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Will you be sending your child to school in lockdown?

289 replies

peacockfeather11 · 31/10/2020 20:47

I know they will be open, but I am curious to see if parents will feel they will be safer at home.

OP posts:
SkyeIsPink · 31/10/2020 21:46

Yes, I will be. We’re in a medium risk area and there have been no cases in our school. DS just started reception and they’ve just started on phonics and reading. Now would be a really shit time to pull him out of school. Plus I can’t get him to focus at home, he needs an educational environment

Vintagevixen · 31/10/2020 21:47

Absolutely, no good reason not too. I'm not that worried about either her or I catching it, such is life.

caringcarer · 31/10/2020 21:47

I'm sending in D's year 10. His school set him very little work last time so he must go in to learn. Only one student in Sixth Form in a separate part of school has had Covid. No teachers either.

Riojasmoothy · 31/10/2020 21:48

Yes of course. Education, socialising and good mental health are incredibly important.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 31/10/2020 21:48

Definitely yes!

We've already had more than one tranche of 14 days self-isolation and Teams, and she learns so much better in school than at home.

I'm not worried about public transport either - DD pretty much has her own carriage these days on the train as it is.

picosandsancerre · 31/10/2020 21:49

yes

SpeedofaSloth · 31/10/2020 21:50

Yes, and if schools did shut I would hope to keep them in a keyworker bubble.

Figsandcream · 31/10/2020 21:51

Yes.

manicinsomniac · 31/10/2020 21:51

Yes.
Year 13, Year 9 and Year 2.

I'm a single mum and a teacher so no choice with the youngest. The older 2 are at a stage school. They can't learn their priority subjects effectively from home and wouldn't want to. We'll all be in unless the schools shut completely.

KimonoKim · 31/10/2020 21:53

Yes! Talked to dd10 about possible lockdown 2 earlier and when I confirmed that she'd still be able to go to school she replied "thank god" 🤷🏼‍♀️

Gright · 31/10/2020 21:53

I have to work (secondary) so they will have to go in. To be honest, if I didn't have to be in work I'd keep them (primary) at home so I could have some quality time with my elderly father who we are trying to distance from as much as possible. With both of us at school and mixing with lots of people it isn't safe to have him round for dinner etc even though he desperately needs encouraging to eat properly.

CeibaTree · 31/10/2020 21:53

Of course - why not?

Deyjxh · 31/10/2020 21:54

Yes - years 8 and 11

CeeceeBloomingdale · 31/10/2020 21:54

Yes of course. I need to work and they need to be educated.

ceilingdrum · 31/10/2020 21:55

Hell yes

MintyMabel · 31/10/2020 21:56

I literally don't know a single parent who is anxious about Covid re their children - not one.

I know plenty. Mainly because the child or an adult in the home is vulnerable.

BrunoMars · 31/10/2020 21:56

Absolutely, yes

LolalovesLondon · 31/10/2020 21:58

WoahHeyThere

Just thinking the same! People are idiots.

BogRollBOGOF · 31/10/2020 21:59

Of course. The virus has finally caught up with our school right at the end of half term, one year group affected and one year group off. However the educational and social benefits far, far outweigh the risks.

DS1 has multiple SNs. Like many children with Autism he could not cope with having to learn in the wrong environment, with his sibling not his peers, with his mum as a teacher (despite being qualified and remembering being in her classroom a few years earlier). He can't cope with zoom. Death by worksheet is like a slow, dull educational death to a child with dyslexia and dyspraxia.

DS2 is sociable and needs more company than one sibling with compromised social skills. In June & July, he was struggling. Lethargic. Foul tempered. Rude. Because he was unhappy and understimulated. As we began to get a vaguely familiar holiday vibe in July with more stimulation, I got my cheerful, sunny, enthusiastic child back. Again home learning was a disaster because why should a young (and immature) child want to learn when their big sibling is turning everything into a battle.

School is essential to their well being. Educationally, socially, physical health. In the spring/ summer, I could walk them 5-8 miles to tire them out. In the mud, wind and rain?

I didn't send DS1 to school in the summer term because he needed education and they were offering childcare and would have struggled with the inconsistent staffing and people in school each day/ week.

timetochangeagainforever · 31/10/2020 22:02

Without a second thought. They've missed so much education already and the mental toll being in lockdown is huge, they need socialisation with friends/peers. My son Y11 tested positive after a boy in his year tested positive so the whole bubble had to isolate. My son developed a minor cough so we had him tested. He was positive but his sister, his dad and me were all negative!

Iliketeaagain · 31/10/2020 22:03

Absolutely sending dd to school. To be honest, I think I'd have quite the argument on my hands if I told her I was keeping her at home.

The risk of impact on her mental health is much greater than the risk of covid (IMO). And she's one of the "lucky" ones - there were children in her class who didn't pick up a pen or read a book when schools closed in March until after the summer. And I suppose I'm a lucky parent inasmuch as, dd loves maths and English and there was no argument about doing the school work that was set up very week online, and I didn't / don't have to worry about having enough money to feed her lunch everyday.

For wider society, children need to be educated, we cannot allow a lost generation or have children impacted forever because they missed the majority of a year of school. Because the gap will widen and widen for every child who either is unable or won't access online learning as schools shut, and miss out on meals because their parents cannot afford another 5 meals a week.

Whycatspaint · 31/10/2020 22:03

Yes I can't work and home educate. I have no choice and I can't let their education suffer because of my work! DD is year 11 anyway and desperate to go

SentientAndCognisant · 31/10/2020 22:03

Yes. My kids will be going to school. School maintains a normality & routine
I’m a key worker so I’m out all the time

timetochangeagainforever · 31/10/2020 22:04

@Char2015 can I ask why and what age are your children

Orcus · 31/10/2020 22:04

Mine will be in, no reason not to in our case.