Is anyone not sending their secondary school child back initially?

[lastkisstoo]

I've decided to keep my 15 year old home, probably until the October hols to see what happens.

We are in Scotland. What just happened in the pubs in Aberdeen is exactly what I see happening in schools. Mostly young adults, enclosed space, no social distancing.

My child has asthma, and while not on the list for sheltering I still feel is vulnerable enough that I don't want to see him being used as a guinea pig while the government assess just how big the uptick in cases will be on schools re-opening.

Oh do what you want, just dont expect the rest of us to validate your decision!
Have you asked the 15yr old what they want?

I'm not sure, I don't think it is right to have no SD, but it's a very tough call.

I have been talking with mine throughout.

I'm pretty glum this is where we are tbh.

My 16 year old is making his own decision, we have discussed it of course.

Are they doing exams next year?

I have a 15 year old, I tend to involve her in decisions.

I don’t know what difference you are expecting in October?
If there is an outbreak in your ds’s school it could be in August or September or November..etc.

This is the way we live now. We carry on as normal until there is an outbreak then we lockdown.

15 is a pretty important schooling age. Are you sure you want to play this game while his classmates are all getting an education?

There isn’t a right answer to this. You need to talk to your son, talk to your school, seek medical advice and make a decision based on all of that.

For absolute clarity, I am a teacher in Scotland who is asthmatic. Also not in the shielding group. I will be at work. But I won’t be judging families who seek advice and make a decision for them.

My plea to you is this - please step up with this if you decide to do it. Don’t expect us to be able to cater educationally for your child at home when the rest are at school. Not unless it is supported medically. We might be able to point you in the direction of materials or put slides on SMHW, Teams or Google Classroom but we will have enough to do recovering the work lost previously.

I don’t know of any parents yet who are choosing to keep their teenagers off without significant medical concern. I do genuinely understand the anxiety. But please talk to your school and your son. Be realistic

He is absolutely involved in the decision. He is switched on and is keeping himself updated with the ever changing situation. He decided he didn't want to go, so we discussed it and agreed that by the time the October holidays come around the situation should be more apparent and we can then better assess his risk.

In the meantime we are looking to hire an online tutor for maths and English, and are looking at BBC bitesize etc to cover the rest of his topics. He is sitting his exams this year so we need to work to make sure he doesn't fall behind. He knows this and is in agreement.

I didn't make this decision lightly. But the health of my child trumps all. His mental health is great and I will continue to keep a close eye on that.

I hope its a 2 way discussion op.
Your 15 will have an opinion too.

Xpost there

I think I'm leaning towards keeping at home. My thoughts are if it all goes to shit we will see mass school closures by October, if we don't get these closures then I will Reevaluate. It's taken less than a month for the social distancing restrictions to be lifted to result is a spike. So if all go back in September by October if there is going to be a spike we will have seen it.

I really don’t understand the venom.

Completely understand OP. Nobody knows what’s around the corner.

I also completely get why you want to chat with people that may have made the same choice. I think that’s one of the points of a forum?

And I honestly can see why people choose to send to school.

We are all walking in different shoes. And children will be involved in decision making to various degrees.

Neither opinion / decision should be forced underground, we should all be able to say what we are doing and why on a forum. Isn’t that the point? I know it’s an emotive issue but really wish people would play nice.

The trouble is, October could but just as precarious as August or September.

That is an exceptionally stupid thing to do. This is his education and at 15 he isn’t old enough (and you aren’t wise enough) to decide for him.
Please don’t disadvantage your child.

My dd does not want to go back, as she is so worried. ( she would be going into the sixth form) .
I haven’t talked to my youngest child yet, but I know she is also very anxious.
I don’t want what we will do. We live in an area now packed with tourists, and in Wales no masks other than on transport.

@underneaththeash

That is an exceptionally stupid thing to do. This is his education and at 15 he isn’t old enough (and you aren’t wise enough) to decide for him. Please don’t disadvantage your child.

Nasty nasty post.

Absolutely idiotic and thinking that bbc bite size will deliver the curriculum for your child in exam year. I pity him and his lost education. You are doing him no favours.

I think you are massively overestimating BBC But aside for a 15 year old. Does he realise the impact this will have on his education and potentially his grades and place in a job market?

autocorrect but aside = bitesize

I’m in England and will be watching the return to schools in Scotland very closely, I’m hoping it will be positive.

If the daily new cases go back into the 1000s then i wont be.

We are back in the 900s after a few weeks ago we had as little as 350.

This Govt is a car crash ... opening shops, pubs, schools, gyms etc within weeks of each other .

No the opposite. Mine are going back initially, and may be withdrawn later if the situation deteriorates.

BBC bitesize is lousy please dont rely on that for GCSEs.

Me too @Porcupineinwaiting

I'm still not sure. We're going to leave it until the last moment to decide. I desperately want to send ours back as they need it, but I'm not going to make hasty decisions. Will go by the figures closer to the time (and no, we wouldn't expect the school to provide online lessons as well - I've been looking into possible materials/resources in case).

I wouldn't judge anyone either way, especially if they've been needing to shield, or they have a child with a medical condition that might be an extra factor. It's such a hard choice, and it's so different for everyone's individual family situation. All I can think is that if the numbers go up in your area before schools open then you're not going to be the only person doing it, because there are others who are concerned.

I sent mine back in reception year. We waited a week to see how it went, were undecided the second week and then booked them back at week 3
One of mine also has asthma
It was the right decision. I have twins so they have had company but I didn't realise or appreciate how much they had missed school and within days I saw parts of their personality coming back.
Both they and us got used to the new routines so I definitely will send them back again.
Each has to make the decision right for their family