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 miss my work every day and I've fallen into a huge pit of despair over my lack of value in the world."

I'm sorry B33Fr33. My work was quiet for a couple of months last year and even though I knew it would pick up, I lost so much confidence and self-esteem.

We’ve been really stringent today dining round the 120 that applied and whittling it down by about 50%.

Two adults in household both had to be KW to get a place.

ringing not dining 🤦‍♀️

*Honestly they have all already had Covid

At my DDs seconsay school all the support currently in school have had Covid.*

What every single member of support staff in the whole country has had Covid?

Have you got proof of that @UsernameSaved?

And it’s possible to get it more than once you know.

Added to that if it’s ok for support staff to be exposed to this level of risk, why not teachers too? They must have all had Covid too (in your book)

@RedToothBrush

However. When a client is paying you privately abs directly to tutor their SEN child I think the expectations are higher and a 9 yo would find distractions much harder to deal with than an adult. Especially a SEN pupil struggling anyway and needing to focus.

Honestly. The clients can suck it up.

If they want an alternative 'professional' good luck to them in finding one in the middle of a pandemic. In the meantime the client can do homeschooling themselves if they don't like it.

If the client doesn't get there's a pandemic on then its tough shit.

Honestly. Tough shit. We need be saying tough shit a lot more often.

'Looking professional' is a luxury consigned to 2019 and a life we no longer have. Meanwhile in the real world we are fucked.

Ok, I will telll her to say tough shit to the mortgage company and the bills she needs to pay then. Oh and to the kids when there's no food, unless you are self employed ( like DH also is) I don't think you get it. There's no safety net of furlough, you'll be paid anyway so you have a regular wage, paid leave, holiday/sick pay. You don't get the money in, you don't get paid.

I can’t believe the long list of critical and key workers. So anyone who works in financial services could potentially claim to be a key worker?! That’s thousands of people (including me), many of whom can certainly do their job from home. Yes it’s annoying. Yes it’s inefficient. But the world isn’t going to collapse because of it. What’s the point in ‘closing’ schools when huge numbers of the workforce can still send their children in? I sincerely hope the schools with 50% plus key worker children attending are a minority.

Tough Shit.

Just tough shit.

You go right ahead and tell her.

Ps- a frontline key worker would be prioritised first- rightly so,

Well go back to your hole love, in your nice little secure bubble. I won't be spoken to like that so bye.

And you damn well know she won't lose her income, given the demand for online learning atm.

This is so bad.

I actually didn't support the head at the school where I teach and thought she was being too extreme in her criteria to be in school (vulnerable defined by invitation from the school to attend or 2 key worker parents/single parent working out of the home with no other option for adult supervision of the child, backed up by a written explanation of need and proof of work!!)

But we have around 10% of the school coming in so it has worked and I take back my criticism. But it's so galling that there going to be so many families and children desperately struggling at home for longer than necessary because so many schools are half full or more still.

If you could wfh and homeschool last time, then you can grit your teeth and do it again

Not necessarily true. It feels so much worse this time. The 'not again' feeling. I'm not working from home or homeschooling but I'm dealing with the same feelings about remote learning. I barely coped with it last time. This time it feels so unbearable and hopeless and like there's no way out. I don't blame parents for trying to find one. I blame school leaders, LEAs, unions and the government for enabling parents to do this.

You just were.

Goes to show me me me. My mh I can’t look after my children. What makes me laugh is the bubbles will keep bursting if big I bet the teachears and staff love the parents who sent there kids in

@studychick81

Ps- a frontline key worker would be prioritised first- rightly so,

Well go back to your hole love, in your nice little secure bubble. I won't be spoken to like that so bye.

See ya.

Tough shit.

The longer this goes on, that more jobs gone regardless. So don't play the martyr card as its not joined up thinking.

I think the person who said support staff were supervising at school was talking about secondary. I know my dcs' comp had very low numbers attending school so it made sense for the teachers to be teaching all online, at home or school, rather than teaching tiny numbers at school and leaving the kids at home to get on with it

It's a sign of how ineffective remote learning was last time and how much working parents struggled. I'm a key worker and a single parent and tried to do everything for the first few months last time. Can't do it again, can't neglect my children again.

Also, parents now know how hard it is for the schools to get going again after a lockdown, and aren't prepared to put up with that.

@studychick81.

No key workers wont necessarily be prioritised if you use the system to take a place. You and your husband are selfish.

@Elephant4

*Honestly they have all already had Covid

At my DDs seconsay school all the support currently in school have had Covid.*

What every single member of support staff in the whole country has had Covid?

Have you got proof of that @UsernameSaved?

And it’s possible to get it more than once you know.

Added to that if it’s ok for support staff to be exposed to this level of risk, why not teachers too? They must have all had Covid too (in your book)

I didn’t say every in the whole country but we have to be honest and recognise that many staff in schools have already had Covid last term. It is a high risk job.

My DD is staff not a pupil.
It is a secondary.
All of the support staff currently in have already had Covid.

The proven cases of 2 infections worldwide are minimal.

I’m so glad MY school has sensible and responsible parents - just 14 children sent in, all of whom have a genuine need eg both parents are doctors.

I am sorry for those of you who have to send your children in to schools where 3/4 of the school are (apparently) key worker children as your children will be off shortly either a)isolating as someone in their classroom has Covid or because they themselves have Covid or b) because of staff shortages as the children have passed Covid to them. There will be no places for proper key workers at that point and then your local areas will be buggered. You can’t argue with stupid, though. Good luck!!!!!

Not all support staff have had Covid! Depends on the area. We didn't have a single case of Covid in my school last term, adult or child. Then, over the holidays, we shot from Tier 2 to Tier 4 and now border one of the worst affected areas who were told to close primaries before the lockdown. So, presumably, all our staff now in contact with the children are at high risk and without immunity. Fortunately, we've got lots of young, healthy gap year students working for us this year because they didn't want to go to university so the rest of us can all keep distance most of the time, either teaching online or supervising from a distance.

Do you know how many times I’ve heard today that although they’re working from home they can’t possibly have the children at home as they won’t be able to get any work done!

It’s not a bloody choice, suck it up and get on with it! I managed to make 76 phone calls today whilst my children are at home on live GoogleMeets. It’s a nightmare but everybody has to be a little flexible and expect that works not going to be upto our usual standard. We’re all just doing our best and that’s ok! Christ I was FT one parent whilst making my son lunch & bringing my Tesco order in to talk them through technically difficulties are one point. Was it professional, no - but necessary in these strange times!

Tomorrow I’ll be teaching virtually whilst they’re working, feeding them during my breaks whilst doing check in phone calls - it is what it is! I just wish everybody would accept that for the next six weeks getting it done the best way any of us can is all we can hope for!

@Enidblyton1

I can’t believe the long list of critical and key workers. So anyone who works in financial services could potentially claim to be a key worker?! That’s thousands of people (including me), many of whom can certainly do their job from home. Yes it’s annoying. Yes it’s inefficient. But the world isn’t going to collapse because of it. What’s the point in ‘closing’ schools when huge numbers of the workforce can still send their children in? I sincerely hope the schools with 50% plus key worker children attending are a minority.

Yes, categories like "financial services" are too broad and open to abuse. Some areas are key, like payment of benefits and pensions, aspects of banking etc. But as you say, a lot of the industry can't really be defined as key and the vast majority can be done at home. But because it's on the list, companies can tell their staff to say they're key workers so childcare isn't an issue.

We're asking for a place 1 day per week for both dc. I'm a p/t key worker, dh full time and main earner, but not key worker. Both wfh.

Last time we didn't ask for a place and muddled through. But this time i feel i really need to. No job change but

• my work (nhs) is less flexible- i need to work mainly within my normal hours rather than mostly flexi as last time. Everything's in place for remote work rather than cobbled together so they expect more.
• i see patients for therapy. I cant see how i can do this with young dc at home. I dont want them exposed to hearing the stuff i listen to, and although people are understanding, i dont think interruptions in therapy are acceptable.
• dh's job have made people redundant, and rightly or wrongly he's reluctant to ask for much flexibility in case it puts him more at risk. We'll be shafted if he loses his job.
• i could ask for unpaid leave, but work is massively over stretched as it is (CAMHS) so work would be majorly pissed off and patients wait longer etc. I don't think management would grant it.

I feel guilty for my kids that I'm sending them in and worried it raises all our risks, and according to people on here it's selfish as we wfh, but really don't know how else to do it.

@manicinsomniac

Not all support staff have had Covid! Depends on the area. We didn't have a single case of Covid in my school last term, adult or child. Then, over the holidays, we shot from Tier 2 to Tier 4 and now border one of the worst affected areas who were told to close primaries before the lockdown. So, presumably, all our staff now in contact with the children are at high risk and without immunity. Fortunately, we've got lots of young, healthy gap year students working for us this year because they didn't want to go to university so the rest of us can all keep distance most of the time, either teaching online or supervising from a distance.

We could have said the same. Tier 2 -went from zero staff to 7 over 3 weeks. Since then bubbled along with someone either active or self isolating constantly. Once it gets in a school it locks in.

"support staff have all had covid"
What a truly odd and bizarre thing to say

OP I feel for you, this is NOT what key worker provision was made for. My friend is a NHS worker but works in support so has WFH since March. Her husband is a useless toddler who won't help with childcare and her kids are hard work. She moved her mum in last time, but her mum was then diagnosed with chronic fatigue and refuses to move in again this time.

She's told her school her and her DH have split and that she HAS to go to the w hospital to work, so she can get them a place. As a teacher, I'm really annoyed with her.

Meanwhile teachers have to put up with looking after kids of those who're working in direct contact with COVID patients, with no PPE and no vaccine on the horizon. I'm lucky to be delivering lessons from home, as I educate (or try to) my 5yo and 8yo. I'm a single mum. I also have Avery supportive SLT, some of whom ave taken on cover for those of us with kids. If I can do it anyone bloody can