Two teachers - one primary child and no before /after school club for foreseeable?!

[Helpmyhair2019]

Hello
Just wondered if anyone else was in a similar position?

My husband is a teacher and although I’m currently furloughed, I start a new full time teaching job in September.

Our youngest has to go to before and after school club in September but it could well be that due to Covid-19 he will have staggered starts/finishes and there will be no before/after school club.

Is anyone else in a similar position? What the hell do we do? Because we will be working with kids in other schools so won’t be able to collect and drop off at the necessary times?

Now might be the time to find out which childminders collect from/drop at your youngest's school. DH and I are both teachers too and have used a mixture of breakfast club, childminders and nannies over the years.

It could be worse than that, they could remove key worker arrangements but still be part time!

DH and I are both teachers. If DS can't be full time I will probably have to give up work. I'm holding onto hope that a) key worker care stays in place so he could go full time or b) as he's at a Prep with small classes his school would be full time even if state schools need to rota.

I think you need to look for a childminder. TBH I think that would be better for a YR child anyway. Before and after school club would make it a very long day at school, whereas a CM is more like home.

Sorry I should have said - he’s going into year 6. We’ve used before and after school club for the last couple of years which has always worked well. My concern is if the the school says before and after school club is no longer available then how do we work at a school ourselves! If he’s part time it’s not such a problem as our teenage son will be home on the days he can’t go in and we have good neighbours and grandparents who will be on FaceTime all day!

There is a thread up by a nurse who's been refused permission for a CM to pick up her DC. This seems to be a wider problem due to misinterpretation of the regulation about children not attending multiple settings "where possible".

I’m back on 1st June and my school says that if your child is in reception, yr 1 or yr 6 there is no key worker wraparound childcare for them as they can’t mix bubbles. Not sure what I’m going to do. The irony is I could be asked to staff the key worker childcare which runs from 8-6 but have no care for my own child from 3:30. Sorry for the moan. I think it’s going to cause problems for lots of people until schools are back with wraparound care but I can’t even envisage that yet. I think children in secondary schools will be part time in September but not sure about primaries. The government seem to change the guidance every 5 minutes.

Things have changed so much it is probably best to worry about it when it actually happens. I know that’s easier said than done.

Maybe start scoping out childminders so you can feel you’re doing something?

As he's going into Y6, could he walk himself to/from school, or could your teenager help out? I assumed you were talking about a much younger child, hence suggesting a childminder. My Y6 child walks home from school because her teacher parents are at their schools. You may find a student who would do the morning and after school journeys with your DS, especially if most universities are going to be online in the autumn.

We aren’t walking distance from school as it’s a 15 min drive. We have no family near by to help. I guess the best advice is to not think about it for now as god knows what government advice will be brought in by then 🤦🏻‍♀️

I think we will limp along for the rest of the summer term if we have to (though my DCs are in separate schools with the same pickup time, of course this may vary if these are staggered) but my DS' former TA is a student and has done some babysitting for us - if there's no after school club in September we will probably need to meet him at home and get him to amuse the DCs (he's good at taking them for bike rides as he has long legs and can keep up walking!). We are both WFH but they bounce off each other and it's more or less impossible to keep them quiet enough for DH (KW) to do meetings.

Same boat exactly with two teachers and two primary aged kids.
I’m just hoping that things change for September. The guidelines have clearly been created by a load of privileged male toffs with no idea how normal people in the real world juggle childcare. Hopefully someone will get through to them up there in cloud cuckoo land before every household has to reduce to one working parent FFS.

I’m a teacher and DH works closely with emergency services on 24/7 shifts. I posted on another thread that I literally have no idea what I’m going to do if wraparound isn’t running from September. I’m part time thankfully, only possible guaranteed solution is to ask to spread my hours out over more days but I’m really reluctant to do that. Hardest thing is DH’s shifts are random and often change last minute. There are no childminders who cover his school and the breakfast and ASC are amazing so I really want them to get up and running again!

I was saying (ranting!) about this today. Only a bunch a arrogant rich men could make these rules. How the hell do they think both parents can work if kids can’t go to wrap around Care! We can’t all afford to be one salary families, we don’t all have ‘bubbles’ of healthy and willing grandparents and extended family who live next door and can’t all bugger off to Durham when things get tough (sore point!). I don’t know what we can all do but it is helped that it’s obviously a common problem and hopefully this will be noticed and acted on before we all (women) have to give up our jobs and sell our homes

I’m really pissed off because we made massive life changes this time last year, which caused huge upheaval - previously DS attended the private school I worked at which was completely toxic. I was so stressed I was at breaking point. I managed to get him into a lovely local school where he’s settled beautifully and I’m now happily part time at a different school. All our wraparound was finely honed and organised and everything was brilliant. (Irritatingly enough if we’d stayed at the shit school at least I wouldn’t have childcare to worry about.)

Since Feb half term everything’s gone to shit, my mum passed away in early March and since then everything’s gone from bad to worse.

I’ve emailed my line manager, head and HR and said ‘there’s a possibility of some disruption to my start at finish times temporarily, I’m very sorry’. At the moment in secondary no one knows what’s happening yet this half term, so I’m just going to send DS into keyworker school on my working days (he’s y3 so not one of the groups that’s returning) and we’ll just have to cross the ‘I’m back at work and can’t do drop off and pick ups’ bridge when we come to it. I’m just so generally stressed with the lack of clarity from government and the totally unrealistic expectations.

I think there will be lots of us in the same boat.

I’m going to write to my MP, for all the good it will do.
Worked out that DS2 actually attends four layers of childcare some days. Before school sports club, school, after school sports club, then after school childcare provision. This is how a full working day looks for a primary aged child with two working parents, but the men at the top have no notion. At Eton you just live there and ‘layers’ of childcare don’t come into it.

You’re absolutely right about Eton etc @likeafishneedsabike

I worked at a full boarding school as an NQT and Day parents dropped their kids off at 8am and collected them at 8pm. They were fed three meals and entertained with lessons, sports and homework all done by the time they went home. No comparison to a state school which starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.10pm. Working parents need childcare. It pisses me off that if push comes to shove it will be my career that goes down the pan, as DH earns more than me. We cannot invent childminders that don’t exist and we have no grandparent support right now. DS can’t move schools again as he’s settled and happy. It’s a conundrum without a solution.

The thing is that the government would HATE for households to reduce to one earner. That would cripple the economy even beyond its current decimated state. There is a direct link between lack of wraparound care and the collapse of the economy: the government don’t currently see the link from their own personal positions of privilege but I’m confident that they soon will if we make ourselves heard somehow.

This is how a full working day looks for a primary aged child with two working parents, but the men at the top have no notion.
This is so true.
the government would HATE for households to reduce to one earner. That would cripple the economy even beyond its current decimated state
I feel a Mumsnet campaign coming on...

I was told by various Mumsnetters that I just had to "suck it up" and "your child needs you more than your job does" when struggling with after school care for my SEN DS. Heck, he doesn't even have a permanent school, but even though he's in a PRU that is doing great stuff for him, they don't do after school care because it doesn't seem like parents of children with SEN are supposed to work/contribute/be part of wider society.

To be blunt I can only work if decent wraparound exists. DH’s job is literally life and death and he is paid well for it. But he has zero flexibility. My career has taken a backseat because I always have to be available to collect DS etc. You can’t be an effective Deputy Head or AHT if you’re always clockwatching And having to leave meetings by 5pm on the dot as you have to get back for ASC or can only get into school at 8.15am because of breakfast club.
i was told by various Mumsnetters that I just had to "suck it up" and "your child needs you more than your job does" when struggling with after school care for my SEN DS. Heck, he doesn't even have a permanent school, but even though he's in a PRU that is doing great stuff for him, they don't do after school care because it doesn't seem like parents of children with SEN are supposed to work/contribute/be part of wider society.

That’s awful.

Surely there are enough of us in the country in the same position that this can’t happen? Actually, after the last week i can see that anything can happen and actually the powers that be don’t give a toss. It’s not just teachers who need wrap around care either. How many jobs are solely between the hours of 9 and 3 and can be flexible with drop off and pick up times? Hardly any I imagine!

I've contacted my school and said I have no before or after school Childcare, and in fact no In school childcare as I was told if I wanted a key worker place then they had to return full time on 1st June. My husband earns a LOT more than I do. I'm on the vulnerable list, not sure if/when my school will open. Then not sure if vulnerable staff will be in. My son got sent a shielding letter when I asked GP about him going back as he has a history of repeated of pneumonia and some kidney issue we are waiting to see consultant about. I don't feel like I can plan anything and it's doing my head in.

An answer from my DD's school:
KW children will be in the KW group (slightly sub-divided so my Y1 DD will I think be in the KS1 KW group) and WILL get after school care.
Other Y1 children will be in the 15-strong bubble morning OR afternoon and won't get after school care.

According to my dad who Is glued to the Parliament channel (!) this exact problem was questioned (by a female mp) to BJ who said he would look into it! How the hell can they not have considered all this before? It just gets more and more farcical as the days go on!

@Helpmyhair2019 it is indeed farcical. It’s great that the question was asked in parliament though, and well done your Dad for keeping an eye on things for us!

And well done that MP!

[email protected]

This is her email is anyone wants to contact her. I have just sent her one summing up everything I’ve said before on this thread.