Pulling children out of school...

[monkeytennis97]

In March schools started closing as parents pulled their kids out in droves and teachers and kids went off sick or isolating. Given the much higher numbers today and sadly the near 600 deaths yesterday is anyone thinking of doing this? Schools are on their knees in so many ways at the moment. I'm a secondary teacher and really think rota learning should come in now (for secondaries) to minimize numbers in schools to keep them as open as possible until Christmas. Will parents start pulling kids out again? I am only talking in respect to secondary schools.

But there already is a rota system now in hundreds of schools. Forced on them because staff are ill or isolating and they can't be safely open.

schools without cases are simply running on luck

I agree with that. It doesn't really matter how 'robust' or 'stringent' any individual school's covid protection stuff is, it's just luck. If you've got one wally family in the mix, sending in ill children, or children of ill parents without tests, then they are the weakest link and you are a gonner. There are wally parents in every school.

Not a single school in my area on a rota or the surrounding areas. Southeast.

Probably not happening anywhere else in the country then either

Secondary. Childcare not needed.

Yes, it's the magical "I haven't heard of this so it can't be true" phenomenon.

Ds high school had no cases what so ever until this week 1 bubble in year 7 set home 1 in year 8 sent home and a support teacher i thought the school had some secret trick that no one knew about haha but no its gonna go through every school at some point.

Nobody that I know pulled their kids out of school.

No. How on earth do you expect parents to work with a rota system?

Op specifically said she was talking about secondary.

Not a single school in my area on a rota or the surrounding areas. Southeast.

Yet tons of cases in my area and surrounding areas. Northwest

They've not sent any year groups home here but if I was one of the pupils who had as many isolation periods as the ones on the thread about how many times my kids had been sent home then I'd want a rota too.
Being at school 50% isn't fair but it's better than the scandalously little time that some are getting.

Parents absolutely were taking kids out of school in March and there were plenty of kids and staff self isolating.
I look back to March with a surreal sense of horror and wonder. It was the most stressful time of my career. People were scared, advice was changing daily and it was all so new and different.

I am a teacher in the South East. Your claim is incorrect. It’s already happening.

@starrynight19

No. How on earth do you expect parents to work with a rota system?

Op specifically said she was talking about secondary.

11/12/13 yr olds (even older teenagers) still need some sort of adult support during the day. As an adult I find wfh hard, its lonely and takes a lot of self discipline so I can't imagine how preteens are expected to find this easy and just get on with it, and tbh its not for the vast majority of pupils benefit to rota schooling as covid generally has very little effect on most children, its purely for the benefit of the wider community.

In the week leading up to the first lockdown, I had only 16 children left in my class of 30.
You can say, 'Oh that's just Mumsnet," all you like, but I can assure you it was Real Life.

There were a few that took dc out early and some classes did close in March in London. Not sure if more teachers were asked not to come in (CEV v shielding).

But it’s not feeling the same now. We had very high cases back then though and greater uncertainty re impact on dc. Fewer people isolating overall.

@Codexdivinchi

ChloeDecker my independent was the the first ones to close as our kids were the ones who went skiing. We closed for a week to ‘deep clean’ then we were back open till the government said we had to close.

So no gas lighting - just lived experience!

So not only did you already know your statement was factually incorrect, you’ve then provided proof that you were incorrect and proof that you were gaslighting experiences! Okay then

Do you not think parents withdrew their children in March purely based on the unknown and fear? We knew barely anything about the virus back then, on how different people were impacted etc, instead we were being bombarded in the media with coverage of mass bodies being shipped out by the army in Italy and the extremely strict lockdown in Wuhan. It was scary stuff, now we have a better understanding about the virus so the initial fear of unknown is now gone

11/12/13 yr olds (even older teenagers) still need some sort of adult support during the day. As an adult I find wfh hard, its lonely and takes a lot of self discipline so I can't imagine how preteens are expected to find this easy and just get on with it, and tbh its not for the vast majority of pupils benefit to rota schooling as covid generally has very little effect on most children, its purely for the benefit of the wider community.

Sadly I disagree. I actually have three teenagers of my own. From my own personal experience my y11 dd has had three lots of isolation and yes is very lonely right now. In the last six weeks she has been in school for 5 days due to isolation. This ad hoc being sent home without notice is horrendous for her. If we could have some sort of organised rota it would help her immensely. As I have said before I am not advocating this for all schools but those schools who are at a crisis point.

11/12/13 yr olds (even older teenagers) still need some sort of adult support during the day. As an adult I find wfh hard, its lonely and takes a lot of self discipline so I can't imagine how preteens are expected to find this easy and just get on with it, and tbh its not for the vast majority of pupils benefit to rota schooling as covid generally has very little effect on most children, its purely for the benefit of the wider community.

So it’s difficult for you to work from home with 11/12/13 year olds. Totally understandable. What do you suggest to fix the issue then that many many young people are at a massive disadvantage; either being taught by non-specialists, transient supply teachers, whole year groups self isolating at home without the required tech or familial support (some year groups are on their second or third 2 week isolation and school has only been back 9 weeks. Do they not matter?

Why can’t people agree that this is a scandal? You wouldn’t say ‘well my child is well fed so free school meals aren’t necessary’. Of course no one would say that! People read social media and form opinions based on what they read and can make a difference if they can and if we can get the government to u turn on free school meals, why can’t we get the gov to u turn on providing support and funding for schools to cope if they need it; on providing the promised tech that was shelved and to ensure staff have their risk reduced so they can stay in school more and teach children (so other parents can wfh without the distractions, eh-win win) ?

@ChloeDecker its because I'm at home working i know that my DS needed that adult support during the day. In the summer term when lessons were on teams or sent home via email he regularly asked for my help with one thing or another, he also needed the motivation of an adult there to get him to switch from Fifa to school work too. He did really well actually and it seems a lot more than his peers , he regularly told me x y and z weren't doing any online lessons which I didnt believe at the time but have since found out it was probably true. Its because I was fortunate enough to be at home that he did so well with remote learning, I've no doubt if he had been home alone during that time nowhere near as much effort would have been put in if any tbh.

In relation to the multiple isolations I think its overkill to send home whole years of over 100+ for 1 positive case, a strict seating code (like alphabetical order in each class) would mean only close contacts sent home

@ChloeDecker oh and I didn't say I found wfh hard due to having 11/12/13yr old at home, I said I find it hard in general with feeling lonely and self discipline and motivation

I think its overkill to send home whole years of over 100+ for 1 positive case

Are you an public health expert? Schools don't make the choice.