Anyone else awake wondering what to do?

[hystericaljellyfish]

Whether to send their child to primary school in the morning?!

We are tier 4 although not as bad as London/SE yet. DS loves going to school and is desperate to go back, I felt fine about it all day but I'm having doubts now.

Lockdown looking more likely or schools to close soon anyway and for the sake of the going back potentially just for a few days it seems crazy to have all that mixing going on. But if I say no in the morning he will be so upset

Trust your gut. Go to sleep and see...are any of you particularly vulnerable?

It's him that's created the excitement, I've just prepared as normal and made sure he was in bed at a reasonable time incase he is in school in the morning. There was a lot more news later this evening actually with Kier Stammer demanding lockdown and more headlines saying Boris to decide tomorrow, I thought he may have got a well or so at school but now it's looking likely it could be less it's made me wonder if it's worth it for a day or two...

@blazinglightonthehill I get you and I agree but we're all just trying to do what's best at the moment. It's all changing so quickly. It's safe to say, few decisions at this point will be as bad as what the gov is doing.

Sorry that should say a week or so at school

No one vulnerable in our household but its more the unknown with the new strain and possible effects on children and younger people

Wide awake. Primary open tomorrow.

I have been at work this evening. What are the updates to be worried about?

Oh sorry, I assumed he was young Primary aged. If he knows the dates etc and can check himself I'm sure that's different. Mine are 9 and 7 so no idea what date they are due back unless I tell them so they had no expectations

He is 9 but knows how long the holidays were and like I said it didn't worry me so much until later this evening so he always knew he was due back at school Monday morning

Didn't mean to come across as I did. I just thought you were taking about a five year old. It's hard. Our school decided to close tonight.

Some actual leadership would be nice from the government

Well he knew there was a chance that could change but he knows his school is open and he is desperate to go..

We aren't vulnerable at all and actually had positive tests a start of Dec so I'm pretty positive were ok. I'd hate to think I'm spreading it though but I think my 12 year old will go into full blown depression if I don't send her in. She has an EHCP (v severe dyslexia) so she is eligible and we've said yes so far. She's been sleeping till 12, not talking to friends, not leaving the house and just not very happy. I don't even care about the education part of it anymore.

Cross post - sorry. You could send him still.

She's normally really happy, no problems at all aside from normal Y8 stuff. She misses her friends and normality. Had her 12th bday in lockdown and looks like it'll be 13th too.

@blazinglightonthehill that's what we are severely lacking, leadership. I'm obviously not alone it being totally unsure on what to do for the best for my child and the government shouldn't have put parents and teachers in this position

Quite. It's horrible

My daughter is in nursery and o can’t afford for her to be off.

If she were in primary I wouldn’t send her though. It’s not just about the kids catching it, it’s about when spreading it. I think school should close and we should go through another very tough and heavy lockdown.

@foxesandsquirrels it's just awful for them isn't it

Where are you? Can you check your local infection rates and make a decision that way?

@PriceEmUp I think you're right, none of us want a harsh lockdown but it's looking like there's not much alternative, especially when nothing much at all has been done to stop the spread in schools

@hystericaljellyfish it is. It's such a huge part of their short lives.
The head emailed me today saying they will be in groups of 4 with a teacher or SLT depending on take up. Morning will be the work set online and the rest they will make it fun with trampolining and arts and crafts. My gut tells me this would be better for her mental health.

@blazinglightonthehill we are Haringey, North London. So one of the worst effected.

@foxesandsquirrels it sounds like she would be much happier in school then and you won't have the worry of lots of children in if school is closed to most children

Thanks, I will see what tomorrow brings and try my best to stay away from too much news. I'm back at work tomorrow after 2 weeks off and dreading opening my emails. I have no motivation and completely wide awake.

@foxesandsquirrels how do you feel about London being in "tier 2" for such a long time?

We've been in either "lockdown" or the highest tier throughout despite having lower infection rates throughout in my area.

I feel they've done both your DC and the whole of our area a massive disservice with this.

In it together my arse

Im NW England btw. My BIL lives in London and his year has been much more free and able than mine

In London but DC1 has an SEN place if we want. It’s a personal decision, balance the risks for your family. For us it’s low risk so worth it. I can’t home school two of them as they wind each other up, and they’d miss out so much. However I totally understand if someone is high risk, child or parent, or if you have easy going kids who will do ok at home. We should be protecting those at risk, I’d be happy to volunteer in school to cover for any high risk support staff, plus ppe and testing.