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Original poster

School - how worried are you 1-10?

546 replies

ChanceChanceChance · 10/09/2020 21:55

I'm finding it impossible to settle on how worried I am about school, about whether my children will pick up covid there and how worried I am if that happens.

If you were to put your worry on a scale 1-10, with 1 being 'no more worried than a normal year' and 10 being 'terrified', where are you?

I think I'm going for an average of 6 right now.

OP posts:
skipperjonce · 07/03/2021 08:15

...

Pootle40 · 07/03/2021 08:16

0 for Covid
10 at the thought of school closing again

Pootle40 · 07/03/2021 08:17

@loulouljh

0 about Covid.

10 about how much they have missed and all the nonsense they will have to put up with when going back.

Yes this
Jellybaby4 · 07/03/2021 09:21

Cant belive so many of you are 0 about covid,
This is baffling.
I am 10 about covid.
My son had it last year through catching it at school, it was a extremely scary time.
So I am shocked that nobody seems bothered by covid and there is zero worry.

Newpuppymummy · 07/03/2021 09:22

2 for COVID

5 for their anxiety about going back

PTW1234 · 07/03/2021 09:25

About 3. If my immediate household caught covid we would be fine.

If my bubble caught covid (in laws who are over 70) not sure, however both have had their first vaccine so feeling more optimistic.

Whatafustercluck · 07/03/2021 09:34

If 1 is no more than in a normal year I'd have to say 2. I'm not really concerned about Covid itself, or ds's anxiety about returning - he isn't.

I am concerned to see the effects on transmission among broader society though. We all want normality back and I hope the return of schools doesn't jeopardise that.

OhDear2200 · 07/03/2021 09:35

@Jellybaby4

Cant belive so many of you are 0 about covid, This is baffling. I am 10 about covid. My son had it last year through catching it at school, it was a extremely scary time. So I am shocked that nobody seems bothered by covid and there is zero worry.
Sounds difficult. What were you most worried about? Him or the adults in the house? Both adults in our house now vaccinated so worry is low.
lifeonhardmodept2 · 07/03/2021 09:38

@Awalkinthefreshair

If parents had the right to choose then it would be so much easier. Education is important, but lives always come first. I speak as a single parent/ carer to disabled child. I have asthma and have not yet been called up for the vaccine. If I was vaccinated I'd be fine with sending them to school.
If you are entitled to Carer’s Allowance you can get vaccinated. Might want to look into it. Hope that helps.
nex18 · 07/03/2021 09:40
  1. 0 wasn’t an option so I’ll take a 1 for the effects of the bad moods for getting up early for the first few days.
Worrysaboutalot · 07/03/2021 09:53

1 About the kids catching Covid they will be fine.

10 For me catching Covid. I am not just extremely clinical vulnerable but also immune supressed which increases my risks even higher. So much so, that I had my Covid vacs 4 weeks apart instead of the standard 12 weeks.

10 for future school closures as our area is in the 'over 100 cases per 100,000' which are considered not safe levels to reopen schools at. Coupled with classrooms too crowded for SD. It is not a good combination. I would of preferred to home school until Easter when the levels might have dropped to levels which are safer. But when does the government ever listen to the experts!

So I am reluctantly sending the kids back, as we can't afford a fine at this time. We have everything crossed that we weather the next 6 months, until the whole population has either been vaccinated or has caught Covid. As everyone will be doing one or the other.

Baileysforchristmas · 07/03/2021 09:53

I’m not worried at all, so 1. A lot of my daughter’s friends already have had it, they had no symptoms, I don’t know if my daughter had it but probably as it was rife in her school before Christmas. Sons a teacher, he was surrounded by it, his girlfriend got it was quite poorly, my son never tested positive, my husband is the most vulnerable but has had the vaccine so not worried at all, plus all the testing now twice a week, it’s probably as safe as it can be, i’m hoping this is the road back to normality, hoping to go on holiday, London theatre trips, meals out, meeting friends, I can’t wait.

lljkk · 07/03/2021 09:55

I guess I'm baffled by those who worry so much about stuff that we can't change. Plus I know I'm worried about my children being very disengaged from education. DH & I nag & discuss & remind & cajole daily, but formal education is less and less important to home-DC every day. In meantime, I don't know whether they will ever get decent jobs -- especially the big kid who didn't get 'real' GCSEs and is especially disengaged from A-levels. Adult DC have public service career paths, their training ground to a halt for long time & even now is continuing in only half-happening way. Now we see how the public finances have been hammered so DC's future earnings will be cut. That's what everyone worrying about covid disease has done to them.

If my child had had covid I'd be thinking he's as good as vaccinated so can't be hurt by that again. Even less reason to worry.

Loubylou79 · 07/03/2021 10:03

1

HazeyJaneII · 07/03/2021 10:08

I've posted earlier on the thread and have been 10+ pretty much all the way through!

Ds will probably go back after Easter - and I think until he is vaccinated I'll probably stay up in the 10s.

Violetlavenders · 07/03/2021 10:16

All for the sake of waiting two more weeks until after Easter.

It would be 5 more weeks of being at home!

My dc are so excited about going back tomorrow! Those 3 weeks before Easter will mean so much for them

phlebasconsidered · 07/03/2021 10:29

I am a 49 year old unvacinnated asthmatic and autoimmune teacher with a class of 35 (could be 36 if the new girl turns up and one child doesn't move) with a window as my mitigation. I have been bumped from group 6 as i haven't had a hospital admission this year. Just outpatients for nebulisers.

My bubble shut during this lockdown and has been closed 4 times so far. We are in a hotspot flagged up as being a growth area. My TA currently has long covid. Compliance with regulations in my area is low. Parents have freely admitted they are not following them. There has been no improvement in mitigation in my school. My class are largely my height or taller and none of us are permitted masks. I still have to work in close contact, mark every single book amd handle the disruptive student out of the class. Primaries are "safe" although anyone with half a brain knows different. Children are still sent in ill and with a dose of Calpol. This despite the fact that every single case in my class has just presented with runny noses or tummy ache.

My children travel for 35 minutes on a school bus with every other year group, making their already large bubbles even more of a nonsense.

Although my children will likely be fine, I may not be. I won't discount risk to them. My nephew had no prior conditions at all and at age 8 has been ill since October with Covid. I am a single parent and Long covid poses a real risk to me.

I have been in school throughout but frankly, schools are not safe and if had a CV child I would pay the fine and keep them off. I can wipe the tables as much as I like and keep my window open for whatever good that does, but 2 minutes into breaktime they are all over each other.

I am resigned to it but my sense of duty stops after this pandemic and i'll be looking for other work. For now, I am changing outfits on return home and showering, to protect my mum who lives with us. Thankfully she has had her first shot as vulnerable.

SidneyPlace · 07/03/2021 10:32

10, I work across a large range of schools. I see lack of safety daily due to limitations of school buildings and money.

OrangeBananaFish · 07/03/2021 10:36

Another 1 from me. In fact I don't even know if its as high as that.

I'm more worried about further disruption and even more worried about positive LFT and having to collect them. I start a new job tomorrow and really nervous about having to leave work to pick up a child. It won't look good in a new place after only an hour or so.

User133847 · 07/03/2021 10:42

@Jellybaby4

Cant belive so many of you are 0 about covid, This is baffling. I am 10 about covid. My son had it last year through catching it at school, it was a extremely scary time. So I am shocked that nobody seems bothered by covid and there is zero worry.
Oh well, the virus will love the complacency.
IloveJKRowling · 07/03/2021 10:43

@phlebasconsidered

Flowers it's shit, you know it's shit, it's unfair and I'm glad you have decided to get out. No one deserves to have to work in a place with so little care for their wellbeing.

MrsArchchancellorRidcully · 07/03/2021 10:54

@Jellybaby4

Cant belive so many of you are 0 about covid, This is baffling. I am 10 about covid. My son had it last year through catching it at school, it was a extremely scary time. So I am shocked that nobody seems bothered by covid and there is zero worry.
You have no way of knowing where your son caught covid. It's not certain it was at school - no one can be certain.

I'm not worried in the slightest about my kids going back. Majority of vulnerable vaccinated. I'd unlock everything now if it were my decision. Properly shield the unvaccinated vulnerable and let the rest get on.

lljkk · 07/03/2021 14:08

DS has a resin 3D printer. He can't come here so I am learning how to operate it.

That thing is scary -- the resin is very toxic. At least some people with these devices are going to be careless about the resin & expose themselves or others to toxic uncured resin.

I am WAY more worried about people using resin 3D printers than I am of catching covid or anyone else catching covid.

Takemebackto98 · 07/03/2021 14:53

@phlebasconsidered 💐 from me too and also don’t blame you for wanting out.

SidneyPlace · 07/03/2021 15:05

@phlebasconsidered

So sorry. In my LA, teaching assistants, admin staff, teachers and head teachers are resigning in large numbers.
Recruitment is dire. In fact one school are now on their third round of TA adverts having failed to recruit.

Health and well-being and safety measures in schools are just words. No real support, no 'consideration of personal circumstances, no real mitigation. Windows that don't open...let's just pretend they do.

I'm living away from my CEV partner as I have to carry on my work with schools. Really tough times out there.

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