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Original poster

Giving up work in September?

58 replies

HowLongWillThisGoOnFor · 07/07/2020 22:01

Today we had the plans for my children’s return to primary school in September. I have four in different year groups, all with staggered start and end times. I have to drop the first child in at half 8, and the last child in at 9.10.

At the end of the day I’ll be at the gates for 2.30 for the first pick up, until 3.10 for the final pick up.

There will be no before and after school care, this has been confirmed. No available childminders and even if there was, the staggered start and end times are a logistical nightmare. No family help.

My job is student facing in further education and it cannot be done from home. I rely on the wraparound.

My tax credits should rise with my drop in income, so I should be able to clear bills with not much surplus. I will have to hand my notice in. Anyone else in a similar situation?

OP posts:
FecktheBoss · 07/07/2020 22:08

Speak to your manager first, give them a chance of trying to help you before making any decisions.

You are not going to be their only employee in this position so they may be able to combine job roles to help you.

Original poster
HowLongWillThisGoOnFor · 07/07/2020 22:13

Thanks, yes I will inform my manager. I couldn’t do my role on reduced hours, I need to be in for certain lessons etc! But I will see what work suggests. Brain is fried already, thinking of logistics.

OP posts:
BillywilliamV · 07/07/2020 22:13

Yep, its bloody insane isn't it? I wonder how many lives this will save balanced against the lives it will effectively ruin?

BillywilliamV · 07/07/2020 22:14

How long are they going to keep this sort of thing up for? Forever? I

Original poster
HowLongWillThisGoOnFor · 07/07/2020 22:18

No idea. It is worrying. I had a feeling this would happen of course, but the reality of this is quite depressing. I know I’ve had four so logistically life has always been tricky, but I’ve always been a grafter. I like my job too.

OP posts:
Uhoh2020 · 07/07/2020 22:28

What about their DF can he change his hours or days to help ? Could you go part time then rather than quit altogether?
Will your employer let you take a sabbatical/med-long term unpaid parental leave? Worse case scenario move them to a different school offering wraparound?

noonaah · 07/07/2020 22:30

Can you not get a childminder for before and after school?

showgirl · 07/07/2020 22:30

We have just had an email confirming similar. No wraparound care. In September both my husband and I will need to be back in work as "normal" I cannot find a childminder and we have no other family support. My husband is the main wage earner but we need both our incomes to cover our bills and mortgage. We just don't know what to do. It appears that the government have forgotten about the millions of working parents in this country and once again made it even harder for women.

SepticTankYank · 07/07/2020 22:31

Can you speak to the school about letting all your kids in and out at the same time? You can't be the only one in this position???

noonaah · 07/07/2020 22:31

Ignore me, just seen non available.

Uhoh2020 · 07/07/2020 22:35

The thing I dont understand about those staggered times is the amount of parents with multiple dc will have to hang around mingling with each other. The point of staggered times are to reduce the amount of parents together and get them off school grounds asap.
At my dc school they will have an open drop from 8.40-9 and pick up 3-3.20. We are only a small school though (1 class of 30 per year)if that makes any difference

stressbucket1 · 07/07/2020 22:40

I don't see why siblings can go in together and head to their respective classrooms. That makes more sense then the parent can leave instead of hanging around for 45 mins and interacting with 3 other sets of class parents in 3 more queues?

BatSegundo · 07/07/2020 22:43

This seems mad. My friend is a head and has been doing staged drop offs/pick ups by alphabet e.g. surnames a-h at 8.50 etc so that families aren't spending half the day on the school run.

Wrap around care is tougher to fix without 'popping' bubbles. We could do with a rapid DBS checking system to massively increase the number of childminders between now and September. Definitely needs a national plan and the government to do some quick thinking/action.

BrieAndChilli · 07/07/2020 22:44

I know our primary school are allowing siblings to be dropped off at same time. I now only have 1 in primary so not an issue for me as in wales and currently my 3 are all going to school on different days of the week!! We haven’t had anything about September yet. I wish they would hurry up and let us know so we can all start planning.

ivykaty44 · 07/07/2020 22:47

Could you get a babysitter to take dc to school and pick up? There is a dedicated website for babysitting before and after school

BlueBrian · 07/07/2020 22:50

Theirs going to be millions of unemployed people soon, so if a few parents have to give up work, doubt if the government will really care.

MinesAPintOfTea · 07/07/2020 23:06

Can you get a nanny of some kind? Might make the economic gain of working through this winter marginal, but better than long-term unemployment

Beebityboo · 07/07/2020 23:25

Crap I hadn't even considered that there wouldn't be wraparound care but it's likely most schools won't have any realistically if they are to maintain "bubbles". I was supposed to be going to university but that seems unlikely without childcare Sad. Really feel for parents who will have to give up jobs too. What a mess!

Hellbentwellwent · 07/07/2020 23:57

Op I’m in the same position, kids are due to be back to school for 2 sodding days a week, dh earns more than I do so once again I’m fecked. I’ve just been offered a really lucrative contract that’s better paid than anything I’ve had before and I’ll have to turn it down, I’m beyond gutted

Miserablemoan · 08/07/2020 00:05

At ours siblings can be dropped off and collected at the same time regardless of staggered starts-makes much more sense as it removes the risk of parents mingling.
Could you ask to drop them off at the earliest time and collect them at the latest?

Xmasbaby11 · 08/07/2020 00:10

We have a childminder for wraparound. We have used her during lockdown as dh is a keyworker. It has been a godsend. Is that an option? It would be a very last resort to give up work for a short term problem, especially if we have a recession.

Our school hasn't said anything about Sept yet!

PumpkinPie2016 · 08/07/2020 07:28

As you work in FE -is there a childcare/Health and social care department? If so, can you ask around there to see if any students are looking for some work experience? You may be able to get 1 or 2 to cover the mornings/afternoons for you?

Northernsoullover · 08/07/2020 07:33

You don't say if you have a partner or not. If you don't you are likely to have to go on to UC and commit to searching for work for 35 hours per week. I am not 100% on this so it might be worth a call to check.

NewKittyMeow · 08/07/2020 07:36

@BillywilliamV

Yep, its bloody insane isn't it? I wonder how many lives this will save balanced against the lives it will effectively ruin?
This exactly. And it’ll be primarily women who lose out.

We’re relatively fortunate because we only have one DS and it looks like DH and I will be able to work from home enough to cover drop offs and pick ups. But only by parking DS in front of the tv once we’ve picked him up, so we can get on with work for a couple more hours. And I don’t know how long our employers will accept that.

Solasum · 08/07/2020 07:38

Speak to the school first of all. Tell them you face unemployment. Hopefully they will be able to help you