Keyworker uptake.

jojoandgrangran · 2021-01-05T18:12:10+00:00

How many key worker children do you have in your school? Last lock down out of just under 700 children there were 22 key worker children attending. The numbers of key worker children attending tomorrow will be 200. I was surprised by the high uptake. Just under a third of children will be in as usual.

Original poster

jojoandgrangran · 05/01/2021 18:12

I'm not a teacher! Was just surprised.

OP posts:

SueEllenMishke · 05/01/2021 18:14

This list has been expanded. I wasn't considered a key worker last time but I am this time round.
Plus people found it hard to work and homeschool.
It really doesn't surprise me at all that there are more in school this time.

Wontdothisagain · 05/01/2021 18:14

Last lockdown a lot of people weren't working or were wfh.

Many now cannot.

Original poster

jojoandgrangran · 05/01/2021 18:14

Yes I think it must be where the list was expanded.

OP posts:

Cantaloupeisland · 05/01/2021 18:20

School of 1000, last lockdown around 20. This time over 100! Sort of defeating the object

Original poster

jojoandgrangran · 05/01/2021 18:21

I would have thought uptake was around 10%. Almost a third surprised me.

OP posts:

AvoidingRealHumans · 05/01/2021 18:26

Our head sent an email yesterday saying that there are 370 children enrolled at the school and they had 195 applications for a keyworker place.

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 05/01/2021 18:27

A lot of people either couldn't work , were furloughed or were allowed to WFH last time. The keyworker list is quite long.Due to how bad things got last time some parents of SEN and/or vulnerable children might've decided to send them in this this time.

All that will make a difference.

Jellycatspyjamas · 05/01/2021 18:28

I’m not surprised, I didn't request a place last time because my work was very flexible and I didn’t have much in the way of live training/meetings. This time round I’ve really stretched that flexibility as far as I can, this time I have both live training and some very sensitive meetings. I can’t be training professionals on the impact of child neglect while actively neglecting my own kids to deliver the training, I don’t want my kids overhearing discussions about child deaths. I’ve asked for a school place this time round and hopefully will get enough cover to be able to do the sensitive parts of my job while they’re at school.

It makes sense to me that more people will ask this time round.

manicinsomniac · 05/01/2021 18:30

Parents had to write stating and explaining their need for a place and have no alternative at our school. Also has to be both parents key worker. Don't know if that's legal but we're a private school so maybe different. We've also moved the term dates in the hope of more physical school so we don't start till No day for most children, but I think:

14 key worker children
19 vulnerable children
Out of nearly 300 children.
So about 10%, I guess.
But it wasn't so much 'uptake' as being offered a place, really.

MistleTOEboughski · 05/01/2021 18:30

I'm not surprised at the numbers but they can't really say the schools are closed.

AIMD · 05/01/2021 18:31

I agree with @Jellycatspyjamas
I didn’t use key worker provision last time as I worked from home and split the day with my husband. This time I can’t split the day with my husband as he had a new job that is more demanding and the place I work in isn’t suspending the face to face work like they did last time so I am expected in more.

manicinsomniac · 05/01/2021 18:34

*Monday not No Day. Wish it was No Day for this online crap!!

CurlyhairedAssassin · 05/01/2021 19:17

Why the fuck have they abandoned their plans to test all staff and pupils before their return to school? They had this grand plan to have the army helping sort that out remotely. There has been no mention of this at my 2 staff meetings this week (secondary) and I've been told I need to go in the rest of the week to supervise keyworker and vulnerable kids.

If the uptake is going to be higher this time, this seems like utter madness, knowing what they know about this new variant and the fact that so many daft people will have mixed closely over Christmas. Are school staff just being thrown under a bus again?

Surely they should still be saying that everyone needs to have a test before they can come into school?

CurlyhairedAssassin · 05/01/2021 19:22

It makes sense to me that more people will ask this time round

Makes zero sense to me when people know the new variant is more transmissible amongst younger people. I don't think parents have actually thought this through, they've just thought of the practical needs rather than the health risks to the kids and thus their own families like they did at first last time.

Last time, everyone was keeping kids at home because they knew the virus could be dangerous. This time round it is MORE dangerous, but more parents are wanting to send their kids in!

I just don't get it. I don't understand why the parents who do have an option of waiting a week or two to see what happens with the figures before sending their kids in, don't tell school that they would like a place in a couple of weeks?

Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady · 05/01/2021 19:23

At my childs school, as well as vulnerable children and children of key workers, they are sending out emails now offering places to children who are "at risk of falling behind" if they are homeschooled.

Going by messages tonight that alone is about 25% of the class without all the other exceptions.

I understand why they are doing it but surely this is defeating the object?

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 05/01/2021 19:25

@CurlyhairedAssassin

It makes sense to me that more people will ask this time round

Makes zero sense to me when people know the new variant is more transmissible amongst younger people. I don't think parents have actually thought this through, they've just thought of the practical needs rather than the health risks to the kids and thus their own families like they did at first last time.

Last time, everyone was keeping kids at home because they knew the virus could be dangerous. This time round it is MORE dangerous, but more parents are wanting to send their kids in!

I just don't get it. I don't understand why the parents who do have an option of waiting a week or two to see what happens with the figures before sending their kids in, don't tell school that they would like a place in a couple of weeks?

Because some schools are all or nothing.

Or in some schools parents "booked" the place but not sending their kids in until next week, or two weeks from now. But they still count in the numbers.

Or here's the thing, parents can't afford or aren't able to take two weeks off work just to "see how things go". That's if they'd even have a job after the first two weeks.

AIMD · 05/01/2021 19:27

@CurlyhairedAssassin

It makes sense to me that more people will ask this time round

Makes zero sense to me when people know the new variant is more transmissible amongst younger people. I don't think parents have actually thought this through, they've just thought of the practical needs rather than the health risks to the kids and thus their own families like they did at first last time.

Last time, everyone was keeping kids at home because they knew the virus could be dangerous. This time round it is MORE dangerous, but more parents are wanting to send their kids in!

I just don't get it. I don't understand why the parents who do have an option of waiting a week or two to see what happens with the figures before sending their kids in, don't tell school that they would like a place in a couple of weeks?

I honestly don’t think that people are sending their kids into school for the hell of it. I’m sure a very small minority are but the vast majority of parents using the provision in school will be doing so because they have to to continue to work and provide for their family and don’t have another way to look after their children.

Tenyearsgone · 05/01/2021 19:29

More people were furloughed last time, now more are expected to go to work.

manicinsomniac · 05/01/2021 19:29

Why the fuck have they abandoned their plans to test all staff and pupils before their return to school? They had this grand plan to have the army helping sort that out remotely. There has been no mention of this at my 2 staff meetings this week (secondary) and I've been told I need to go in the rest of the week to supervise keyworker and vulnerable kids

I don't think it has, has it? Our office is piled high with boxes of tests delivered on Monday (that are now largely unneeded!) and our office staff and SLT spent ages planning and organising the rollout and learning how to deliver them (again, now largely wasted time!) All children over 7 and staff on site have to have them every Monday morning. We were told all schools had them...?

Hardbackwriter · 05/01/2021 19:32

I think a lot of people thought last time that:
a) it would be a matter of weeks rather than months
b) that WFH with children would be much more possible than it actually is

And they would have taken the places then if they hadn't. This time everyone knows how absolutely fucking miserable it is and how long it might go on for, and so they're less likely to be willing to struggle through than they were in March.

SallyLovesCheese · 05/01/2021 19:33

I'd estimate 35-40% take up of places. It means with one year group teacher delivering remote learning, the other teacher has an almost full class. So not much different.

CalmDownBoris72 · 05/01/2021 19:34

School of around 470 pupils, year 4 alone have 25 kids in now. There’ll be burst bubbles soon!

Chattercino · 05/01/2021 19:35

1/3 of the school

FirTree31 · 05/01/2021 19:37

It makes sense to me too, the increase in uptake. This time parents know what lays ahead, there is less trust in the government in respect to when schools may reopen, organisations will not be as flexible this time round, some children that were not previously considered vulnerable may be now, and generally less tolerance.
Also, not all those children Will be in on the same days.