If you don't think schools should reopen...

[TeaInMyStoneCup]

...what do you think should happen? Genuine question. I work full time (from home), as does DH (though not at home) and we have a soon to be 5 yo (in Sept). Do you think that we should just carry on as we had to in lockdown when nurseries closed, when we were at breaking point attempting to work and simultaneously look after him? It was shit for us and it was shit for him because I could never give him my full and undivided attention. I'm still catching up with work now and he went back to nursery in June.

I understand concerns but they don't seem proportionate to what we know is the mortality rate for this illness. Genuinely - what do you think should happen? Parents should just home school?

My two sisters and my mother are all teachers and can't wait to get back.

I don't think there's much appetite for continued closure of schools (even on mumsnet where extreme views are over-represented). However, lots of people seem to favour blended learning, which would cause similar issues for working parents and would further increase the social inequalities and injustices already caused by the pandemic. If our government wasn't so utterly abysmal and had properly considered safety provisions and listened to teacher and parent concerns (largely related to secondaries) there wouldn't have been such a complete breakdown of trust.

@Nellodee thank you so much for asking! Yes, I guessed a lockdown was coming so we moved in with my fantastic parents for 2 months back in early March, he had all 3 of us running around after him. We are back home now and my parents have him for an afternoon and an overnight stay once a week.

He has Down Syndrome and autism but fortunately isn’t aggressive or violent. He’s very mellow and like an overgrown toddler, very loving. I’m watching him playing in his sandpit and wondering if I’m being a smother mother by not sending him back to school. His mental health hasn’t suffered, he’s happy, we will continue to do lots of activities at home and locally. His school and teachers are amazing but with the new guidelines he wouldn’t be happy.

Unfortunately my relationship of just over a year ended, I wouldn’t see him during lockdown due to him carrying on his life as normal, I couldn’t take that risk, he didn’t understand.

Due to the isolation I find myself chatting to anybody and everybody when I’m in the supermarket and waffle on, much like I’m doing now....
Thank you for asking, it means a lot.

^
I think that blended learning is seen as a visible solution, but I'm not convinced it will actually be that much of a solution when it comes down to it - more doing something to be seen to do something than something that will work in the real world.

The blended learning solution proposed in Scotland had 2 days a week in school in my DC's massively undersubscribed primary school, many senior schools had students in 1 day per week on average (because distancing limits)... There was no mention of alternative childcare - cross bubble childcare and attending more than 1 setting was explicitly forbidden...

For many parents schools back one day a week is no better than schools being closed. Blended learning and no access to other childcare would push parents out of work. Illicit cross bubble/school childcare would increase risks vs full time school

@Summersnearlyover your DS sounds like a fabulous kid. Love the thought of him pottering happily in his sandpit.

@randomsabreuse I think maybe 50% would have been a sensible way to approach the first few weeks, increasing if case numbers allowed and with employment protections in place for working parents. As it is there is no capacity to test the impact of variables and it's liable to go tits up so we'll all be in trouble.

@randomsabreuse

Wow, only last weds??! The weeks are going slow!!! 😕😕😂😂

Schools are open here and have been for 5 full days - it is FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC.

@SaltyAndFresh 50% with sensible protections for parents and a hypothetical end date would probably have been better, but it was announced as potentially all year, hence outcry and U-turn.

On the plus side in Scotland there have been (and will be) no changes to restrictions other than the return to school, and indoor sports facilities will not reopen until 14th September.

There are some incremental moves with outdoor facilities (fairground type rides in attractions by 24th) and some museums are now opening (having got organised based on older rules) but no big changes to mask the effect of schools.

I suspect the aim is to placate parents and have evidence of the need to dial back to blended learning once the seasonal bugs start kicking in.

and with employment protections in place for working parents.

This would have been totally unenforceable and frankly not fair on businesses trying their damndest to get up and running again.

These are the businesses we rely on to raise revenue for public services, by the way.

@SaltyAndFresh thank you, he’s a great kid, a lot of pottering goes on in our house, life is very slow paced!

However, you DO appear to share a lot of beliefs with the Us4Them lot, such as a propensity to see people shouting "AAAAARGH, close the schools, where's the vaccine, why does nobody have a VACCIIIIIIIIIINE???!!!" where there do not appear to be any

I literally hadn't heard of them until this thread. I am not anti social distancing or anti masks. I do not believe the virus is a hoax. I was fully supportive of lockdown.

However, my view is that the amount of snxiety around schools reopening is not proportionate to the risk. My view is also that the continued expectation on parents to home school (which, by the way, blended learning does not remove) is going to disproportionately affect women.

THis is how it's going in Scotland

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-coronavirus-update-live-22538212

www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/scottish-school-run-parents-warned-they-risk-spreading-coronavirus-2945099

www.heraldscotland.com/news/18653608.mcvities-factory-linked-glasgow-covid-cluster-affecting-school-pupils/

@TeaInMyStoneCup

Ignore. Some people on here get a kick out of being unpleasant. I can only hope they're not as rude in real life.

The big risk is to older people, and I hope schools can go back as normally as possible for as long as possible.

And I think you are right that the majority of home schooling is going to be seen as a problem for mums rather than dads.

I think primary schools should open as they can be kept in bubbles. Secondary I really don't think they can due to options. They can also be left at home unattended and do teams classes with their teachers.

It's not ideal but I think it's the only workable and safe solution

They can also be left at home unattended and do teams classes with their teachers.

You think it’s appropriate for 11 year olds to be left at home all day by themselves?

Schools are back!
3 cases in primary school today.
Quite a few from high school.

@maddy68

I think primary schools should open as they can be kept in bubbles. Secondary I really don't think they can due to options. They can also be left at home unattended and do teams classes with their teachers.

It's not ideal but I think it's the only workable and safe solution

well my children wouldn't motivate themselves and no way would I be happy with my first year being at home on their own all day!

I mean,given half the chance would you have got up and done all your school work being left to your own devices? I certainly wouldn't have!

I don't really know why people are saying "look, schools have reopened and there are cases". Of course there are cases. Was anyone expecting that there wouldn't be?

I mean,given half the chance would you have got up and done all your school work being left to your own devices? I certainly wouldn't have!

It’s more the isolation that shocks me. I’m gobsmacked that it’s being put forward as a reasonable option really.

@TheKeatingFive

I mean,given half the chance would you have got up and done all your school work being left to your own devices? I certainly wouldn't have!

It’s more the isolation that shocks me. I’m gobsmacked that it’s being put forward as a reasonable option really.

Well yes! My ds it 12 and no way!

@TeaInMyStoneCup

I don't really know why people are saying "look, schools have reopened and there are cases". Of course there are cases. Was anyone expecting that there wouldn't be?

well yes, since we have had the narrative that children dont spread it!

@TeaInMyStoneCup

I don't really know why people are saying "look, schools have reopened and there are cases". Of course there are cases. Was anyone expecting that there wouldn't be?

Of course not.

I was kinda hoping though that more folks would now give a shiny shit given all we now know in addition to what we are witnessing unfold all over the globe

I’m a member of us4them. I don’t believe all the barmy shit about vaccines and have no objections to masks etc but I do believe that schools need to do back full time. Blended learning as it was proposed was utterly farcical and would have resulted in a totally substandard education for all children.

This virus isn’t going anywhere and not educating a whole generation of children properly is negligence of the highest order.

I’m not particularly worried about my own kids as they’re old enough to work independently, I can work from home full time and between myself and my partner, we can help teach every subject up to Higher/ A level. I have however seen the kids classmates go backwards and know that blended learning will jeopardise those kids life chances.

@Holyrivolli

I’m a member of us4them. I don’t believe all the barmy shit about vaccines and have no objections to masks etc but I do believe that schools need to do back full time. Blended learning as it was proposed was utterly farcical and would have resulted in a totally substandard education for all children.

This virus isn’t going anywhere and not educating a whole generation of children properly is negligence of the highest order.

I’m not particularly worried about my own kids as they’re old enough to work independently, I can work from home full time and between myself and my partner, we can help teach every subject up to Higher/ A level. I have however seen the kids classmates go backwards and know that blended learning will jeopardise those kids life chances.

Oh well then, thats OK. It suits you