Why do my children not deserve an education?

[noitsachicken]

Just because we are not key workers?
My children don’t qualify for a school place, that means they won’t be educated in a classroom, by a teacher, with their peers, they won’t have time to socialise with their friends or play in a group.
They will be sat around the kitchen table, sharing a space with siblings of different ages, all with different needs, with a non-teacher parent trying to do the best they can.
Last lockdown school provision was ‘childcare’ the curriculum was suspended and there was no expectation. That is not the case this time, children who are not allowed in school are at a huge disadvantage.
I realise we are ‘lucky’ compared to others, we have access to technology and I can be home with the children, but I worry for my children, for their mental health and their education.
Why do they not deserve an education and others are prioritised for an education based on their parents job?
How long will those of us with children who are not allowed in school accept this?
I understand the reasons for closing schools, but children are not being treated fairly, if childcare is needed for those with critical jobs then it should be no more than that.

@grumblyMumblyisnotJumbly.

No need to get a frontline NHs job,just selling car insurance is enough to qualify you for a place.

People's misplaced sense of entitlement during this crisis is killing me

And you can guarantee if people who are at home start having persistence trouble with their internet & heating, retailers websites are down, or go to supermarkets but staff numbers have reduced so less tills, stock on shelves etc they will be shouting on here.

Childcare should be provided for those who really need it

I thought you were concerned about education.

@LizDiz It's the same lesson in that case. Online platforms allow for pupils to ask questions, submit work for feedback and so forth. The way some people are going on you'd think pupils at home are getting wildly different provision. I am a teacher and at my school all teachers are at home giving online lessons and the pupils in school are supervised by TAs on computers, doing the exact same as the pupils at home. This is the case for the vast majority of secondary schools in my area and, indeed, from what many of my teacher friends tell me, across the UK. So I don't even think what you are describing is typical at all (and, even if it was, it's still the same lesson and work as I said before).

No, that's the point. There are lots of people who see the list, think how they can argue they are a 'key worker's and then claim a place as they are 'allowed'.

Says you, plenty of keyworkers on here haven't taken places. I didn't last time.

Here’s an idea - why don’t you get a job that would make you a critical worker so your kids can be educated in the classroom OP?

Yep. This. There's plenty of vacancies.

I am a key worker but have chosen not to send my child in . They are all in an assembly hall ( so in contact with more children than their normal school bubble as all year groups are together ) , they are not being taught the curriculum as they are just at a desk like exam conditions and doing the same online work as home. The school provision has zero benefit to the child , they don't get taught , they can't socialise with friends , they are being put at risk due to being lumped in with all year groups .

I promise your child is not missing out - unless your school is operating a very different regime to the ones in our region

Be happy your child is at home and safe

Of course, what is happening now is that parents are finally seeing for themselves what years of Government poor management and lack of funding has done to schools.
Teachers have done too good a job of masking the issues up until now, by propping up shortages from their own pockets and working all hours to make good the shit-show, but the mask is finally dropping.
So yes. There are huge differences in provision.
Contact your MP about it and see about making a difference for the future.

I was allowed to get on a plane & go on holiday? Did I? for me it wasn't worth the risk, others can choose as they wish. I was allowed to mix at Christmas originally, did I plan too. No because a parent is shielding. Not everyone does something because they are allowed, some of us are capable of assessing individual circumstances.

If school was using the same tools for both children at home and children at school, I bet less would want to send their DC to school.

At the moment some children have a live lesson delivered by a teacher in the same room, are able to ask questions, have support when completing the work. vs another group watches a live video with no interaction possible, and have to then do the work with no support (or the little support than a parent that is not a teacher can provide at the same time as working).

All of them could watch the 'live zoom lesson' with no interaction with the teacher. At least then sending them to school would have less appeal.

Says you, plenty of keyworkers on here haven't taken places. I didn't last time.

And plenty that are barely describable as a key worker, or there's another parent at home, yet are still taking places. Increasing the risk for the kids who have no choice but to be at school. 😡

So you think that your children are worse off than a child of a frontline NHS workers, who are risking their (and their families) lives by potentially bringing the virus home and causing them harm.

Please explain to me how your child (safe and at home) is disadvantaged?

@noitsachicken

Just because we are not key workers? My children don’t qualify for a school place, that means they won’t be educated in a classroom, by a teacher, with their peers, they won’t have time to socialise with their friends or play in a group. They will be sat around the kitchen table, sharing a space with siblings of different ages, all with different needs, with a non-teacher parent trying to do the best they can. Last lockdown school provision was ‘childcare’ the curriculum was suspended and there was no expectation. That is not the case this time, children who are not allowed in school are at a huge disadvantage. I realise we are ‘lucky’ compared to others, we have access to technology and I can be home with the children, but I worry for my children, for their mental health and their education. Why do they not deserve an education and others are prioritised for an education based on their parents job? How long will those of us with children who are not allowed in school accept this? I understand the reasons for closing schools, but children are not being treated fairly, if childcare is needed for those with critical jobs then it should be no more than that.

I agree with you. I work in a school and our critical care worker children are being supervised with online learning. The teachers are working from home and the kids in school are accessing the lessons remotely. Our kitchens are closed, no formal PE lessons are taking place and no teachers teaching live in school. however a local school have over half their school in school, live lessons which are being streamed to the kids at home, kitchens open and pe lessons taking place like normal. It bloody defeats a lock down and causes ill feeling for the families who's children are not being taught. I totally understand that critical workers children need to be looked after though. But too many people are claiming the status

And plenty that are barely describable as a key worker, or there's another parent at home, yet are still taking places.

Who are all these people that don't need a place but are sending the dc in?

The children at school are doing the same work just with the teacher sat at the front of the room talking into the computer. Don't sweat it. If anything the children at school are at a disadvantage as they are still mixing and at risk of getting the virus so I have full sympathy for parents that have no choice but to send them in. You're one of the lucky ones that don't have to do that and you don't have to go out to work

My children are in school, their teachers are at home and they are supervised by TAs. I am at school myself live teaching and supervising keyworker children on my rota days. I wish they were at home, I was I was at home!

@dootball

The key worker children in schools are mostly not being taught by teaches either. They just have a TA supervising them whilst they do the same work as the children at home are doing. I know that's not the case in every school but it seems to be common.

a school local to me have all the teachers in school teaching the critical worker kids and live streaming the lessons to the kids at home. Parents at home aren't happy. The kids at school are massively advantaged. Teachers need to be working remotely with Skelton staff in school and these schools should not be posting all over social media either

@ineedaholidaynow

Schools should be providing the same education for children in class or at home.

In some schools the teacher is teaching remotely from home and there is a TA in the class supervising the children

Other schools the teacher is live streaming their lesson from the classroom

Yes they are missing out on socialisation but we are not really meant to be socialising and they will be at more risk of getting the virus and bringing it home

i agree.

@noitsachicken

I am aware of the crisis. But children are being treated unfairly, all children should be treated the same. Childcare should be provided for those who really need it

yes!! i know of kids of critical care workers who are going to school 5 days a week despite a parent only working 2 days a week..... i work in a school and i can't tell you what a logistic nightmare this is to staff .....

It's pretty revolting really, the people out there on the front line doing their best to keep essential services running, keeping people safe, saving lives on the frontline. And they are being repaid by the selfish entitled people putting their kids at increased risk by overfilling the schools. The education in schools right now isn't particularly great. It's childcare at the moment. Saving lives and keeping people safe is what matters now. It's about time some people bloody grew up. We can catch up with education. It's the least important thing right at this moment in time.

The ‘lucky ones’ last time had furloughed parents and were safely at home enjoying the spring and summer.
The ‘lucky ones’ this time have a sahp or part time working parent who can keep them safely at home and has some time to help with their education.

The grass is always greener.

I think the only thing becoming clear out of these threads is that everyone's situation is very different and people need to be mindful of that.

Just because your school is sitting them in front of screens, doesn't mean everyone's is.

My DH is an essential worker, so going out every day at risk, I am allowed to wfh, we decided not to send DS to school as it didn't feel the right thing to do so, even though we technically could.

I am now questioning our decision, the home provision requires a lot of parent input and over half of his class are getting their normal class set up and teaching, same teachers, PE, forest school, socialisation etc. The numbers where I am are very low and no one at his school has had it to date. Of course this is likely to change at some point.

What I can do with DS at home is limited, I am trying to hold down a full time job and need to be able to prove I can still do it. I am ready to try but I can't provide what he needs. I'm not an essential worker but my income is essential to our family. Plus he is an only and I am terribly worried how he will get through all this mentally again.

I feel for the teachers, they are in an impossible situation and no one is happy (apart from the people choosing to send their dc in when they don't need to, of which there are many).

I feel for essential workers and I feel for those at home. We all have our own battles to face, if only everyone could just understand this and have some empathy.

No one is a winner.

@Persianparadise

arentiskinnyet

SingleparentHomeschool
I don’t think the OP is objecting to the kids of key workers being in, or vulnerable children.
It’s the pointy elbowed middle class families who have gamed the key worker definition to send their kids in which gets to me. I’m talking about high earning families where the non key working parent is in a part time wfh creative job. That’s how ridiculous it is, in my school at least. Those families are sending their kids in. Endangering the teachers, TAs and kids who genuinely need to be there.
People are claiming that as the kids in school are getting the same remote teaching input as those at home,
But that’s not really true. For a start, a TA isn’t just anyone. They are highly experienced educators. But more importantly, they are in that school environment, where they know the thing to do is work, not mess around. And they are being properly supervised, as opposed to having mum or dad trying to ensure they get the work done while also juggling their own full time job.
I’m a single parent. The gov guidance is allowing families with 2 parents where only 1 is a key worker to take up these places in schools.
Why?
It seems to me it’s because my child’s education is not as important as these other children’s. What’s good enough for me and my kid is apparently too much to ask of other families.
The OP is right it is totally unfair. I’m not asking for my child to be allowed into school. I’m asking the rules on key worker kids to the equitable, so we can keep this period of closures as short as possible and so teachers and TAs don’t have to endlessly juggle teaching remotely with teaching overly large classes of key worker kids because the pointy elbow brigade are looking after themselves at the cost of everyone else. They are the ones who need to “be kind”.

Agree!! 👏👏

This is exactly it!

There is an inequality being created and there's no magic solution.

Those who have to send their kids in and don't want to have a shit deal.

Those who want to send their kids in but can't have a shit deal.

A fair system is needed where those who truly need to be in are in and kept as safe as possible for the sake of the kids, parents and teachers. Like I said I am so sad my child is missing their education but I do not want a single person who needs to go out of the house to work, those that genuinely can't work with children home or teachers to be put at more risk or be worrying about the safety of their children at school because other people have bent the rules.

In terms of part time places. Last lockdown keyworker places were all or nothing to keep the integrity of the bubbles.

This time schools are encouraging people to take part tile places so they can fit more families in....this is risky in my eyes.

There is an inequality being created and there's no magic solution.

Surely the inequality is not between those in school or not.
The parents who can stay at home & keep there kids home because they don't work/work little hours/greater flexibility/are furloughed/have family to help etc are in the best position?