keeping primary kids home - best way to avoid a fine?

[dreamsofholidays]

Local primaries are open, I'm CV and don't trust this government to make sensible decisions about the safety of schools. In my assessment, the biggest risk to our family in the short-term is losing a parent rather than missing some weeks of school. But I would like to avoid the stress and expense of being fined - I get very anxious of being 'in trouble' with school! What's the best way to avoid a fine - do I (a) write to the head honestly (b) say household has covid symptoms and string that out for a bit or (c) something else? Also, how much would fines be - is it per child? Per day? Per week?

She wont be fined if she keeps them off because they are isolating or ill.
Or if thats what she tells the school.
So no thats not the reality.
They shouldn't be and wont be penelising parents for keeping children at home who are contacts of positives or showing symptoms.
Im not all that pleased about having to lie but needs must in this instance.

Annynmous thank goodness for you. However I'm sure sadly life's jobs worths are also ewo insisting children be in school.

To be honest I doubt it. We have a job to do yes and it's not ok to put a message out there that it's fine for kids not to go in, but with the current state I don't think many LAs and EWOs will be much interested in fining. To be honest we don't really like fining or prosecuting anyway, it feels like a sad ending and a bit of a failure. We try to support families to improve their children's attendance and to remove barriers where barriers exist, at the moment our job is different and I think we probably all accept that.

Bless anonymous...

I'm can just imagine someone chatting to me on Skype asking what barriers they need to remove and I say, covid...

Well...

It's nice to know behind the sheer worry and threats parents are agonising over at the moment, someone behind all this is human with empathy, thank you

Although honesty seems like the best policy you’ll find most headteachers have no choice. Ours told us it was either dcs attend school and take the risk or deregister and lose our school places.

Dh has a disability and we have been very anxious throughout the term.

@Panickingpavlova haha yes- nothing we can do about covid!!! Hence the backing off fines!! You're welcome.

If it helps at all, my DH is involved with training schools on this, and completely seconds anonymous on this.
Heads and schools are being asked to show compassion and ‘find a way to support children back to learning’ rather than punish them for low attendance. I think it’s a rare school that doesn’t see this is a time for empathy, (while also being careful around safeguarding etc).

anonymous1020 and Sevensilverrings thanks so much for sharing that, it is really helpful. I guess we have to be hopeful that other LAs and schools share that position.

In recent days my area has gone well over the 500/100k population mark.

Are there any countries in the world that would open schools with these rates? I've been looking and thus far cannot find any country that wouldn't close schools at this level. In fact, can't find any country that wouldn't close schools at rates many times lower than these levels.

Plus my school - if opens as in December - has no social distancing and no masks.

What is wrong with our government?

Im still curious about other countries and achools. We could do with a thread colldcting data. I know parts of America even have homeschooled and Australia did and succeedeed in getting rid of covid in Victoria.

I think someeuropean countries were opening schools but under vastly different conditions to ours so not really comparable.

I think that most schools will go along with a vague excuse... 'we have some symptoms at home and I'm concerned about covid' to start and then if schools aren't closed you'll have to be truthful as symptoms only buy you limited time as they will expect tests etc. So the truth will probably be needed and you won't be the only one saying it. If I was a school I would not care one bit about having fewer children in this current climate. In fact I'd welcome it.

But what is U is the strange comments about dishonest governments and corruption. You should probably stay off Facebook news for a bit. This is a VIRUS. Not a made up thing. It changes and mutates and even the government can't control that.

And let's not forget for every SAHM there's a working mum watching her career or job vanish because there's suddenly children at home and she's expected to stop work for them. Not everyone is happy about schools closing you know - it's causing huge problems for many.

So there's no dishonesty or flip flopping. As ever no government can please all of the people all of the time. Buying into weird shit about 'corruption' and 'dishonestly' just shows some pretty disordered thinking tbh. Too much time at home in the echo chamber of social media 'news'. I have a teacher friend like this. It worries me and makes me see her as unintelligent in equal parts. She spends a lot of time reading shit on SM.