66% of my daughters reception class are in school this week

[Crazyoldmaurice]

We live in a very affluent part of South West London, avg house price 750k+

Turns out that 66% of my daughters reception class are due to attend school this week. There are 75 kids in her year group and all 48 keyworker child places have been taken (I was too late to book her on so have had to send an email!).

Hardly seems worth keeping the 25 other kids off at this point.

I don't understand if you have a desk based job and are working from home why you think you're anymore special than a non keyworker also working from home and trying to home school?

As a teacher, I will attend my school when required to support key worker and vulnerable children. I will have to send my child to her school on those days because my OH works on construction sites where children are not allowed.
She won't be 'taught' or have any real advantage over any other child, as they'll just be put in front of the same home tasks that are set for every child. She's not able enough to complete these without heavy support, so when I'm working from home, I'll have to help her catch up on the previous work, complete the current day's work, and also be available to support my primary class in their home learning.
Meanwhile, I'm supervising a child who struggles to complete the tasks set without lots of support while their parent is at work helping someone else.
No one wins! 🤦‍♀️

I didn't use a place last time because I didn't work so many days, wfh 90% of the time & my work were able to be very flexible for me so as stressful as it was I felt the place was needed by others more. However I doubled my hours in Sept & need to spend some time a wk on site.

So lots of people are getting places with 1 key worker parent?

This and what I've read on other threads is really concerning. I know of a primary school that are expecting the majority of kids in. This completely defeats the object of lockdown, will mean it could take ages for numbers to come down and might mean bubbles continuing to go down, staff going off sick and zero provision being available for those who genuinely need it.

The school I'm talking about had a very small percentage in last time. The cynic in me is thinking the criteria has loosened deliberately so that schools are open in all but name. So "closed" to shut up the unions but in reality open.

We're special because dh is a critical worker. If he stays home to help do his share, other families suffer. He can choose to be furloughed because of childcare needs but morally chooses not to. So our children will use the spaces so I can work efficiently and so he can work.
If it makes you unhappy you could change professions and become a critical worker and work on the front line for the "benefits".

And this is why we will be in lockdown until Easter

Do people actually realise why the schools are closing? To reduce spread? And parents that take the piss will result in this dragging on for longer.
The more so called “key” workers’ children that go in, the more we risk the infection spreading, and then actual key workers are screwed when their kids have to self isolate.

Thankfully our school is taking a tough line of two key workers required, and have to be working out of the home. All the fake key worker parents from last time are up in arms about it.

This lockdown’s not going to fucking work.

It’s not like last time. Kids are more susceptible to catching and spreading the new variant.
If you have one parent who can work from home you shouldn’t be using a key worker place.

Yes it’s tough but it’s necessary. Everyone’s got to take some of the pain. Why should I bust a gust trying to do a demanding full time job and home school while some other fucker claims a key worker place so they can “work effectively”?

@Quornflakegirl

We're special because dh is a critical worker. If he stays home to help do his share, other families suffer. He can choose to be furloughed because of childcare needs but morally chooses not to. So our children will use the spaces so I can work efficiently and so he can work. If it makes you unhappy you could change professions and become a critical worker and work on the front line for the "benefits".

You're basically in no different situation than a single mum who is wfh then?

If too many children are in school you will have bubbles bursting, so will need to be at home to look after your isolating child

Personally I don’t know why they have shut the schools down. It’s very unfair the way it’s worked out. Some people are struggling with childcare and others are taking the piss. In a lot of cases the parents whom have wanted the schools to close, are the parents who have got school places.

@Quornflakegirl

I am a key worker WORKING from home.

So am I!

If you had asked me a month ago I would have been tempted to fight for the key worker provision as DH is a key worker, working out of home & I work in a critical industry

BUT this isn't November and things have changed and schools needed to close (they didn't in November, at least not in my area).

I will keep my kids at home. We will struggle and it will be shit, and both of us are busier than ever with work, but sending the kids to school ain't really going to benefit the greater good. So we will juggle, and we will do whatever we can do and hopefully we will make our little bit of difference, which is all we can do.

I'm using a keyworker place this time, didn't last time.

I have been really impressed by how well the school are managing Covid secure measures and it feels safe. The headteacher and class teachers are encouraging people to send in their kids if they can and have assured everyone that the same measures will be in place.

Me and DH nearly lost it completely last time, we both have very demanding critical jobs but work from home so didn't feel we could use the space last time. What this meant in reality was that we started work before 6am and didn't finish till midnight so we could each take time out to do homelearning with DD.

Both our jobs have gotten busier with lockdown and Covid not quieter so it is already impossible to actually do the job in contracted hours and needs unpaid overtime, add in parenting/homelearning and it's just not doable while maintaining any level of mental stability.

What I would say is that as a household we have not formed any bubbles and have not socialised with any other households outside of school attendance at all since February last year. We maintain SD, shop infrequently in person and wear masks whenever outside the house.

We were on local lockdown from June to October and made the decision when schools went back that we would maintain the no household mixing rule because from a risk assessment perspective school was as much mixing as we could tolerate. Our extended family are all elderly or CEV so could not justify the risk of seeing them knowing we had contacts via school.

So the only risk to us of DD attending school is to our immediate household, we will not spread it if she catches Covid from a classmate.

Don’t feel bitter, the kids will get the same online lessons in school and at home.

@RubyViolet

Don’t feel bitter, the kids will get the same online lessons in school and at home.

Just without the isolation and loneliness

Shouldn’t the govt have like planned this long in advance? Maybe given time for people to find childminders, organised a scheme to give financial help to those who need to do childcare - as single parents or partners of critical workers, clarified and narrowed the list of key workers.

flamebox

I'm a key worker. In tomorrow but off the rest of the week. Don't need to send kids into school but they said it's all or nothing. So they're going in and I will be home alon

That just fucking says its what’s wrong with the whole system.

I don't understand if you have a desk based job and are working from home why you think you're anymore special than a non keyworker also working from home and trying to home school?

I think it's quite complicated, my friend who is a detective got a space even though she was wfh. Did she not deserve that?

I do take issues with SAHPs that get spaces, although I appreciate it's still difficult to homeschool.

An estate agent working from home, for example, has a completely different desk job to me. I can guarantee that if I were reading and analysing your medical test results you would prefer I get it spot on without my young children breaking my concentration. If I make a small mistake it can cost people their lives. I have to be able to work with complete efficiency so my children will be sent to school.

I’m a childminder & didn’t use my space last time as we were forced to close. However, this time we are able to open. I have literally just rebuilt my business so I have requested 2 days a week in school for my children as I can’t homeschool a 10 yo & a 6 yo whilst looking after 3 x 2 year olds. Peoples circumstances are very different this time around.

The schools are closing for a reason. If too many ‘key worker’ and ‘vulnerable’ children (emphasis deliberate) go into school, the teachers will continue to be infected and the schools will be closed to all. No staff=no schools. At last that’s fair, hey? Screw the community transmission that will happen though and who gives a shit about the NHS really. And you say you don’t like lockdowns and school closures! Use your brains and consider the bigger picture. Only send in children if you really, really, really have to and not because you feel a bit low because it’s January or because Laura down the road managed to send hers in. This is not a game.

Peoples circumstances are very different this time around.

I do think this is a significant facto

Quorn seems reasonable. My job is not the same.

@Quornflakegirl

We didn't use our places last lockdown, we most certainly will this time. This is probably the case with many others.

Same. But other factors that make it harder this time too.