Nurseries staying open

[meow1989]

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?!

@Remmy123 thank you. I had no choice but to get through it and I'm sure many people were dealing with worse. We were just so happy to keep our jobs!

[quote Remmy123]@dumbledory yeah well Scotland have their own rules.

How wouid someone work full time from home efficiently with a 1 year old? They can't

Nursery's do not transmit it as much as secondary kids.

Also what would a nursery worker do at home on furlough? Nothing for weeks abd weeks whilst getting an income while others lose thier jobs.[/quote]
@Remmy123

Scotland also have a prime minister who listens to public health advice and acts swiftly and accordingly. It was SAGE who recommended early years settings be closed to all but vulnerable and keyworker children and our prime minister who decided to keep them open against that advice...

I agree that working from home full time with an under five year old is incredibly hard. However, government have set up childcare bubbles for this purpose, it has been recommended that employees are flexible and furlough parents if they do not have access to childcare and this time around keyworker provision in schools is only available if either both parents are keyworkers, or if the keyworker is a single parent. I believe the assumption is that if there are two parents at home, they can take it in turns to work/share childcare responsibilities. If it is not safe for school teachers to open their classrooms to all, with some mitigating measures in place, then how can anyone expect early years to open to all children, as usual, with absolutely zero protection for staff and their familys?

As I previously said, anecdotally, there are outbreaks in our settings...I don't believe the data reflects the reality, due to a lot of parents not testing their young children and choosing to isolate instead.

For what it's worth, I was plenty busy working from home during the last lockdown, planning lessons, planning next steps for my key children, writing reports and carrying out SENCO and administrative duties. Please don't write us off as sitting at home doing nothing, when furloughed. Some are. Many aren't. There are also many other professionals currently doing nothing on furlough, but these people are not being attacked for that.

@Oopsiedaisy1 what do you want to happen then? You close - who pays your wages then? Us parents again - I did it last time as I had to keep my space.

You will not lose your funding but you may lose your place, this very much depends on your nursery. I own a nursery and I would not let a child lose their place if a parent was keeping them home due to COVID. Early years settings should be there to support families not make life harder. So many parents so many views and nobody is right is or wrong. Parents do what is right fir their child and family and I would support this.
Such a difficult time for all!

My health visitor has recommended that my little boy go to nursery as his development is a bit delayed. She thinks being around other children will bring him on. So it's nonsense to say that they don't benefit until the age of 4

On the other side of the coin, I am also an Early Years teacher (was teaching Primary last year and our school insisted on us teaching online, all day long, as per our usual timetables.)

Anyhoo, school moved me to Early Years in Sept and we are still open (not in UK). I am delighted that I am in still in work physically for so many reasons to mention. Our school has great safety policies and procedures and I have access to PPE. I feel safe and am happy to have, and to provide my class with, a sense of normality. My students (and my own young kids) can continue with their education and their parents can continue to work at home if they need to.

I have every sympathy for early years workers in the UK who are scared.

@dumbledory stop moaning seriously if you don't like it then leave- you have a job when many don't.

You don't see shop workers on here asking to be furloughed do you? Or nurses? Your not risking your life - unless you are very vulnerable , let's face it - you will have nothing more than a sniffle.

I don’t think the nursery workers on here are “doing their own profession down”. They’re saying that peer to peer socialisation isn’t important for very young kids (I think).

What is important (or so I keep reading) is the relationship young kids have with primary adult carers. So the way your nursery teacher relates to your toddler is vital. The way your toddler relates to the toddler next to her = less important. If I’ve understood their point correctly.

@Sandcastles09

I think a lot of people are missing the point. There is no social distancing or safety for staff in a nursery. Anyone planning to send their child in without a really good reason should think again. Children can spend a few months with their parents you know without it doing them any harm. It could even be an amazing time which you cherish!

Nursery workers who have school age children are not supported by furlough and cannot work from home. This will cause nurseries to close because of staff shortages and shut down because they can’t maintain this without support.

This. Seems to be an unpopular opinion but I'm sorry but it's another one of those I'm alright Jack situations that is showing up a lot of selfish entitlement in this country.

Fuck the nursery staff, just as long as you don't have to deal with your own toddler for a few months. I honestly feel so sorry for nursery and early years staff being offered no safeguards and no protection. Obviously just going to contribute to the overall infections which are sky rocketing daily.

It is certainly tough to work from home with a toddler - DH and I been doing it since March. We're both keyworkers (not front line) but just cannot justify the infection risk to us, our toddler, other kids and the nursery staff.

@Remmy123

Perhaps some more public appreciation for a start. To feel valued.

To be more protected. The windows in my nursery don’t even open.

To dare ask that I ought to be paid a bit more... we know that will never happen, our frontline NHS didn’t get more than a bloody clap.

It is certainly tough to work from home with a toddler - DH and I been doing it since March. We're both keyworkers (not front line) but just cannot justify the infection risk to us, our toddler, other kids and the nursery staff

Would you find it managable with just you if your DH worked out of the household?

Sitt i am not furloughed I’m working and juggling my own childcare issues (10,6,4 &2 yr olds) so I do understand the challenges parents face. As for ‘what would a nursery worker do during furlough’? I haven’t had a moment to think about it and neither have any of my colleagues as we’ve all worked through the full pandemic. Hardbackwriter I most certainly am not putting my profession down. We provide much much more than a facility for supervised play dates.

@bex35

You will not lose your funding but you may lose your place, this very much depends on your nursery. I own a nursery and I would not let a child lose their place if a parent was keeping them home due to COVID. Early years settings should be there to support families not make life harder. So many parents so many views and nobody is right is or wrong. Parents do what is right fir their child and family and I would support this. Such a difficult time for all!

You may not want to but if a child was waiting for a place you’d be silly not to give it to them. Our nursery was oversubscribed before covid and I managed to get DS’ place because of covid related redundancies (2 year wait otherwise). Now apparently some parents aren’t sending their kids in due to covid and aren’t paying either - it won’t be long before another child on the waiting list gets bumped up.

let's face it - you will have nothing more than a sniffle

How could you possibly know that!? You don’t know her personal circumstances. She could be in several risk categories for all you know.

For what it’s worth, I think the covid response has been over exaggerated. But those who want or need to shield should be able to. I really feel for the nursery workers who are genuinely scared for their life. Some of the responses towards them are getting quite nasty now.

Totally get why parents need to send their toddlers in too though, it truly is a shitty situation for everyone involved.

I'm still off work after getting Covid for Christmas. It's more than a sniffle. And the feeling when it's getting worse but you don't know how much worse it will get is pretty scary.

Moonbaby that is NOT what I said!

“ Fuck the nursery staff, just as long as you don't have to deal with your own toddler for a few months.”

You know this is not what people are doing. It’s just being inflammatory and unpleasant to say things like this. People are desperate across the board.

The evidence is really clear that nursery's are much lower risk than schools for the reasons already stated. It makes total sense to keep them open.

I am also really glad they have remained open, though would have likely got a keyworker placement anyway.

[quote Remmy123]@dumbledory stop moaning seriously if you don't like it then leave- you have a job when many don't.

You don't see shop workers on here asking to be furloughed do you? Or nurses? Your not risking your life - unless you are very vulnerable , let's face it - you will have nothing more than a sniffle.[/quote]
@Remmy123

I wasn't aware that I was moaning. Merely answering questions that you put to me.

It is not my intention to quit. As I have said, under normal circumstances I love every aspect of my profession. I believe many of my colleagues feel the same.

However, these are not normal circumstances.

Shop workers are afford hand sanitiser, masks, visors and a screen. Their encounters with the public, although many, are brief. Our wonderful NHS workers, hopefully at this point, have access to the best quality PPE. Teachers, when schools were open, would teach from the front of the class and could wear visors if they wished.

Not one other profession that I can think of works in such close contact with multiple households for hours at a time...with young children who need that close proximity for cuddles, personal care etc... without PPE, social distancing or any real mitigating measures.

Yes, some settings have been amazing and have put measures in place themselves. Others, such as mine are under the scrutiny of their local authority and government guidelines not to do this and carry on as normal, as per the guidance.

We are not asking to close. Nor are we asking for parents to pay to hold their place. We are asking for help from our government, who has put our sector in this unfortunate position to either pull us in line with other educational settings and only allow keyworker and vulnerable children to attend, possibly funding the places held for children to return once lockdown is lifted....and we are asking parents who have alternative childcare to access this for the time being, to keep numbers (and risks to children, parents and staff) low.

What you describe as sniffles at worst, well may be the case. However, as a single mother to a child currently in the process of being diagnosed with autism, I simply do not want to find out if it would be the sniffles or not. Should it be more than that for me, I have no childcare or support bubble to help me care for my daughter, whilst ill. I also don't want to chance long term complications, of which there are many, even for young and healthy individuals with mild cases.

Yes, I want to be able to work and look after your children. But I would also like to he afforded a safe work environment to be able to do so, so that I will be able to look after my own child.

Think I shall withdraw now. It seems to me that we are the only sector not viewed as humans with their own struggles.

I’d like to know what glue you’re sniffing that makes you think it’s possible to work FT from home with a toddler???
What the hell do you expect such parents to do?

There is clearly a social benefit under 4 for many children. My eldest made a close friend in the baby room so under 2 and since then she has played with other children and not just alongside. Granted she was probably earlier than average but there were plenty of 3 year olds in her room playing with other children. She was miserable during lockdown. She lacked that social stimulation and you could tell. She created imaginary friends as an outlet and as soon as she went back to being with children the imaginary friends disappeared. She also went back in June as soon as childcare re-opened. Many of the parents spoke about their pre-school children suffering from the isolation and becoming different children once they’d returned to a childcare setting with their peers.

So school staff are at risk but nursery staff are super immune

Thank you someonetookmyname, some responses have just been awful. People in this sector are entitled to be scared and worried for their own health and for the health of their families. I’m having to rely on elderly parents to allow me to work. It is far from ideal. My husband has his own business and is trying hard to keep it afloat to protect both our income and the jobs of his 22 employees. I know it is not easy, but how people on here can’t see the unfairness of the decision to solely keep nurseries open is incomprehensible to me. Some people need to return to nursery themselves to learn about compassion and empathy. This doesn’t even affect me, I’m in Scotland and we are only open for key worker/ vulnerable kids and due to low uptake I’m only in a few days so I can relieve my parents and teach my own kids too. I only decided to participate in this ‘debate’ in support of my English counterparts. Good luck🍀🍀

It's such a difficult situation for all. I'm due to settle my son into a very oversubscribed nursery in 2 weeks. I go back to work the week after (wfh). I have my reception aged daughter to homeschool. With nursery open and dh home and picking up some childcare, I think I can just about manage to do my job (badly) and homeschool - with too much tv (dd) and not enough sleep (me)... no way could I do that with a 1yr old home too. But I love the staff at nursery and I am so worried for them. And my husband had a very bad dose of covid in March and I'm worried about the reinfection stats with the new strain. And I can only expect so much flexibility from my boss if it's my choice not to send him to nursery.
All a bit of a mess.

Oh and I am 100pc clear my daughter benefitted hugely from being in nursery. The staff were wonderful, she made some close friends and she loved the socialisation. No question it was of value for her and not just to allow me to work.