Holidaying in France before returning to school?

[russianred]

I will lay all of this out and then wait for opinions! My sister turns 40 at the end of August and we have had a plan in place for a year to spend time as a family in a villa in France - my sister, her husband and two children are already there. My other sister and her partner will be going, my brother and his partner will be going.

I am a HoF in a core Faculty, my partner is a manager at a forest school nursery, one of my three children is due to start in Year 7 in September. We would be arriving back in the UK on the 30th August.

At the moment, travel to France is fine, but the ongoing picture there worries me. My head has made it very clear we should all be available to start work on the 1st September.

My family think that I am being ridiculous, living in fear, deserve a holiday etc etc. I think that to go would be outrageous - quarantining at the beginning of a term that is going to be the hardest of my career seems a really bad choice - parents, I think, would quite rightly be up in arms. Any thoughts?

You say your head has made it clear that you should be in school on 1st Sept. Which, assuming all stays the same, would be no problem. You need to email your head and confirm what would happen should quarantine become required whilst you are in France.

Our SLT have asked all staff to let them know what their travel plans (respectfully, as they know how much we need a break, and during the school holidays they cannot dictate our plans). That said, they are making it clear to those who do expect to go abroad at some point what both sides expectations are (eg depending on when travel was booked, if quarantine comes into effect whilst away, paid/unpaid leave and hmmm... Spain...)

We've just cancelled our holiday in France, for this reason.

It's not the rates in France that we need to be worrying about (even though they are); it's the sometimes-irrational responses of our government, such as we saw over the imposition of quarantine even on the Canaries.

DH pointed out that it wouldn't be a holiday when I'd be anxiously checking the news every two seconds.

The clincher was when I realised what I'd think about any colleague who did it to the rest of us, and didn't want to be That Person.

It's awful. It's unfair. It's covid.

Also, today's news showed a rapid rise in cases in France. My employer made it clear that any quarantine leave would be unpaid - but it's more the moral side of it - impact on colleagues - that made me stress ourselves into a big financial hit. I'm upset about it, and don't live teaching enough any more to do it with good grace, but it's the way it is.

I understand entirely. It is the impact on colleagues, as you say. And as a parent, to know that your child isn't meeting their end teacher because they are quarantining after a holiday. Well, you'd be livid, rightly or not.

This is all just so horribly shit.

Our head has been very clear they expect us back from Sept 1st and to not book anything that may require quarantine. I'm not 100% sure where they stand on pre booked stuff which this sounds like. Can you contact your head?
The latest quarantines have been given more notice, see Belgium effective from Sunday and announced now. So would it be possible for you to travel back quickly if a quarantine was announced?

I wouldn’t go if I were you. I think it’s only a matter of time before quarantine is imposed on those returning from France.

I would go! I'm in France at the moment. Cummings is playing a great game of 'let's blame other countries'. I personally don't think they will impose a quarantine on France, but it is of course a guessing game!

If some of your family are already there can you go earlier and come back earlier?

@russianred today's news might have made your decision a bit easier...

Our campsite has agreed to give us a credit note, so we're hugely relieved, grateful, and full of love for France!

I could have written this post, I will be going unless quarantine is in place beforehand. Hopefully the government will be considerate and put it in place before the last week of the summer holidays and take the choice out of my hands ☹️

I would put money on a quarantine announcement within the next 48hrs - but that is, of course, utter speculation.

Our LA have said that anyone not ready for work on 1st Sept because of quarantine will be unpaid and may be disciplined, depending on the circumstances. I wouldn’t go.

Quarantine is not the inly considerstion. Insurance will likely be void if France gets put on FCO list. This could also disrupt your journey back . School aside, it's not worth the risk. Can you get money back?

Insurance should still be valid if you began your journey prior to a quarantine being announced. Which LA is saying it might discipline? We have a holiday booked (booked in Oct last year) and I just can't bear to lose so much money in case no quarantine is announced...

I wouldn't go to be honest, although I understand that it's very disappointing Too much of a risk of potential quarantine. It would be difficult for you and your husband in terms of work if you had to quarantine, especially when you are head of a core faculty (I'm a 2nd in a core faculty so I know how much there is to do at the start of term).

Plus, your child is starting Y7 - I can imagine it would be very hard on them to miss the first 1-2 weeks.

We are going away in this country next week but we have already decided we will be eating in our cottage and doing outdoor activities rather than going in places to avoid the risk of being contacted by test and trace and told to quarantine. Same at home, we are largely staying in or doing outdoor things.