on when the government starts to do assessments again to take away my PIP, which I am probably going to need for another 18 months anyway, so I will have that fun fight. I am just not sure if I am going to cope, which is going to put a massive strain on my partner, not to mention how much this is going to affect my son

Purpleartichoke · 13/06/2020 03:03

I already wfh and dd is 11yo so old enough to study mostly independently so it’s not difficult at all.

I am more worried about her social development, but a part-time school situation would solve that problem.

Oysterbabe · 13/06/2020 06:39

If our employers allow us to continue to work from home and are prepared to overlook company policy being breached by us also caring for children, then we'll cope. If not then we won't and I don't know what we'll do. Beg my inlaws to help us I guess.