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Original poster

Nurseries staying open

629 replies

meow1989 · 04/01/2021 20:08

To coin a mn phrase: is Boris on glue?!

So now I will have to pay to keep my toddler off to keep him (and us) safe?!

OP posts:
Ilovegreentomatoes · 05/01/2021 11:58

Because boris said it's safe you believe him? Like he said schools are safe? Ppl are just choosing to ignore the bits that suit them.

Remmy123 · 05/01/2021 12:00

Look .. if your child's nursery is happy to open then send them. Mine are v happy!

Sitt · 05/01/2021 12:03

I don’t for a moment think that nurseries are “safe”, if by that you mean they aren’t a place where covid is being transmitted. I’m not choosing to believe it and I don’t. I also don’t think it’s fair that early years workers have had zero recognition, nor that their concerns are ignored and overlooked - there should be provision for those staff members and settings who feel the risks are too great. However, I also don’t think that parents feeling relief that they can access childcare when they are expected to work, when they are feeling desperate and stressed, when things at home are very difficult, are selfish arseholes

DressingGownofDoom · 05/01/2021 12:04

@Perfect28

Thanks for all the responses. How on earth do you think women have managed for centuries, without playgroups and cafes? Talk to your child. Take them for walks. Say hi to people walking their dogs. Read stories. They will cope... Honestly. I know it isn't a middle class ideal but they aren't going to somehow be scarred for life.
In centuries past children were not socialised by saying hello to passing dog walkers. They were in and out of neighbours houses, the neighbours were probably family as well and families were bigger so playing and socialising with siblings, cousins and friends, and their families. It's a bit different from one walk a day in the middle of 10 hours of cbeebies.
mynameiscalypso · 05/01/2021 12:22

I don't think anyone - government included - thinks that nurseries are safer than schools. Just that it's not necessary to close them (as well as schools) to manage the current peak based on their modelling and the disruption it would cause to working parents. If, in the next few weeks, it doesn't seem to be working and they have to tighten restrictions, I'm sure they will close. If you only have to chose one to keep open out of EY, primary and secondary, EY is probably the best (and has the smallest number of people plus parents/other family are likely to be younger on the whole than secondary school families).

Mysterian · 05/01/2021 12:28

@Remmy123

Look .. if your child's nursery is happy to open then send them. Mine are v happy!
There is a difference between the nursery being happy to open and the staff being happy to work.
OnlyFoolsnMothers · 05/01/2021 12:30

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

The point remains that you are putting other people at risk by sending your children to nursery. You have to live with knowing your actions will cause illness and death. You have convinced yourself you are right so it won’t bother you though.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers
I’m afraid children do spread the virus. Why do you think they have closed the schools if they don’t? I understand WHY you are being selfish but you ARE being selfish. There need to be better solutions FOR EVERYONE affected by this.

No where is 100% safe. I consider nursery safe for children because how many children(for this argument under5s) have died of Covid? How many have become seriously sick because of Covid?

All the childcare givers at our nursery are under 40- if there are additional needs and personal risks they are to be managed between the worker and their employer.
Equally me withdrawing my child could push staff and their family into poverty. Would that be selfish?

I would stop comparing schools and nurseries , there’s less than 15 kids in my child’s nursery bubble, there’s 4 classes, not comparable to a primary school let alone a secondary.

Remmy123 · 05/01/2021 12:31

@Mysterian yes my nursery the workers are happy with this decision.

Eternia · 05/01/2021 12:37

@mynameiscalypso

I don't think anyone - government included - thinks that nurseries are safer than schools. Just that it's not necessary to close them (as well as schools) to manage the current peak based on their modelling and the disruption it would cause to working parents. If, in the next few weeks, it doesn't seem to be working and they have to tighten restrictions, I'm sure they will close. If you only have to chose one to keep open out of EY, primary and secondary, EY is probably the best (and has the smallest number of people plus parents/other family are likely to be younger on the whole than secondary school families).
But the government does think nurseries are safer than schools - because of transmission rates and because of the size compared to primary and secondary schools?
mynameiscalypso · 05/01/2021 12:39

@Eternia Well yes, there are fewer cases in nurseries because of the number of people in the setting but what I meant is that it's not like nurseries have some magical powers to keep out covid that schools don't.

Eternia · 05/01/2021 12:51

@mynameiscalypso I understand, sorry - it's just that your post seemed to suggest the government were lying when they suggested nurseries were safer. I mean, I thought that it wasn't just the fact that the cohort was smaller but also that transmission amongst the under 5s is not thought to be the same as in older children (outwith cohort sizes).

Eternia · 05/01/2021 12:51

I haven't put that very well, sorry!

mynameiscalypso · 05/01/2021 12:53

[quote Eternia]@mynameiscalypso I understand, sorry - it's just that your post seemed to suggest the government were lying when they suggested nurseries were safer. I mean, I thought that it wasn't just the fact that the cohort was smaller but also that transmission amongst the under 5s is not thought to be the same as in older children (outwith cohort sizes).[/quote]
No, you're totally right! I didn't phrase my post very well either. Thank you for helping me to clarify (trying to supervise toddler DS at the same time!)

Eternia · 05/01/2021 12:54

I feel your pain, me too :-)

PinkSpring · 05/01/2021 12:56

Our pre-school were very happy to remain open, they only have three staff and less than ten children - all the staff want to remain open and keep working.

If they close, they potentially won't be able to reopen as they won't have the money.

There is yet another announcement at 5pm today, if they close early years / nurseries, I will be fuming. I cannot work with a 1 and 3 year old at home, it's not possible and I will end up losing my job.

BustopherPonsonbyJones · 05/01/2021 13:00

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Yes, it still makes you selfish (dictionary definition: lacking consideration for other people; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure).

You are asking nursery staff to work with 15 families (and hence their contacts) without PPE for an extended period of time for your economic gain and personal benefit. Children are not a concern as they are unlikely to become ill.

I am quite happy to let workers assess their own risk levels and work in an unsafe environment but it should be THEIR choice and not yours.

MessAllOver · 05/01/2021 13:03

There is yet another announcement at 5pm today, if they close early years / nurseries, I will be fuming.

If they announce a closure at 5pm today, I will be fuming not because of the closures (which may or may not be the right decision, as we've been discussing on this thread) but because this constant uncertainty and changing direction is psychological torture for parents and nursery workers, all of whom need some clarity on what precisely is going to happen over the next few weeks so we can make plans (whether that is to stop working/request furlough/arrange alternative childcare/go on sick leave or whatever we all plan to do to protect ourselves and our families). This constant "will they, won't they?" is unnecessarily cruel.

Hardbackwriter · 05/01/2021 13:05

How on earth do you think women have managed for centuries, without playgroups and cafes?

Probably because they weren't totally socially isolated in every other way? Hmm

FoxtrotSkarloey · 05/01/2021 13:08

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ.

mynameiscalypso · 05/01/2021 13:08

I can't imagine today's press conference will involve EY - far more likely to be the budget stuff and to allow Boris and others to answer questions. Apart from on Mumsnet, I've not seen a massive amount of press about nurseries etc staying open (by which I mean, the Daily Mail - normally a good indicator - isn't frothing at the mouth about them)

mynameiscalypso · 05/01/2021 13:09

Totally @FoxtrotSkarloey, I'm quite surprised at the number of people who still haven't grasped this after 9 months!

notachocoholic · 05/01/2021 13:15

It's because you cannot work effectively with under 4/5s at home with you.

neither can you when caring for a severely disabled child. yet special schools have closed again. Why are nurseries different?

tellytubby20 · 05/01/2021 13:16

@mynameiscalypso

@FoxtrotSkarloey

but people really havent. everyone seems to think that the government is tanking the economy for the benefit of their four year old's safety or their own safety. it really isnt.

things are shut to ensure the 15million identified as in the vulnerable category dont end up needing a hospital bed. schools, shops, urseries etc are just transmission vetors.

it's like the other thread are nurseries safe....what does it mean by safe - safe for the parents, kids, nursery staff - yes, safe for the vulnerable groups - no....

parents seem to think that they are keeping kids at home to save them from covi.....you are not. kids are at home to save the granny not the kid.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 05/01/2021 13:19

[quote BustopherPonsonbyJones]@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Yes, it still makes you selfish (dictionary definition: lacking consideration for other people; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure).

You are asking nursery staff to work with 15 families (and hence their contacts) without PPE for an extended period of time for your economic gain and personal benefit. Children are not a concern as they are unlikely to become ill.

I am quite happy to let workers assess their own risk levels and work in an unsafe environment but it should be THEIR choice and not yours.[/quote]
It wasn’t mine, it was the governments- the provision is there I will use it.
I would claim everyone who hasn’t self isolated since march, you has physically been to a supermarket, who Saw their mum over Xmas is selfish then by your warped definition.
If you’re that stressed about working get signed off sick and wrap yourself in cotton wool!

PegLegTrev · 05/01/2021 13:19

@Perfect28

Thanks for all the responses. How on earth do you think women have managed for centuries, without playgroups and cafes? Talk to your child. Take them for walks. Say hi to people walking their dogs. Read stories. They will cope... Honestly. I know it isn't a middle class ideal but they aren't going to somehow be scarred for life.
Tried this. My singing wasn’t welcome on conference calls.