Todays u-turn from DfE, key workers working from home should NOT send kids to school

[Esmerelda01]

In case you've not seen.

Could cause a lot of people issues on Monday

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/09/school-guidance-for-children-of-key-workers-changes-again?CMP=twt_a-education_b-gdnedu

Wow! You have clearly never had to deal with serious safeguarding and social care issues if you think it can be done 'via email' or you can just quickly nip out to sort out your kid. Social workers will be dealing with this stuff all day long from drugs, sexual abuse right through to murder.... They absolutely should not be looking after a child at the same time.

Can't you email this vital info, must it be on a live meeting?!

No. It was part of a massively delicate conversation trying to save someone's housing and their care of their child. Court is involved. Quotes have to be exact and we had two working hours between me and the advocate to sort it out. The SAME conversation involved drug use, danger to children, and more. The email would have been pages long and we wouldn't have been able to reach a solution in the time. And on the phone you can be frank and use empathy and tome so that the other person knows your intent is good.

We ARE trying to compromise. Have you any idea how hard it is for people who work with clients with challenges at the moment? People are right on the edge, all the time. Crisis can't be planned and it's constant crisis at the moment.

There’s not really been any change though has there, let alone a U-Turn!

It’s still states that only one parent has to be a key worker, the list is still huge, and it’s only “advising” what parents “should” do “if they can”. I’m pretty sure the numbers at my school won’t drop.

@SleeplessWB

Wow! You have clearly never had to deal with serious safeguarding and social care issues if you think it can be done 'via email' or you can just quickly nip out to sort out your kid. Social workers will be dealing with this stuff all day long from drugs, sexual abuse right through to murder.... They absolutely should not be looking after a child at the same time.

Yes exactly.

How naive are people that they think that you could do a job like that and even basically look after a child, let alone educate them?

I'm glad about the u turn I'm genuinely cross about this.

I'm a children's counsellor (forced to work online currently) and am lucky enough to have a private part of the house and elaborate mechanisms to ensure that I am never overheard or disturbed by anyone I live with while I am delivering a counselling session.

I don't have a big house just a desk in the most private part of the house, wear headphones, have a screen behind me, a fan on to create white noise, another door and a sign on the door so that NOBODY ever knocks while I am in session. And they don't.

I have a year 6 and a year 8 and as I work sessionally by the hour I am able to flit between work and facilitating my DC home schooling.

I frequently have to make safeguarding referrals and discuss these with relevant parties.

DH is a keyworker also but both our dc are at home.

My friend is a stay at home mother, her DH is a senior civil servant and considered a key worker. Their one ten year old is at school on a keyworker place.

My patience has worn thin.

Im a single parent to three primary aged children , the school has classed me as a key worker as I work as a housekeeper in a care home full time Monday to Friday, I have been sending my children to school since Wednesday as that’s the only way I can carry on going to work as my work can’t furlough me as the work needs doing as a care home being covid cleaned is important to the running of the care home at the moment, surely that’s a legitimate case or am I wrong ?

I think something is needed, friend works in a school and has a child in all week as mum a 'key worker' 8 hours per week in a shop, dad wfh. Surely they can manage an 8yo for 8h per week between them??

@Sashamans4

Im a single parent to three primary aged children , the school has classed me as a key worker as I work as a housekeeper in a care home full time Monday to Friday, I have been sending my children to school since Wednesday as that’s the only way I can carry on going to work as my work can’t furlough me as the work needs doing as a care home being covid cleaned is important to the running of the care home at the moment, surely that’s a legitimate case or am I wrong ?

That is 100% legitimate and thank you for all you are doing.

so I wear a headset and I say things like (very tame examples) "did the syringe have blood in it?" Or "sorry was that 'fuck your self' or 'fuck you'?" Both examples from this week. DD hears that right?

But the guidance says if you can. Clearly you can’t so this doesn’t affect you. You can’t so you can get a school place by explaining your circumstances to the school. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm glad about the u turn I'm genuinely cross about this.

It's not a U-turn.

I don’t think the so called u-turn will make much difference. Everyone understood the ‘spirit’ of the keyworker provision and those who chose to take the piss are free to continue to take the piss, putting the genuine keyworker children and their teachers at risk. And also increasing the likelihood that the keyworker bubble at school will have to isolate and the genuine keyworkers will have to stay at home with their kids, meaning that hospitals and emergency services will be short staffed.

It’s a bit like signs on the side of the road that say “please don’t drop litter”. Completely pointless. Everyone knows not to drop litter, so litterbugs aren’t suddenly going to read a sign and change their behaviour. They do it knowing deep down they shouldn’t and they don’t care.

@messywessy

I'm glad about the u turn I'm genuinely cross about this.

I'm a children's counsellor (forced to work online currently) and am lucky enough to have a private part of the house and elaborate mechanisms to ensure that I am never overheard or disturbed by anyone I live with while I am delivering a counselling session.

I don't have a big house just a desk in the most private part of the house, wear headphones, have a screen behind me, a fan on to create white noise, another door and a sign on the door so that NOBODY ever knocks while I am in session. And they don't.

I have a year 6 and a year 8 and as I work sessionally by the hour I am able to flit between work and facilitating my DC home schooling.

I frequently have to make safeguarding referrals and discuss these with relevant parties.

DH is a keyworker also but both our dc are at home.

My friend is a stay at home mother, her DH is a senior civil servant and considered a key worker. Their one ten year old is at school on a keyworker place.

My patience has worn thin.

Exactly my view. If this virus was shown to be more of a threat to the children would people still not be able to keep them home, I wonder!

I don't think anyone is denying that some jobs simply can't be done with children at home, even if you are working from home.
The guidance is "keep them at home if you can" - and social workers openly discussing cases very clearly can't keep them at home because it's inappropriate for the child to be there. Therefore they should be entitled to a place.

The updated guidance is more for people who could manage to keep children at home, but chose not to for convenience and take up a KW place just because they can.

Me and DH are both key workers so could technically send DS to school, but we are both working from home and able to keep hIm at home so that's what we're doing.
It's a hell of a juggle but it's doable for us so we shouldn't increase the numbers in school unnecessarily.

Lots of people are not aware of what jobs there are out there and they shouldn't be berated for that. It is safe to say some jobs that are wfh cannot accommodate children at the same time.

Most people would never realised the job I do exists and nor would I expect them to. But. I cannot do it whilst my 4 and 6 year old are around.

Btw for what’s it’s worth I’m fully supportive of the children in school that need to be. I’m cross with the parents taking advantage (yes I’m talking about one key worker plus a completely non working stay at home parent using a space, not necessarily a key worker parent with the other also working).It’s just going to keep this process dragging on for longer.

@itbemay1 As i said, these people know they’re doing the wrong thing but they don’t care.

@Sashamans4 your role is clearly critical.

There will always be grey areas and so people need to make responsible judgment calls as to which side of the line their role actually sits.

If someone can work at home with the kids, do it.

Im a child protection team manager, I am often talking about child abuse most of the day, last week for example I spent most of my day dealing with an attempted murder of a young child. It is wholly inappropriate for me to do that in front of my 5 year old child. I also need to be able to totally focus on what I am doing or I could make mistakes that risk a child's life, I know that sounds hyperbolic but its the truth. My husband works in a similar field in a senior role with vulnerable pupils. My work is 50/50 at home & office. I hope my school remain sensible and recognise and that I and my colleagues can't do this work safely and care for a child.

I think people know whether they are taking the piss or not though, right? In your heart, you know it.

I would love my child to be in school full time, she was desperately lonely during lockdown 1, and loves school. But I am only in school 2 days a week and my partner's job only officially has 'key' elements for 30% of the time as he's seconded to another LA for that time. My head has kindly moved my days so that I'm in on those 30% days and we only need to have child in school 2 days. She's going to be miserable again, but this time we can at least play in the park.

It's going to be awful trying to teach live with her, as demonstrated last week, but there you go.

Make sure you screenshot any messages between you and exH, OP.

If he's thick enough to pay for a solicitor to do his bullying for him you can show that you've offered contact and he not only turned it down but he was abusive to you because of it (eg threats of people gunning for you).

Also, if he starts throwing his weight around I wouldn't think twice about telling his Mrs about the dick pic saga!

There is no teaching going on in many schools. I am support staff and supervise the key worker/vulnerable groups. All the teachers are at home. We are instructed to keep a big distance between us and the students for our safety. They cannot risk us getting Covid as there will be no staff to supervise these groups.

The students join zoom lessons from school. We are they to babysit and ensure they are safe.

It is unsafe (and unfair to those at home) for us to give close support to the students. We will answer basic enquires from across the room but they are encouraged to interact with their teachers on zoom for specific support.

In March we had one one room open. We currently have four, soon to be extended to five.

The problem is going to be that the key worker children’s bubble will get sent home as Covid cases continue. It happened at a local school after four days in school.
The kw bubble are now at home regardless of their parents ability to work from home. This could happen to anyone still sending their DC’s to school.

I've also had 4 children leave my class's KW group as of Monday and will be joining us online, so I think some parents just needed some time to sort out their working hours/flex some stuff/sort childcare bubbles and so on.

Our school had already insisted that both parents be key workers, and that they could not be working from home. So no change for us.
We have only 10% of kids in school (vs over 50% last lockdown). There were many many cases last time where children with a SAHP, or two parents working in admin type roles, or parents who ran their own businesses and wrote their own key worker letters were in school so I am glad. Otherwise the transmission will just carry on increasing and we will never be out of lockdown
(And to be clear I think the examples given here of people working on safeguarding issues etc would and should be treated differently - it’s one thing for my children to interrupt a board meeting or burst into a press interview (which they have done this week), quite another for them to overhear such sensitive info)

This is a good thing. Way too many people have been taking places they didn’t need. Not knocking those who really do need them but there’s loads of stay at home parents at our school who have blatantly taken the piss.

This is the point really. Too many selfish parents making it harder for people who truly need them.