So it looks like we're being prepared for children not to go back until after Easter

[choosingcrumble]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-face-months-at-home-as-schools-stay-shut-until-easter-wp5ltpm82?fbclid=IwAR1l0gRSzuJLIv508reRmBEojbYfoGOsWwe3_pBFmKpA4EbI1IgC5dKC2uE

I suspected it wouldn't be until then, let's just hope that it doesn't stretch into the summer.

If it means he safe compared to him dying

Is he in a clinically vulnerable category? If he's not, the chances of him dying if he catches covid are miniscule.

@Totallydefeated

Littlewhitedove2

Why has everyone suddenly discovered the word glib? 🤣

I’ve been using it for..., ooh, I guess the best part of 35 years. It’s hardly exotic! Is it new to you?!

It’s being used on almost every corona thread on MN at the moment multiple times so yes, that’s a new one on me!

@breadwidow is your DH WFH or just at home?

Interesting thread.

When they said that schools were going to shut until half-term I felt devastated. I work ft have 2 primary aged kids who don't engage well with home learning, an inflexible job but both dh and I work from home.

Our family have complied with the rules 100% since the first lockdown. We have not had people visit our house, had a handful of socially distanced walks with one or two other friends (not at the same time). Both dh and I haven't seen our families since last xmas 2019, had a couple of playdates in the garden in the summer, wore masks on the school run. I feel personally responsible to do my bit to protect the vulnerable.

I'm on Mumsnet rather a lot and it has totally skewed my perception of lockdown with all the threads of curtain twitching posters complaining about neighbours breaking rules and the dozens, if not hundreds of threads where posters rudely shouted that schools must close, kids are vectors of transmission those yucky, grimy brats and how dare any key worker lawfully send their kids to school.

Well, dear reader, all I can say is that real life is not Mumsnet. Most of the families in our area are meeting up with their children outside in large groups. I seem to be the only one who sticks with the rules.

I will tempted to arrange a playdate for each of my kids during half-term, so that my dc will no longer have to forgo social contact with other children. Mumsnet does not in the slightest reflect how real people live their lives, few people comply wit the rules in rl.

@breadwidow I'm in a similar position to you. Both me and DH are technically critical workers but we are wfh so have kept DC at home as message from school is to only send them in if they can't be safely looked after at home. However, I'm hearing that around 50% of children are now going to school.

It's really making me question what the point of schools being closed is if so many are in. And now it'a looking like it may last even longer..

I have GS living with me, he's doing well with school work and expected to get good GCSEs although the school don't know exactly how they are going to be assessed. He's been happy and not struggling but today he said if lockdown is going on until Easter he might go into school after halfterm - the reason he is with me is parents are keyworkers and we all felt he was safer here. I think he's enjoyed a few weeks relaxing and getting spoiled by gran but it might be too much of a good thing long term. He has to make a choice though, online learning staying here or going home and being able to go to school. Too much of a risk to us oldies to have him here if he's out at school every day.

It’s being used on almost every corona thread on MN at the moment multiple times so yes, that’s a new one on me!

Ah! I haven’t been on many of the Covid threads. I guess it might be because there’s been quite a lot of minimising of peoples’ concerns that has been...... well...., glib

The countries that adopted Zero Covid had the right approach. Their children are back in school now. Local outbreaks are swiftly stamped out. Here, as in America, the pandemic has been completely mishandled and allowed to run wild, despite the billions squandered by taxpayers. Tragically, it's not possible for children to return to school in the present situation. School does not feel safe even with the current limited numbers. This is what you get when you elect a government that puts profit above people.

@lilithxx16

The countries that adopted Zero Covid had the right approach. Their children are back in school now. Local outbreaks are swiftly stamped out. Here, as in America, the pandemic has been completely mishandled and allowed to run wild, despite the billions squandered by taxpayers. Tragically, it's not possible for children to return to school in the present situation. School does not feel safe even with the current limited numbers. This is what you get when you elect a government that puts profit above people.

But as had been illustrated and discussed many times on here, what worked well for Aus and NZ just wouldn’t have worked here for many reasons

What difference will vaccinating the teachers make? Schools didn't close because teachers were dropping like flies........they close because of community transmission and vaccinating teachers will not make an iota of difference to that.

Schools (and life pretty much) is closed to try and reduce the pressure on the NHS>

[quote inlimboland]@breadwidow I'm in a similar position to you. Both me and DH are technically critical workers but we are wfh so have kept DC at home as message from school is to only send them in if they can't be safely looked after at home. However, I'm hearing that around 50% of children are now going to school.

It's really making me question what the point of schools being closed is if so many are in. And now it'a looking like it may last even longer.. [/quote]
Yes I'm feeling exactly the same! What's the point of closures if nearly half the kids in school!! I think a lot of the kids who are attending my kids KW provision this time are children of relatively low paid people whose job cannot be done from home but who were furloughed last time as premises closed (eg staff at McDonald's and other fast food outlets). They are in an impossible situ - arguably their employer should furlough them. But there are more middle class parents out there rather taking the piss, arguing it's impossible to wfh with kids, what do they think everyone else is doing? (so many patents I know are not key workers but jobs still just as busy). My public sector employer is more flexible than many of these ones so it's crazy that I'm entitled to key worker provision. Last summer I did consider using it but I wouldn't now and I don't know how people I know who are in similar situ to me who are using it are living with themselves. We got a personal appeal from the head on Friday to really consider carefully before using it, second message in 2 weeks

It is my idea that we should be vaccinating children/teens/twenty somethings first, not because they are more vulnerable but because they are the main spreaders and the only groups we are expecting to be in big numbers in enclosed spaces.

New Zealand & Australia are not the only countries that have kept deaths and transmission rates down. We should all be fuming that the government have spent billions on contracts for their mates, a useless track & trace system and allowed an uncontrolled flow of travel into the country during a global pandemic. It was never inevitable that thousands of people would die and our children would be effectively locked out of the education system.

@Thewiseoneincognito

The elephant in the room is unfortunately that once they start mixing, children become disease vectors. Them being at school completely undermines the wfh initiative, the household mixing rules and social distancing rules.

BoJo spelled it out clearly for us in his lockdown speech when he called them vectors.

How school closures impact DC is the lesser evil when compared to virus infection rates. As someone without children it doesn’t affect me but it means we could potentially get some normality back if closures remain in place for a longer period.

Parents have to remember that they are not the centre of the world even though their Dc are precious to them. To the greater good they’re just another cog. It’s a hard pill to swallow but try to have some objectivity when looking at the wider picture.

Completely agree.

Let’s not pretend children are fine. We may think sacrificing their health is a fair sacrifice to make to protect adults against Covid, but we should admit openly that that's the policy choice we're making

My children are fine, thanks.

I don’t agree we are sacrificing either the physical or mental health of any child to protect adults. This situation has come about as a means by which to protect the NHS. That is the policy choice. That and the fact that years of underinvestment ensured the NHS was in no way pandemic-ready. The figures speak for themselves. Numbers were on the increase and the new strain is particularly problematic. There is no doubt that children in school carried the disease home.

What do you propose? That children remain in school, school staff take the hit (many of whom are parents), schools open and close according to staff illness and the NHS is overwhelmed?

I would love to know your solution. And your qualifications and experience that enable you to say your solution may well have worked.

How the actual fuck are we supposed to WFH FT and homeschool FT for that long?

I can't do this.

@lilithxx16

New Zealand & Australia are not the only countries that have kept deaths and transmission rates down. We should all be fuming that the government have spent billions on contracts for their mates, a useless track & trace system and allowed an uncontrolled flow of travel into the country during a global pandemic. It was never inevitable that thousands of people would die and our children would be effectively locked out of the education system.

A million times this!

@breadwidow You said your DH is at home, is he also working? Are you able to complete unfinished work in the evening etc? You actually can't do two things at once, and I don't know many primary children who can work completely independently. Infact I know a child who ended up in A and E due to parents unable to supervise the children whilst they were WFH.

@reachersloveinterest It is without doubt an impossible task to do two things at once, more things if you have more than one child...

@Watchingbehindmyhands. I'm glad your children are fine. You've put my mind at rest. Since your children are the only ones in the country that matter and, if they're fine, well everything's great, isn't it?

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

our kids are meant to stay indoors for months

No they are not there’s no rule saying they can’t leave the house. They can go outside to exercise, play in gardens etc.

We have the worst death rate so should be doing all we can to stop that, remote education isn’t a big deal and most people want their children, family and friends to be safe and healthy.

Oh do give over. Anyone who says that remote education is no big deal has never tried to do it and work at the same time.

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

The more schools who actually teach the KW children who are in, the longer this nightmare will go on, to be honest.
It sets up an inequality, and leads to more and more parents demanding a place for their child, for fear of missing out.
The more children in school, the greater the likelihood of the virus continuing to spread and infections being slow to fall.
So, more people will die, and lockdown and restrictions for the rest of us will last longer.
At my school, the KW kids are supervised by a succession of TAs and provided with laptops to access what those at home are doing. There is the minimum of support really. Not surprisingly, not many people are signing up for it, and for those that do, it's not because they are under any illusions that their kids will be getting anything much more than those at home.

Parents have to remember that they are not the centre of the world even though their Dc are precious to them. To the greater good they’re just another cog. It’s a hard pill to swallow but try to have some objectivity when looking at the wider picture.

But fucking up the next generation is a bit of an issue. There is a reason that society as a whole invests in, educates and protects children, rather than simply leaving it all to the parents. It's not driven wholly by altruism but by pragmatism too.

**

How the actual fuck are we supposed to WFH FT and homeschool FT for that long

Well, yeah. Regardless of the situation and all the reasons why we need the schools to be shut, it actually isn’t possible for parents to be in two places at once. None of us have a timeturner. It’s just not possible to achieve both work and being a full time teacher. It would be ok if this was acknowledged and accounted for. But the government is acting as though it is possible and aren’t putting measures in place to help. t’s like every parent is being gaslit.