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Original poster

Is anyone not sending their secondary school child back initially?

721 replies

lastkisstoo · 05/08/2020 22:19

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.

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 06/08/2020 22:03

Can he also refer for other things? Cancer? Dermatology? Urology?

SpanishPork · 06/08/2020 22:03

I think you'll find it's £60 per parent per child per absence @Morfin, so you'd be looking at £240 to begin with for a family with two D.C. it also depends how the head classifies an absence- he could easily decide to class each day as a separate absence if parents start playing funny buggers or refuse to co-operate.

StealthPolarBear · 06/08/2020 22:03

I have this rash. Is he free tomorrow for a zoom call?

Uhoh2020 · 06/08/2020 22:04

[quote SpanishPork]@StealthPolarBear

The head at the DC's school has said he will personally refer every parent who refuses to send their DC back to the local hospital mental health team for anxiety treatment.

He will also refer every one to social services and the Education Welfare Officer for prosecution and a large fine.[/quote]
Has that been put out to the parents in those terms? Of course I understand they want all children to return to the classroom but there's ways and means of doing and saying things!

Morfin · 06/08/2020 22:06

@SpanishPork

I think you'll find it's £60 per parent per child per absence *@Morfin*, so you'd be looking at £240 to begin with for a family with two D.C. it also depends how the head classifies an absence- he could easily decide to class each day as a separate absence if parents start playing funny buggers or refuse to co-operate.
That's also bollocks. The HT can only inform the LA they don't issue fines themselves.
Morfin · 06/08/2020 22:07

@StealthPolarBear

I have this rash. Is he free tomorrow for a zoom call?
Much better way than me of dealing with it. What's that saying, you can't argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.
StealthPolarBear · 06/08/2020 22:07

And I've not even started on social services. After all I get the impression they're all quite bored and looking for something to do. Maybe they'll redeploy the social workers that took referrals for substandard lunch boxes this time last year?

Artesia · 06/08/2020 22:31

But if run properly on teams just like being there, there is more chance they will do it. They could get sanctions for non attendance to lessons etc.

That’s wonderful, but how would it work for families with no internet access, or multiple children, 1 device and limited data? Just sanction them for non- attendance?

disorganisedsecretsquirrel · 06/08/2020 22:47

It's quite interesting being accused of being highly anxious .. countessfrog If you knew me in RL You would know that I am the founder member of the parenting by benign neglect club.
I am extremely relaxed, have had a joyous experience of parenting ... and so un-neurotic that the kids are ALL currently choosing to live with me despite offers of flat shares and house sitting (I'm not an idiot - I know this is mainly because it's bill and rent free ) .. on the other hand .. trying to prove to some random on the internet that you aren't anxious is probably the most stressful thing I've done this week..

Which really doesn't count for anything when another 89 people died of this virus today.

Uhoh2020 · 06/08/2020 22:58

@Artesia

But if run properly on teams just like being there, there is more chance they will do it. They could get sanctions for non attendance to lessons etc.

That’s wonderful, but how would it work for families with no internet access, or multiple children, 1 device and limited data? Just sanction them for non- attendance?

Also it would be a job in itself trying to manage the attendance of online lessons. What sanctions realistically could school put in place exactly? Detention? Unlikely.

My eldest started to have lessons via teams towards the end of term which he engaged with ( I was at home so could make sure), it was definitely better than early lockdown work sent home, however, at a face to face meeting with his form tutor before they broke up, she admitted that there was children who hadn't engaged at all with the home learning and my DS had done a lot more than others had.
Teachers have a hard enough job engaging pupils in the classroom never mind 100s of pupils remotely.

Uhoh2020 · 06/08/2020 23:04

Added to that I have 1 laptop and 3 dc, no way would I be able to enable all 3 to have lessons via Zoom every day

mosquitofeast · 06/08/2020 23:05

@Uhoh2020

Added to that I have 1 laptop and 3 dc, no way would I be able to enable all 3 to have lessons via Zoom every day
how many phones?
mosquitofeast · 06/08/2020 23:10

[quote SpanishPork]@herecomesthsun

There is no evidence that any teacher anywhere in the world has died after catching Coronavirus in a school.[/quote]
What?? Yes of course there is, many teachers have caught covid at school. I did. Most of my department did. There was nowhere else I could have possibly got it from. Some of my colleagues were seriously ill for a long time, some have not recovered yet. Tens of thousands of teachers have caught it from school, and hundreds have died. Around 200 in England alone, according to the teaching unions

mosquitofeast · 06/08/2020 23:14

[quote SpanishPork]@disorganisedsecretsquirrel

There is no evidence that any of those teachers caught the virus in school. They could quite easily have caught it in the corner shop or pharmacy.[/quote]
I caught the virus in school. I had not been to any shop or pharmacy. I hadn't been to anywhere else at all. In hadn't seen anyone else at all. There is nowhere else I could have caught it from. There is nowhere else my closest colleague could have caught it from either. Like me, she hadn't been anywhere else, seen anyone else or handled anything from anywhere else.

Uhoh2020 · 06/08/2020 23:29

@mosquitofeast the oldest has but the 2 youngest dont, plus me and dh use ours for work ( also wfh)
Can an adequate education be provided via a mobile? If so why do we bother with schools in the first place, just stick your child in front of a screen 6 hours a day 5 days a week 40 weeks a year for 12 years job done! Think of the money the country would save, what a marvellous revolution

mosquitofeast · 06/08/2020 23:33

[quote Uhoh2020]@mosquitofeast the oldest has but the 2 youngest dont, plus me and dh use ours for work ( also wfh)
Can an adequate education be provided via a mobile? If so why do we bother with schools in the first place, just stick your child in front of a screen 6 hours a day 5 days a week 40 weeks a year for 12 years job done! Think of the money the country would save, what a marvellous revolution[/quote]
no, its not ideal, but most of my pupils managed on a mobile for lockdown. You can participate in live lessons, etc. You can photograph and email work in. A lap top is easier, but not vital

Aurea · 06/08/2020 23:43

I have a fifteen year old son about to take his Nat 5s. He is desperate to return to school.

I can envisage schools shutting down again towards the winter so I feel it's best to return while things are suppressed. And yes, we live near Aberdeen.

Uhoh2020 · 06/08/2020 23:54

@mosquitofeast OK so I have 1 laptop 1 phone what does the 3rd child use? Also when I've lost my job (redundancy imminent) who's paying for the WiFi to facilitate all these teams lessons? Do I put food on the table or the WiFi on? Tough choice. See how easy it is for disadvantaged children to fall through your super plan

mosquitofeast · 06/08/2020 23:58

[quote Uhoh2020]@mosquitofeast OK so I have 1 laptop 1 phone what does the 3rd child use? Also when I've lost my job (redundancy imminent) who's paying for the WiFi to facilitate all these teams lessons? Do I put food on the table or the WiFi on? Tough choice. See how easy it is for disadvantaged children to fall through your super plan[/quote]
I am just pointing out it is doable. You have 3 phones and a lap top between 5 of you. It can be done

Uhoh2020 · 06/08/2020 23:59

Also these lessons provided on lockdown where they any where near as good or effective as what would have been given in the classroom ? I think not. Again how do manage the non attendance of all these classes especially in a big school? You can't

Uhoh2020 · 07/08/2020 00:00

Trust me it isn't doable at all!

mosquitofeast · 07/08/2020 00:03

@Uhoh2020

Also these lessons provided on lockdown where they any where near as good or effective as what would have been given in the classroom ? I think not. Again how do manage the non attendance of all these classes especially in a big school? You can't
They are adequate, and as far as managing non attendance goes, in a big school, we could and did.

I don't know what you are trying to say. Obviously no one wants to be in a pandemic with schools closed, but here we are. You are making it into a much bigger deal than it need be. It is doable.

mosquitofeast · 07/08/2020 00:04

Children who want to learn have every opportunity to do so, at home or in school. Plenty of children don't cooperate with their education, whether school sites are open or closed. By the time they reach secondary school, its down to them

mosquitofeast · 07/08/2020 00:05

@Uhoh2020

Trust me it isn't doable at all!
What isn't doable? What are you arguing about, exactly|?
Vivana · 07/08/2020 00:15

disorganisedsecretsquirrel

No not all.shop workers get screens. Bit hard to put a screen around someone working on the shop floor

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