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

@Makingnumber2 exactly this. They need to revisit the definition of key workers. SIL currently classed as one and she takes calls at home for an insurance company. Virtually almost anyone can apply for key worker status at the moment.

Updated and announced on a Friday evening, no doubt Gavin Williamson unavailable for interview.

@robinwisperer

You are probably basing your assumptions on your own job.

I WFH, private sector, lone parent, one at primary and one severely autistic and with severe learning difficulties. I have to make it work because otherwise I have no income. HTH.

I don’t really understand this tbh. I’m sure both your children would qualify for a school place due to their SEN. If you choose not to send them because you can manage, that’s on you. Other parents obviously can’t cope, for whatever reason.

I do think everyone would be feeling much better if they weren’t so bitter and resentful about other people’s choice - so keen to bring everyone down to the same level, with such a ‘I can manage so why can’t you?’ attitude - showing zero empathy and little understanding that other people have difficult things going on in their own lives that you know nothing about.

Why not try a different mindset, where you assume most people are trying to do their best under extremely hard circumstances, balancing their family’s needs, their own mental health and what’s best for the country and their employer as well as they can? Hope that helps you feel better about other people’s decisions.

@Crakeandoryx

Napody we have a place till Wednesday but the school is still assessing numbers and applications.

Ah ok, good luck- I do think they will accept your need for a place.

The more they grill people and 'weed out' the non essential applications, the smaller the bubbles and the lower the chance of having to self isolate, which really would cause you problems.

What the Govt really needs to do is to shorten the KW list and make it much more specific rather than just naming industries. But that will open a can of worms with furlough/compensation for those industries. So instead all schools can do to keep numbers under control is to quibble about wfh with social workers, rather than being able to say 'you work in a homeware shop with a couple of food items by the till, you are not a key worker!'.

[quote ceeveebee]Nope that was added yesterday
.
“8 January 2021
Updated 'Critical workers' section to clarify that parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can.”

Back in May, it was updated to encourage key workers to send their children in so this is essentially reversing that - updates shown at the bottom

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision#history[/quote]
But what did it say back in March?

I don’t really understand this tbh. I’m sure both your children would qualify for a school place due to their SEN.

only one has SN... and the SS is closed. They are reviewing next week. Currently, SS is only taking key worker children. It is just not as simple as ehcp = school place. If the school is closed, there is nowhere to send them

I think it’s people taking the piss that have caused a problem. I am a key worker and one of my colleagues is sending her children in because her husband is too useless to do their school work properly!

What are nightworkers doing? My dh and I are both keyworkers (on the wards). I do 8-4 shifts mon - fri but he does 12.5 hour shifts, a mixture of days and nights. Year 9 child is too old for a keyworker place at his school, no issue there, he's sensible and works well at home unsupervised. However year 6 child is not so easy! Last week I did send year 6 child in, only on the days that dh was sleeping, as he had 3 nights in a row. However I feel bad for doing this as dh was at home, snoring his head off. And so was my 13 year old. Should I feel bad? I just don't know anymore.

At the end of the day the government needs to amend the keyworker list. At the the moment it basically covers everyone. It's going to be very hard on alot of families. The only way to lower school up take is to close more businesses and forlough more people. At the moment it's business as usual. Kids in my bubble this week off for tea at their friends house who isn't at school. Another one having KFC for tea. I'm sorry but how is KFC essential???

Messaging from the government needs to be clearer. At the moment there are far too many people going into their places of work who could work from home. The government need to give a clear message to employers that if the job can be done from home them employees must do so and the employer must do everything to facilitate. Likewise, if employees are at home then unless they are a key worker working on sensitive material their children must stay at home. If that means having to work flexibly (changing hours of work etc) then employers must find a way to accommodate this. I am a TA and we have a ridiculous situation in that we have a child in who has 2 keyworker parents ( not emergency services, more like supermarket but not) and the employer has refused change in working patterns that would allow one parent to be at home. They have no choice but to send child to school. They want to do the right thing but are prevented by their employer.

@robinwisperer

I don’t really understand this tbh. I’m sure both your children would qualify for a school place due to their SEN.

only one has SN... and the SS is closed. They are reviewing next week. Currently, SS is only taking key worker children. It is just not as simple as ehcp = school place. If the school is closed, there is nowhere to send them

Well, I’m sorry about that. It’s shit that the school is closed and won’t take your child.

I just don’t think assuming people who have sent their kids in are taking the piss helps anyone. Sometimes it’s even a matter of degrees - DS has some SEN and we’re both keyworkers who wfh. We requested three days a week in school even though we both work five days a week, because we can juggle things so we get the bulk of our most vital work done on those three days and can help him more with his homeschooling on the other two days. I’m worried some would see this as evidence we could actually manage all week, but in fact it’s because he’s in for three days that we can manage on the other days.

Plus the fact that people managed last time shouldn’t be seen as evidence that they can manage this time. It’s kind of like saying, well you ran a marathon yesterday, why can’t you run one today? Some people can’t manage this time because they did manage last time - but now they’ve run out of savings, mortgage holidays, employer goodwill, mental or physical health reserves etc. We should be more compassionate.

I go through many phases of feeling bitter about some of the people who are sending their kids in to our local school because it is the easier option. Why do I feel like that?
I’m jealous for my child who isn’t getting the social interaction that they are getting.
Too many kids in school defeats the object of the stay at home order.
I feel sorry for the genuine key workers who are more likely to find their bubble bursts because of the increase number of children in.

But then I take a step back and think; people choose what people choose, and they must have their own reasons for making that choice. I should just be grateful I have my kids at home and therefore reduce the risk of them bringing the virus back to the house.

On the flip side of all the tenuous keyworkers unnecessarily sending their kids in, are the genuine keyworkers, working out on the front line for the benefit of all of us who would love to be able to keep their kids at home. Just like all aspects of this pandemic, people respond to rules and guidance in such varying ways..... that’s human behaviour.

I'm afraid there's a lot of people that want to "level us up" in the words of Boris, but what they really want is to level everyone down

Plus the fact that people managed last time shouldn’t be seen as evidence that they can manage this time.

I just don’t think assuming people who have sent their kids in are taking the piss helps anyone

Yes! So many assumptions.

Not every school is 70% full.
Not every school has the same criteria.
Most of the school community do not know who the 'vulnerable' kids are.

@Jetatyeovilaerodrome the gov site does not keep the old versions but does list out all the changes that have been made over time. Summary here from a legal firm

www.clydeco.com/en/insights/2020/03/coronavirus-key-workers

I believe that the March guidance was in line with what it says now. It was relaxed in May to encourage all key worker children to attend, but now that we are in a similar situation as in March from a pandemic perspective, key workers are again being encouraged to keep their children at home if at all possible

My dc will be going in soon, currently using AL. I would prefer them at home so I find it weird that people think going in is the preferable option.
At home with me giving them proper time to learn we can't do this at the moment.

I added this earlier, but refer to dfe latest update, no changes at all, no U-turn

dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/01/08/am-i-a-critical-worker-or-are-they-vulnerable-or-without-internet-access-or-broadband/

I just want to add, I see a lot of comments about keyworkers taking the mick sending kids in to schools when they aren't really needed due to their KW status being questionable. I am one of these, I could teach my dd from home (albeit not a full day but I could definitely do some) but my company will not allow it. I'm in the process of trying to sort this out this week but please don't assume all key workers are taking the piss intentionally.
My company have told me if I want to keep her home I need to take unpaid leave.

@whittystitties that was my understanding as I sure they were encouraging people to think about if they needed a space.

it's why I took AL, naive to hope it would only be did 2 wks!

[quote wonderup]@whittystitties that was my understanding as I sure they were encouraging people to think about if they needed a space. [/quote]
Yes, use judgement but in no way is there a ban on keyworkers sending their kids in if they wfh... some people believe what they want to believe though, as it's suits their judgy attitude

Yes I was already told earlier this wk that because I'm support staff I should be wfh. The fact I cannot do some elements from home seemed to be ignored plus our remit has been expanded. Then told I should be in the office all the time if I'm slacking at home even though we have a rota because we can't socially distance properly & I can do an awful lot from home. Can't win 🤷‍♀️

Oh & guidance was to wfh when you can & try & avoid public transport where possible but hey ho.

@whittystitties

I'm afraid there's a lot of people that want to "level us up" in the words of Boris, but what they really want is to level everyone down

or maybe people are concerned about a certain virus doing the rounds and the high number of children in school when quite a good proportion of those could be kept at home.