Pulling kids from school?

[SnowSurprise]

Anyone starting to do think about doing this? Rates rapidly rising in our area with almost half the cases in the age group of my DC. Starting to think about Christmas and pulling the DC from school in the last week. Carol service is apparently still going ahead on 22nd which seems like an excellent way to spread lots of Christmas Covid. Debating DC1 coming down with something on the Saturday 18th and DC2 unfortunately not feeling great on the Monday....

I think if there was ‘events’ that last week, with all parents etc gathered in the hall; and I was planning on seeing elderly relatives in the following weeks, I wouldn’t go and I’d pull the kids out. Those things are fun but not overly important in an educational sense. x

Schools were closed then, No, they weren't, not where we are. Secondary schools were closed, yes, but both my DC are primary and schools have been open since May 2020.

I think these threads just show that there is a divide between those who benefited from
I can’t see a problem if your kid is happy and doing fine at school.
DC1 definitely benefited from homeschooling, and he is most certainly not happy and not doing fine at school. DC2 is and loves school, so would be more upset at missing it, but I think would understand and rather miss the last week of school to be able to spend Christmas with grandparents.

Op you say you don’t think they missed that much school really ? .
Op you seem convinced even though the majority disagree maybe think about that .
If your dc haven’t caught it yet what makes you think they will now ? Also what makes you think they’d be very unwell I’d suspect a vomiting bug would be much worse for a young child . There are lots of colds / bugs and virus going around it’s a shame you think it’s safer to pull them out of school .

It’s one of those ‘you do you’ though Op.

I don’t really care two hoots if people want o homeschool, not send their children to school, not go to work, not go to concerts or football matches or the theatre, I don’t mean that flippantly - it’s up to them how they live their lives.

But I don’t like the inference that this is something we should be doing because of covid when actually nine times out of ten it’s because they loved lockdown and want it back!

If your dc haven’t caught it yet what makes you think they will now ? Also what makes you think they’d be very unwell
As I said in my OP, rates are rising rapidly in our area with almost half the cases being in the age group of my DC.

It's not so much that I think they'd be very unwell, it's the risk of passing it on to their grandparents or risking spending Christmas and New Year in quarantine and not being able to see their grandparents for the second year running.

I agree with you OP. People are saying you didn’t pull your kids out in previous years in case they got ill - but those illnesses didn’t mean you had to stay in the house and miss Xmas! You could still enjoy the holidays with a cold, whereas with Covid you have to isolate, it’s not the same at all. If I had Xmas plans I’d pull my kids out a week early. Although personally I’m hoping mine catch it so I don’t have to see MIL!

Not this again.

@ichundich

Not this again.

Covid hasn’t gone away 🤷🏻‍♀️

People are quick to pretend that we aren’t in a pandemic, that not everyone has their booster, that the NHS is crumbling etc.

We still have to do our bit with testing, isolating, getting jabbed, being cautious.

I guess people are annoyed by the reminders, for they’re probably a bit tired about the whole things. However being tired doesn’t change the reality.

Absolutely not. Their education and wellbeing is so, so much more important than the risk that they may get Covid.

No. Healthy children should be at school.

Schools closed from March to May 2020, except keyworker children. Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 could go back in June and July 2020 but the government banned schools from setting up rotas or alternative timetables so the other year groups (Y2 to 5) could return.

Schools closed again from January to March 2021 but this time the definition of keyworker was so wide that many schools still had hundreds of children attending. Attendance was very high.

No way, mine have missed enough school and time with their friends. The last week is always fun for them so they’d hate to miss it.
We’re seeing their grandparents over Christmas but as one works full time as in ICU nurse and the other also works out of the home full time I don’t think we pose much additional risk to them.

Their education and wellbeing is so, so much more important than the risk that they may get Covid.
The well-being of my DC1 is not inherently improved by being at school.

Neither is the issue that they may get Covid.

The issue is they may get Covid and therefore will be ill over Christmas/cannot see family over Christmas yet again.

Or, of course, they may be classified as a close contact and get quarantined over Christmas and New Year and therefore not be able to see family yet again.

@Staryflight445

‘ mental well-being is much more important’

My reception age child came home yesterday and declared that no one puked on the carpet yesterday, he’s been unwell consistently since starting and for the past 5 days has been the healthiest he’s been since starting school and has now woken up unwell again.
We suffered a sickness bug over the weekend with our year 2.
I can only imagine as the weeks pass it’s becoming more and more likely for us to get COVID which means we can’t see any family (which is really small as it is due to lots of premature losses).

Please explain to me how this is better for their mental well-being than being at home educated by me remotely?

Thanks.

But it doesn't sound like much of that is to do with Covid directly - covid isn't why children are vomiting on the carpet and it doesn't sound like your child has had Covid? It is an unusually bad winter for illness, which is widely agreed to be an unforeseen consequence of lockdown and school closures, so going back to that would prolong the problem, not solve it.

And obviously if you think homeschooling would be better for your child you can make the decision to do that at any point. What you can't do is do it but expect your child's former school to keep teaching them remotely.

Where are you, OP? I think a lot of posters are replying assuming you're operating under English rules and circumstances - schools closing for much longer than you describe but now no isolation for close contacts - and aren't realising that you're making the decision under different ones.

I was commenting to someone who thinks being at school is better for their mental well-being- I really don’t think it is for many at the moment, without the added extra of covid.
We’re lucky and haven’t had it yet, but we still can’t seem to catch a break and I know many families are in the same boat.
I’m pregnant which isn’t helping, after suffering morning sickness I have been constantly hit with the school illnesses which make me struggle to eat and drink all over again.
I absolutely cannot wait for the xmas holidays because I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.

@LivinginWFHlimbo

Plus of course I’ll be at work in the last week of term so I wouldn’t be able to keep them at home anyway.

My kids aren't missing a minute more of education than they need. We seem to be determined to fuck up this generations education through this forgetting that they will be the ones doing our medical and legal stuff as we age and wither.

No chance. They’ve both had it though.

I wouldn’t even if they hadn’t

I was commenting to someone who thinks being at school is better for their mental well-being- I really don’t think it is for many at the moment, without the added extra of covid.

It was me who suggested this. There will always be exceptions, but don't you think the majority of children and teens benefit from being in school vs at home? Especially after the past 18 months of having to learn remotely and unable to socialise with their friends? With GCSE or A levels coming up?

I was commenting to someone who thinks being at school is better for their mental well-being- I really don’t think it is for many at the moment, without the added extra of covid.

Why do you say this? This isn’t near my or my friends’ experience. They are happy to be with their friends again

Of course there may be some who find school difficult but why say this as if it’s more than usual?

No, she is describing English rules.

In fact, primary schools were not closed at all (including during holiday periods) between March and July 2020. We were open every day, initially for keyworker children and then for certain year groups, as well as providing daily online learning for every child.

We were also not closed in term time at all from Sept 2020 - July 2021. Even during the ‘lockdown’ from January to the start of March, the school was open full time for nearly half of the children, plus fulltime online learning fir the other half.

Schools were not open for every child every day, but they were open for some or all children every single day, and this was in addition to online learning for anyone not in.

but don't you think the majority of children and teens benefit from being in school vs at home? Especially after the past 18 months of having to learn remotely and unable to socialise with their friends? With GCSE or A levels coming up?

As I said before, both my DC are primary, they haven't spent the last 18 months learning remotely, nor have they been unable to socialise with their friends. Neither do they have GCSE's or A-Levels coming up and I don't know any primary aged kids that do. Unless yours are particularly gifted? Mine aren't that clever.

I think if you want to avoid the rising cases definitely pull out of school before Christmas.

Lockdown and home schooling showed me the main benefit of school for my family is socialising (Reception/year1). I'm keeping my dd in because she benefits so much from being with her friends.

I think we all have to do what's in our own family's best interests. I began following not only rules, but all guidance in 2020. Now I do what's best for us (and not going to be dangerous to others)!

Love a defensive op when opinion doesn’t go their way