Should I send my youngest to school, would you in these circumstances?

[insertsomethingwitty]

Firstly, I know no one can make this decision, but as a single parent I need a sounding board and some outside opinions.

I have two children, one secondary, one primary. We live in a tier 4 area. My eldest is off school doing online learning until 18th January. Youngest is in primary due back on Tuesday.

Oldest is booked in to have heart surgery soon, before they are due to be back in school on 18th.

None of us currently have symptoms, so no reason to isolate. Although I obviously need to protect my eldest, who has a long term health condition, so the surgery can go ahead. They will have a covid test on admission to hospital.

Should I send my youngest into school before their sibling's surgery, would you? I'm totally torn. Youngest needs to be in school, but if they bring Covid home then obviously the surgery won't be able to go ahead. We live pretty rurally and I think the risk of her getting it is fairly low.

I’d be tempted to keep your younger child off school even if it wasn’t a covid year. Chances of picking up any bug and passing it on are pretty high in January. Especially if the heart operation is urgent and serious. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise it.

In your case, no I wouldn’t send them in.

Unless the hospital have told the family to self isolate he must legally attend.

In your situation I wouldn’t. I’d be honest with the school about why - it’s a perfectly sensible reason.

No, I’d protect that surgery at all costs.

I'm sending my own kids in to school tomorrow BUT in your case I would keep yours off and isolate as much as poss so there is less of a chance of your eldests surgery being postponed.

With the NHS being so busy at the moment it could be some time before the surgery can be rescheduled?

I wouldn't send the youngest in, not worth the risk.

No, I wouldn't even hesitate.

No, I wouldn't send mine in these circumstances. There will always be jobsworths who insist that "legally he must attend", but meanwhile, in the real world, we make the decisions that are best for our families and the surgery is more important.

No, I wouldn’t send your youngest in.

Keep them home, school will understand. I hope the surgery goes well op

Thank you everyone for your kind good wishes. I really appreciate having another adult just give an outside opinion. Single parenting truly sucks sometimes.

In my school we have had children off prior to a family member going into hospital. I'm sure the school will be fine.

I would not send them.
My son was due for fairly major thoracic surgery which was brought forward when it looked like the pandemic was due to lockdown Australia. We were in hospital as state borders were shutting around us.
We made it, but had had to pull our youngest out of school early on surgeons instructions.

One thing - the recovery time for your son will also likely be extended due to the risk of Covid. We copped an additional month in voluntary/recommended lockdown, including our other child, to ensure the oldest was healthy enough though Australia had very little Covid post initial lockdown.
In Australia though , so don't have the quite as heavy handed force your child to school that the UK does, but still had to collect up many Drs letters to not attract truancy charges when schools returned.
Post surgery will be as much a concern as pre, re keeping yourself Covid safe, and your other child may need to be out of school for that too.
Good luck.

Hope it all goes well OP,
I'm a teacher and one of my year 7s was off a couple of weeks before Christmas, because his dad was due an operation, and the hospital had suggested that the family isolate prior to this. Head was fine with this, and actually encouraged it. We also had a teacher off isolating prior to an operation (in October) just to be on the safe side.
I get the single parent thing (I am one too) - you constantly question yourself, don't you?

You're doing the right thing, keeping youngest off.