75% of my school are in

[ReginaPhalangee]

That's it in a nutshell. Three quarters of my school are classed as keyworker or vulnerable. Might as well chuck the other 50 in and be done with it.

Lockdown 1... 12 children.

No PPE and we've got to double our workload for the ones needing remote learning whilst we are teaching our classes. And then making phone calls to check on them.

It's the same for every school in my area.

I don't believe this will just be for 6 weeks either.

Obviously the government has set the requirents for an application for a school place

However its down to the schools to decide who is most at need and not. Completely on the school if they have accepted 75%

@Lynette, it's not "childcare". Arguably it's also not "free" given that we pay taxes and council taxes to fund schools and teachers' salaries.

My eldest DS is at school. He's 16 and my youngest is 11. They are at school because I don't have time to make sure they arr on Zoom at the right time and at school they are not tempted away from lessons by Netflix and social media. I can't supervise lessons at home as DH and I are in law enforcement. On the odd occasion that I work from home, I am on skype discussing cases or interviewing and I absolutely can't have children milling around and interrupting me - not for my sake but for the sake of my "service users".

The whole concept of being a ‘keyworker’ is redundant anyhow.

In the immediate crisis period in March, it was reasonable to assume that ‘non critical’ roles could be put aside for a short time and parents concentrate on their children.

But it soon became clear that the working world would keep turning, people couldn’t be sat at home being paid to do nothing, mortgages/rent/bills would still need to be paid. And parents are now expected to ignore their children at home while they got on with with their jobs, at great detriment to them.

The whole system is no longer fit for purpose. It is no wonder people are prioritising what’s best for their family and fighting for it.

My personal favourite KW CF last time was a family where the dad was in food haulage. Fair enough. Mum worked in NHS admin and preferred to work on site. Also fair enough.

EXCEPT, it turned out that mum changed jobs after the first week without telling us, then was furloughed and had a good few weeks of sunbathing in her garden all day before a fellow parent grassed on her.

She was also the only parent demanding wraparound, so staff were starting at 7.30pm and staying until 6pm with just her child (and then going home and giving feedback on 120 pieces of work submitted throughout the day).

Everyone has a reason why their kids need to be in school!

!6 year olds should be responsible enough to do their school work and dial in to online lessons without 'supervision'. How are they going to get through life when at at almost adult age they can't be 'trusted'. He's old enough to get a job, get married and start a family. Ridiculous! My 15 year old dd is in year 11 and following her timetable and revising for her exams which may or may not happen. She wants to do well and knows it's important. I can't supervise her because I'm a key worker and out of the house but I wouldn't dream of sending her in to be baby-sat - my expectation is that when I get home she's done some work.

What we're offering is free childcare

Firstly, as has been pointed out it’s not free.

Secondly, this childcare is far superior to the ‘park in front of screens’ option that many are having to use as they do their job at home. Is it any wonder parents want to avail of it?

No PPE and we've got to double our workload for the ones needing remote learning whilst we are teaching our classes. And then making phone calls to check on them

Our school isn’t teaching lessons. They are doing online learning only.

So any kids going in are given a computer, headphones, and access exactly the same timetable as those at home. Not even sure whether teachers need to be in the room, or just some sort of supervisor.

Expecting teachers to deliver taught classes and online learning is ridiculous.

My eldest DS is at school. He's 16 and my youngest is 11. They are at school because I don't have time to make sure they arr on Zoom at the right time and at school they are not tempted away from lessons by Netflix and social media.

I can just about understand the 11 year old, but at 16 your child should be responsible for getting themselves on zoom and focusing on their work.

And on another topic, bbc is doing curriculum based programming as of monday.

Yay bbc!! 3 hours of primary learning, at least 2 hours of secondary. Will be a huge help to us at least.

@AaronPurr

My eldest DS is at school. He's 16 and my youngest is 11. They are at school because I don't have time to make sure they arr on Zoom at the right time and at school they are not tempted away from lessons by Netflix and social media.

I can just about understand the 11 year old, but at 16 your child should be responsible for getting themselves on zoom and focusing on their work.

Agree this is shocking and puts people at risk. I have a 12 year old at home who probably will get distracted. I keep phoning her. It's a public health crisis. 16 year olds are in the real world soon.

I've personally made my peace with it all. I'm in a secure job and if I catch covid, it will likely be no more than a cough/temperature. You should try it too or resign and stop taking taxpayers' money for a job you don't want to do.

How presumptuous and goady. I've been doing this job for 24 years and it's a job I love. I'm discussing the situation. I'm not complaining about teaching.

The vast majority of teachers I know are the same.

Sorry to burst your bubble but we don't all sit about moaning about our lot. However, when the message is 'close the schools because they aren't safe' and this clearly isn't happening, we are entitled to question why.

My friend is one of these very tenuous keyworkers, doing a fairly low stress job from home and sending her DD into school. Her DM is a retired primary school teacher who has been helping her with childcare so could easily homeschool. My parents are doing a lot of the homeschooling for my own children as whilst not keyworkers we have busy stressful jobs. Sometimes other members of the family could step up too, and they aren’t.

@Lockdownbear. Seriously? An accountant is not a critical worker! We could all argue our work is 'critical' if that was the bar set? It's not a case of not being able to work at all, its finding ways to get work done around teaching children which needs to be done.

As for the person sending their 11 and 16 year old because they cant be interrupted. Really? Your child is almost an adult. Your 11 year old at a stretch, but surely even they are old enough to know not to disturb you at certain times. We are all going to have to do it so why cant you twinkle toes?

Lots of people I know whose industries have been destroyed have taken up the first jobs they could get. I know a hairdresser doing care work - now a key worker, taxi drivers doing deliveroo - key worker... people were smugly told to retrain when their careers disappeared overnight, well they have Boris so what do you want them to do now? Leave the key worker places for the real key workers, not these scumbags?

This is down to Heads to deal with. They can set the number of places based on a risk assessment. They need to get a backbone and set a clear number of places and prioritise front line LW working out of the house , either LP families or where both are KW and ask for proof. Followed by vulnerable children. Anyone WAH should not be sending their child in unless its exceptional circumstances. What a load of selfish freeloaders.

@LynetteScavo

Sorry....posted to soon. I think if parents knew the reality of what's school is like during lockdown (where I work anyway) they wouldn't insist their child MUST be in. It's definitely just free childcare.

Well I do hope my child is not attending your school!

My children are learning and their teachers are teaching,

Seriously? An accountant is not a critical worker!

Yes they are, they’re on the list.

And we certainly can’t afford for accountants to stop working for months on end to homeschool their children. How would companies get audited? How would tax be processed, and so on?

Anyone WAH should not be sending their child in unless its exceptional circumstances. What a load of selfish freeloaders.

How are people with demanding/sensitive/time critical wfh jobs supposed to do them while also supervising small children?

It's difficult though, the government started by saying T4 schools are shit until 18th and now they are saying it's an open question if kids will go back before the summer?

We burned out hard last time trying to look after a 1.5yo and 5yo. It was hellish. I don't blame people for thinking a bit more long term.

Ultimately if the government had given notice on 22nd Dec, people would have had time to make better arrangements.

This isn't the same as March. Many employers have run out of flexibility, the starting point is different now, even .any office staff previously WFH have had to go onsite.
Also many parents having witnessed the impact of school closures last time will be fighting for a place. The isolation, the upset, the confusion experienced by many children will not be something parents want again perhaps.
More children classed as vulnerable who were on the cusp of care previously.

I'm not saying I think its right if 1 is a SAHP, but I understand it, and it's impossible to know everyone's individual circumstances.

DD2 was in school yesterday and she said about 50 or less children were in out of 1300.

But her school were very strict and said they defined critical as HCP/blue light service.

@THisbackwithavengeance are your 11 & 16 year old totally unruly? Dd is year 8 and she just gets on and we check at the end of the day. Bit worrying you have a 16 year old who can’t manage independent learning.

If people were able to WFH in the first lockdown and are still doing the same job they should be WFH again. That is what the guidance says WFH if you can only go into work if you can’t WFH