Please let me know if this would actually help parents?

[ordinaryhousewife]

We are always hearing about the BLACK HOLE in public funding but not often hearing about radical solutions If I am mad please feel free to let me know but picture this ( All of it please ) The Government stops Child benefit altogether, along with the supporting admin system. Remember I am talking only of the CHILD BENIFIT SYSTEM. They then make every Primary School in the UK open from 7 am to 7 pm 360 days per year. For families, the facilities would include, a FREE breakfast club before 9 am Free lunch cooked on the premises, and free after-school activities. With free tea club between 5 pm and 6.30 pm again cooked on the premises with parents welcome to eat with their children and siblings talking about their day etc. All remaining children are being collected by a designated responsible adult or parent by 7 pm having completed any homework. For the local community, it would mean jobs all at the living wage or more. All jobs would be permanent contracts ranging from PT to full-time. All Head Teachers would become the only ones responsible for overseeing Education matters between 9 am and 3 pm. With the Coordination Manager overseeing everything else the vast amount of New staff would coordinate 7 Days a week. Not, all parents may wish to take up everything on offer, and the holiday clubs would have to be booked in advance it would take a great shift in thinking from a Headteacher and their staff but primary schools could be a big part of ceasing child poverty improving the mental wellbeing of whole communities and integration would be greatly improved. Any parents not wanting to have their children take part in any out of Education activities at all would not be able to claim Child benefit from a system that no longer exists. There are many other benefits in place to financially help parents.

How on earth do you think that would save money? The costs would be crazy and who wants to send their child to school for 12 hours a day

Which 5 days per year would this be closed?

Lord no - that sounds shit.

Might as well send them all off to boarding school.

Where is this money coming from? Even if every child did recieve CB it wouldn’t cover the costs if your suggestion. Where are you finding the staff for before and after school club? No one wants to work 7 until 9 and then 3.30 to 7 for minimium wage for 39 weeks a year.

children don’t deserve to like their wee lives like that! That actually upsets me just thinking about it.

It reads like a brainstorming task where you have to come up with purposefully bad ideas. But it's missing the good ideas that then follow.

So like a giant kiddy warehouse so that parents can have a child and then do pretty much none of the parenting?

Sounds like the beginning of a dystopian novel.

Where is the "vast amount of new staff" coming from?
We can't recruit enough decent TAs as it is.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Sounds awful, I like spending time with my children and 9-3 at school is quite enough for them. They need free time and time to unwind at home with family.

Absolutely, when would the actual parenting occur?!

I'm assuming OP doesn't think that any child would actually be in every day from 7 to 7, just that there would be something in place for families who need it, and it would run between those hours. I would think there would need to be a cap on usage to avoid the 5 x 12 hour days for some unfortunate kids where the parents thought this was necessary. And in reality, some times/days would have far less demand, so it may not be worth them opening for the full time you suggest.

Personally I think wrap around care is shit at the moment - there is insufficient capacity for the demand, even for those who are able and willing to pay for it. I don't necessarily think this is the answer, but I do think that provision needs to be enhanced to a very basic level - all parents who need it should be able to access out of school care that would run from 8.30 -9 and end time - 5.

And on the free food point - the free school meals in Scotland are pretty poor in my opinion - quantity and quality, not terribly healthy. I don't think further provision of subsidised food through schools would be the right approach.

The cost of this would in no way be covered by scrapping child benefit.

How would that benefit children with sensory issues, who mask at.school, eating disorders, challenging behaviour, who can't cope with smells of food, who have sensory issues around food, disabilities the list goes on. This is quite possibly one of the most fucked up, ignorant ideas I've ever heard

Thinking about it, can you imagine the destruction of variety, creativity & freedom.

My ds' school cohort live in a mix of environments. Some are musical, one is a farmer's son and helps on the farm, learning his future profession. My ds spends his spare time tinkering, mending things - he wants to be an engineer. Next door's dd ices cakes and bakes. She wants to do a degree in nutrition.

Others do performance arts, one is a budding meteorologist.

All those soft skills, All that confidence and wisdom would be lost. Instead we'd get dreary production line bland.

So no need for parents to do any parenting at all really?! What a bizarre, not to mention unworkable, idea.

No way. Work life balance is not the best as it is . And definitely no good for children.

Whilst originally the mother would collect the family allowance from the Post Office once a week, for many years now Child Benefit has been paid directly into whichever bank account details given on the form. This removed the supposed protection for women.
My own mother told me about the Family Allowance when I was quite young, on our way out of collecting it at the Post Office - and she pointed out that whilst the good intention was there, she was sure many women handed over the money to a fist being held in their faces, and it was then spent down the pub.
This was the 80s.

No it wouldn’t work, would be too expensive and wouldn’t benefit children. What school has a hall big enough to have all children’s plus some siblings and parents in it for food, let alone enough tables and chairs for everyone to eat on. Poor children in school for that many hours 5 days a week, they’d be too exhausted to learn.

I suspect that this is once again written by someone who doesn't understand the different between child benefit and tax credits/UC. I don't need more childcare than I have. I don't need free breakfasts. I can afford my children. But child benefit means I can afford to out a little into savings for each of them, and I can afford to take them out places and to extra curriculars. You know...actually spend time with them.

I love the way you have come up with a solution that isn't the lazy "let's raise taxes". What happens when you cannot raise taxes anymore. I like your idea, is it perfect no; but better than the lazy "just raise taxes" most people come up with.

I read it as the school being available to all children in those hours. Not that it was compulsory for children to be there 12 hour a day.

Yes. It's means tested and only for your first 2 children (unless a multiple birth).

Wouldn't the savings on childcare costs and food means you could still do those extras?

Yes I was trying to find the words but you've found them!

So you think kids should basically never see their parents? What are you on?!