From a personal standpoint, I'm an early years worker. I'm also a single parent to DD(9) who is currently being assessed for autism. We have been alone throughout this pandemic. There is nobody I can bubble with for childcare or support. Her father and family have been mixing as normal, so that is not an option.
This means DD going into school as a keyworker's child and adding to numbers in the classroom, so I can work. I am considerably late for work each day, as wraparound care is not currently running. School have been amazing, but they aren't educating her (I'm trying to homeschool her after work, alongside completing the various reports, lesson prep, emails and other admin that comes as part of my job).
Quite frankly, she is finding the chop and change in routine/familiar faces incredibly upsetting and I, like so many others, am finding the juggling too much.
I am working with open windows and cleaning of resources being the only mitigating factors. PPE is not required according to the DfE...
Under five year olds (quite naturally) do not socially distance...or wipe their own noses...or cover their coughs. In the last week alone I have had a child cough in my face, as I helped them to zip up their coat, another wipe their nose on my hand and a third spit at staff when they have become upset.
We try to stay on top of handwashing, but with three sinks to be shared between staff and children, this does not feel adequate.
There is no way of knowing which families have or have not stuck to the guidelines, but many children delight in telling us whose house they are going to play at.
Parents send their children in trying to hide covid symptoms by dosing them up on calpol and then seem aggrieved when we ask them to collect their child, isolate and get tested.
Contrary to popular belief, our small team is made up of workers aged 30-60+ and each of us has our own worries and concerns, but each of us comes to work because we:
A) Love what we do. Nobody does this for the money!
B) Have no option but to work. We too have families to provide for. Furlough is not currently available, as government expects us to open to remain open...
One member of staff has already handed in their notice and this has negatively impacted staff morale further.
I think the overall feeling is that our sector has been thrown under the proverbial bus, with little regard to our health from government or parents or for the fact that we are working in an extremely unsafe environment.
As far as I am aware, we are the only educational settings who are able to open to all, working in prolonged close proximity to multiple households without masks, enhanced cleaning, ventilation, distancing measures or asymptomatic testing in place. It truly is business as normal and as many colleagues have expressed - it is extremely frightening!
I do not believe that the statistical data reflects the reality, as many under fives are asymptomatic and parents understandably don't want to put their children through such an unpleasant test and often opt to isolate instead.
We would be more than happy to open to vulnerable children and the children of those whose parents are front line workers, in line with other educational settings, but this would need to be alongside financial support from government to supplement income lost from other families unable to attend, in order for us to reopen to all at some stage.
I also recognise the impact this will have on working families and think government really need to knuckle down on employers of working parents to provide legal protections for those put on furlough due to childcare responsibilities.
Going forward, school and early years staff should be prioritised alongside other keyworkers such as NHS and care staff, in order for schools to reopen to all as quickly as possible, with little risk of them closing due to staff shortages, which is a major issue at the moment.
I personally feel at this point that it is inevitable that I am going to catch Covid through my place of work and if/when I do, I just pray I will remain well enough to look after DD, or else we are stuffed - nobody will be coming to help us out or make sure we are ok.
I love my job - I truly do, but I love my daughter more and just want to be ok for her...
Feeling pretty sorry for myself right now, but am resigned to the fact that this is happening and there is nothing I can do except put my head down and get on with it and do the best job that I can for the children within our care. It's not their fault that the country is in this divisive mess, after all...