Why do secondary schools need to provide "childcare"

[DoubleAction]

I work in a PRU. All our children are vulnerable and all the planning we've been doing for the last weeks has been around that. Although we were planning to teach remotely too our bigger concern was how we were going to safeguard the students, so we are pleased there has been some consideration given to that.

However, I doubt we will get many to attend (always a challenge anyway) when "all" other children are at home .

I also completely understand the childcare element for key workers that is being asked of schools but why do they need to do that in secondary schools?

As a key worker and the mother of a very sensible and capable 12 year old I'm very grateful that secondary schools will be providing childcare through this. As things stand I don't need to send him in, as DH (also a key worker) will be home most of the time I'm at work, and the odd hours we overlap DS will be fine on his own.

As things develop though, I can see both DH and I being required to work extra hours. I would not be at all happy to leave DS at home alone, for hours at a time, days on end, with nothing to do and no one to talk to. At least with schools open he will have somewhere safe to be for a good chunk of the day. I'm sure there are many others in a similar position to me, and that is before you start considering DC with SEN or difficult home lives.

I certainly don't want my 13 year old at home alone day after day for 5 months!

One or two days a week, fine
one whole week, could be acceptable
five months - absolutely not!

Lots of reasons. Not all teenagers are happy to be alone for so many hours a day. Not all teenagers can be trusted in a home alone. Not all teenagers would stay in and distance themselves as they are meant to. The parent may be unhappy to leave them alone to watch TV and play online for whole days. All these things would make the parents of key staff unable to work.

Im on a country where the schools shut on Monday.

Essential workers is quite broad (yes, waste management is included as well as all types of care work and obviously medical work and hospital staff, all emergency services)

But

And its a huge but

both parents have to be essential workers in two parent families.

This then massively reduces the number of children entitled to essential worker childcare.

Mum's an ICU nurse, dad has an office job or other job categorised as non essential - no emergency childcare, regardless of whether he can work from home.

So that cuts down what look like potentially huge numbers.

anothernotherone I fear that if our government don't take the same approach the sheer number of children will be completely unmanageable.

both parents have to be essential workers in two parent families.

Where has it said that?

Hete emergency childcare for children without additional needs diagnosed only goes to year 6 (which isn't the same as UK year six - school years are more fluid here but year 6 children range from those born in summer 2008 to winter 2007 and even a few older who've repeated a year, so a mix of English year 6 and 7 depending on lots of factors).

fedup21 I stated very clearly indeed that I am not in the UK but another country which already has these measures in place. Its all over the radio here and in black and white from our ministry of health and on my employer's intranet (I'm an essential worker but not entitled as DH isn't).

Nobody “wants” this, dancemom

fedup21 anothernotherone was talking about measures put in place where they live, outside the UK. But I am in the UK and we have just had confirmation from our Head that this is also the case here. Children who have two keyworker parents will be offered a school place, as will children of keyworking single parents. But children who have a parent/guardian who is not a keyworker cannot be accommodated, in that scenario the expectation is that the non-keyworker parent will WFH or take time off work to allow the keyworker parent to go to work.

Sorry, I misunderstood @anothernotherone

@tootiredtoconga do you have the list of key workers now?

I don't have a list but I suppose the Head might. I'm self-isolating so at home being drip fed info by email. But the government did promise the list of keyworkers would be available today.

I'm more concerned how their now going to police the children out on the streets!?

Summer holidays where I live are a nightmare- constant congregations of teenagers bored/arguing/fighting.....last year bus stops smashed, street signs stolen (i saw a group of 5 12/13 year olds walking past my window laughing with my one!)

They need to deploy some sort of street authority surely?

They will not stay indoors btw....

The DfE said they are expecting approximately 10% of pupils to stay in school. So if the list of "key workers" is long they are likely to limit it to households where there all adults are key workers.

Unfortunately a lot of people are still not taking this seriously. Closing schools is designed to further reduce social interaction. Schools cannot, and should not, be open for children who will be safe at home. So, unless they are young (I'd say 12 and under) or vulnerable they should not be in school.

We need very strong guidance from the government on this because if it is too open to interpretation we will have too many children in schools, which defeats the purpose of closing them in the first place.

While it will be hard for older teens to be at home alone, they will still be having work set and should try to maintain a routine. Failing to adhere to the new measures will cause deaths - we must all be prepared to make the necessary adjustments.