No More Tiers (Enough is Enough)

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Here it is - thread 365 - was getting too twitchy....

My friend’s (not elderly) mother died on Christmas Eve, not of or with covid, my poor friend hadn’t seen her mum since last April.

@shouldistop

If early learning and young primary are unlikely to be transmitting the virus then why are they not going back on the 1st??

Yes to this

@WaxOnFeckOff I feel that I’m like an old house, that once you start dismantling you’ll find problems

I hope to god that statement means they're going back mid February.
4yo ds is so sad and keeps complaining he has no one to play with. We're trying our best but dh is working and I've got a tiny baby to contend with too. I also don't think parents are a good substitute for other children at his age.

They’re a very poor substitute at twelve as well.

we had a staff well being survey to do last week. Now found out that two colleagues (not in my office) have recently committed suicide That will explain the survey then.

I do think that my work have been trying and do provide resources to support but the sad reality is that people find it hard to access things like support lines and webinars etc when they are in a dark place. I really don' know what the answer is.

I think it's hard to be all things to your child, especially if you aren't in a good place yourself. You can be a good parent but still be a rubbish teacher and poor playmate.

That's awful Wax. The same at my work. And my friends husband. And the women who previously did my job until the summer. And my neighbour.

It's horrific.

@WouldBeGood I'd imagine it's even harder at 12 on a lot of levels. All I wanted to do was be with my friends at that age

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel

That's awful Wax. The same at my work. And my friends husband. And the women who previously did my job until the summer. And my neighbour.

It's horrific.

It is, between that and the drugs deaths and those who've missed out on diagnosis and treatment and the dementia sufferers and elderly who've gone downhill and will die prematurely The impact of this will continue for some time in terms of deaths and who knows what the mental health, developmental, educational, other health issues, economical etc impacts of this will be and how long those will continue.

That's awful Wax/includewomen.

I think it will be years, possibly decades before we understand the true cost of covid and the lockdowns and can really understand the impact - increased deaths from cancers and other disease due to late detection, increased obesity, increased alcohol/drug abuse, all the impacts from poorer education, suicides, eating disorders...there will be a lot of indirect losses.

That's awful Wax, the number of people going missing and searched for on social media is awful.

So true about elderly people going down hill during lockdowns, I think people are loosing the will too keep going. Not that life is about will, but people lose the will to eat properly, no reason to get up, nowhere to go they loose fitness quickly too.

My parents have aged a decade in the last year. They've gone from being retired but in no way considering themselves "elderly", having foreign holidays, going to classes at the gym, volunteering in the local primary school and organsing the "Britain in Bloom" effort for the local town to sitting at home doing jigsaws and watching Countdown.

Both sets of our parents are the same and our elderly NDN, they look beaten.

Mind you, I can't think of a single person I know that seems to be winning at the moment.

I’m not sure how a phased return would work, if early years and early primary years go back first. The teachers teaching these years would need childcare for their children in older years.

I think everyone is pretty scunnered now, but their are truly dark and life altering consequences for some people this that the government don't seem to a knowledging beyong ''we know this is tough, thanks for your sacrifices".

Also agree with the point about being honest and upfront about schools, if I knew this was long term I might look for a childminder or my after shool club might decide to open for key worker kids (as they have more flexibility than school places), I might get my youngest a laptop to replace his cheap tablet, I might ask work to rejig or reduce my hours. But I'm not going to do these things for the sake of a few weeks. I'll struggle on if its short term, if its longer term I'd like to make a plan to try to relieve the stress that's piling on. And I know I'm in a relatively fortunate position compared to some but it doesn't make it any less shit.

My DPs in Perth got their first jab on Monday. Seems to have given DF 87 a new lease of life although DM suffered quite bad side effects.

I hope all the horribleness of this is mostly temporary- I'm on St Johns Wort to get me through.

Still no word on what the government expects those of us to do for childcare when we are still out to work everyday but aren’t regarded as key workers. What are we honestly meant to do with our kids indefinitely?

And then the children going back to a classroom setting.
Oh they’re adaptable, apparently.
Yes, under normal human interaction circumstances, but the longer they are not behaving like children (with friends) and working autonomously (staring at screens) the less adaptable they will be to switching again both socially and from a learning perspective.

There's a lead in time of 4 weeks if I want to adjust my hours even temporarily- even unpaid parental leave requires 21 days notice.

No point if they're going back on the 15th of feb. If they're not back then I will break. It's just not possible to work and homeschool at the same time.

Unfair of folk to say NS can't emphasise just because she doesn't have her own family. I am sure does understand how hard it all is.

Blended learning a good sign next month. And ultimately nursery aged children can get back as a priority before other age groups. Thank goodness.

It's simply impossible for most DPs to work in any meaningful fashion and home school primary DCs.

Furlough can be refused can't it ? I think in that situation I'd be getting myself signed off with stress as the only available solution.

Agree that if we'd been given time frames to begin with - it was obvious they weren't going back before Feb half term as soon as the announcement came out - then people would have had a better idea of timescales to plan approach.

I agree, if this went til may and I knew that, I'd make several different decisions. As it stands was holding on for 18 Jan, then yesterday which turned out to be nothing, now feb half term...

"If early learning and young primary are unlikely to be transmitting the virus then why are they not going back on the 1st??"

Precisely shouldistop.

Just read the BBC interview with JS. I think a phased return by year group makes more sense than half in/half out for all? Cut capacity in the same way but focus on those who need it most.

Not true for everyone, but for some getting a younger sibling back in school would make home schooling much more achievable for the older one. Also a lot of the childcare issues don't go away but start to diminish with age of children. My 9 year old is much easier to balance than her 5 year old self.

Less convinced about getting exam years back to gather evidence. That risks piling on yet more pressure on them while creating a smokescreen for the inevitable unfairness of the situation.