Sir Keir Starmer calling for nursery closure!

[Boogie5678]

Sorry I’m not sure how to link this but it’s on BBC news.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones.

I’ve had 3 staff resign this week, all of them qualified. If one more is off sick or isolating then we close. Nursery work is low paid, and qualified staff are hard to come by. Each of my staff could walk into a job next month after riding out this storm.

It’s hard to hear how little we are valued when what we do is meant to so important.

Some schools nearest me have had more bubbles bursting in their nurseries than in their other year groups, and from children testing positive and not staff

I'm against closing them.

They are being told to suck it up because parents will find it really hard to work at home with their toddlers - although their parents have the privilege of working safely at home.

I think you are misunderstanding.

They are employed on the basis that they have childcare.

Regardless of how you think employers should behave, there is no obligation for them to be ‘understanding’ if an employee can’t do work because of childcare.

I hope that parents are willing to pay full fees or significant retainers because otherwise there won’t be nurseries to go back to.

Unless more restrictions come into place this lockdown will go on longer for everyone ekse. Yes it will be tough for nursery parents but right now it's equally as tough for parents with school age kids. If nurserys close and other restrictions take place then it's very likely schools can open fully much sooner. It's not just about nursery kids and their parents.

It seems sensible to open for only key worker or vulnerable children but I suspect if that was the order given many nurseries would not open at all.

I think this is a key reason why they’ve stayed open so far. The government can order schools to remain open for KW children, but for plenty of nurseries It won’t be financially viable to stay open for a handful of kids so they’ll close, and then KWs will have childcare issues.

Unlike schools they are there to make money and it's simply not profitable to open to such a small number of children. I can foresee that many would close their doors and never reopen.

Exactly & then what happens when parents need that provision again?
Also young children do benefit from socialisation

@SquigglePigs

Our nursery and those of many people I know have been open since June without a single case. Small children are very low risk for transmission. Couple that with the high level of economic impact to parents and closing them doesn't make sense.

You’ve put this much less hysterically than I did

@DazzlePaintedBattlePants

They should enforce the current lockdown rules first (driving to MaccyD’s, anyone?) - shops round here are rife with families doing their shopping when it could easily be done by one person.

Childcare should be the last to close.

I feel mixed on that with schools closed. Parents can't keep their children locked away at home between now and April.

I agree about the supermarket where you've got two adults shopping with their children, potentially making other shoppers wait longer in the queue for their essentials. Single parents or those whose spouse works long hours outside the home will need to take their kids

Maybe that promise of a drive to McDonald's later in the day will stop the whole family going insane at home though.

Having RTFT it’s reminded me that our private nursery did close last time, they couldn’t afford to stay open for just the key worker children due to the demographic of our area.

Our nursery has never had a confirmed case. That’s amongst staff and children. Not one. I know that may be unusual but it’s true. Yet the developmental, social, personal cost to my child of not attending will be so significant.

@Beefcurtains79

I know there are knock-on effects. But in your desire to have the ‘little people’ (by which you seem to mean you and people like you) considered, you are forgetting about the nursery workers (not known for having a loud voice, arguably also ‘little people’) who are being asked to give up a lot (potentially their lives) for you.

I have no issues if nursery workers are happy to do so but there are a number who aren’t and they’ve said why on this thread. Someone needs to fighting their corner too.

It won’t be about personal feelings though. Any decision will be based in contribution to infection rates.

BustopherPonsonbyJones

Thank you for wording it so much more eloquently than I was able

Exploitation of poorly paid, non-unionised staff who deserve the same protection for themselves and their families as everyone else.

I don't disagree with the first part but surely families using nurseries are also putting themselves at risk?

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

I’m a childminder, my business won’t survive if I do have to close again. Many nurseries are in the brink. Parents need their childcare to be available from the very day they can go back to work themselves and this work happen if we are forced out of business. It’s a lose lose situation.

I can well understand the financial problem it would cause you but why wouldn't you start having children back when things reopen? Or would you get a job so not choose to childmind again.

Starmer has a mole I am sure so he knows nurseries are next . Handy to announce before the weekly broadcast next week

This has been obvious for some time surely

@Ilovenewyear

Do you work with a toddler at home? Ever tried it?

There’s this argument but I think people also forget the developmental benefits offered by the formal childcare setting versus what parents are able to provide at home when juggling work, other siblings etc.

During the first lockdown my child who had previously been attending nursery developed a speech delay. This is despite having a sibling at home and a parent who doesn’t work. I’m convinced it was due to the time spent away from nursery and the impact of the dramatic change to his routine.

He returned to nursery in June and his speech is only just showing signs of improvement. We’ve been on the wait list for speech therapy this whole time.

There are wider consequences of shutting nurseries that many people don’t appreciate.

My DN had delayed speech when the first lockdown started and started the assessment for SEN. Lockdown hit and nursery numbers dropped. The difference was phenomenal. You'd not know now that there was ever a problem. There is no way that result would have been achieved if she was at home with WFH SIL and elder sibling. Likewise my own DS came on leaps and bounds the minute he went back in June. I wholeheartedly agree with your summary.x

[quote BustopherPonsonbyJones]@Beefcurtains79

I know there are knock-on effects. But in your desire to have the ‘little people’ (by which you seem to mean you and people like you) considered, you are forgetting about the nursery workers (not known for having a loud voice, arguably also ‘little people’) who are being asked to give up a lot (potentially their lives) for you.

I have no issues if nursery workers are happy to do so but there are a number who aren’t and they’ve said why on this thread. Someone needs to fighting their corner too.

It won’t be about personal feelings though. Any decision will be based in contribution to infection rates.[/quote]
What you are asking is that in many cases people, women mostly, give their jobs up to do this and would you still like them to pay fees?

Completely agree too with the point made that if nurseries go out of business, what happens when we start opening up the economy again and people cant get childcare??

And when they assess the transmission it won’t be based on indivisible nurseries but the situation as a whole. Who knows, you might be lucky?

I do wish the nursery workers (and I’m not one of them) were given more thought in all of this discussion though. It’s easy to sit at home and not understand the fear some of them will be feeling.

Most nurseries cannot afford to keep running/open with just keyworker children in.

They should have closed at the same time as the schools. You cannot rely on people using their common sense when it inconveniences them

What will you do?

why wouldn't you start having children back when things reopen? Or would you get a job so not choose to childmind again.

I dont know her, but presumably Georgie will have to find another job whilst not looking after mindees to pay her bills. She is then unlikely to reopen as a childminder in future for risk of having to close again and that situation will be replicated across the country. This decision will close lots of early years settings.

It is also just not safe for 3 year olds and under to be left unsupervised at home whilst their mum tries to work full time. It basically puts such a child in a vulnerable category even if they are not otherwise.

During the first lockdown my child who had previously been attending nursery developed a speech delay. This is despite having a sibling at home and a parent who doesn’t work. I’m convinced it was due to the time spent away from nursery and the impact of the dramatic change to his routine.

My youngest has a speech delay & the improvement since going to ore school is amazing.