[Closed] Sending the kids back to school?

We don't have kids so no vested interest.

However, I think your argument falls down at

I’m happy that the establishments will do everything they can to mitigate the chances of my kids getting anything or passing anything around.

I read somewhere that the elite Public Schools, Eton, Harrow etc. are not reopening until September at the earliest.

However, I don't know if it was internet fake news bolloxs or if it's actually true.

If it is true, I find that pretty shocking.

I am in the same place as your wife. If we knew more about the virus and also the current threat of infection plus a government that appeared to be on top of it, then I would be able to make a less emotional judgement call. But because the government appears to be a bit shit at advising us, and the teachers unions are up in arms about it, I would rather give it until the new school year.

Now just to add context to my situation as it will be different for others. My wife and I can easily work from home and so far have been completely unaffected work wise by Covid. This coupled with the fact my daughter is transitioning to 6th form college so has no school until then, and my son is in yr 8 so it is not the end of the world for him to miss some schooling. Others will be in a lot less convenient situation than us which may drive their need to get the kids back to school asap

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/primary-teachers-parents-whats-so-essential-about-year-6-lockdown-easing/

We've one in year 4 and one in year 6. So, our eldest is meant to be going back to school on the 1st, but it's not like that changes anything at home as we still have another child to look after.

The school wrote to us last week saying that they've effectively had nine working days notice for reopening and guidance as to how to keep everyone safe is still updating daily. They outright said they're not opening on the 1st as there isn't enough time to prepare and provisionally said they'll open on the 8th. They're asking for numbers of people who will send their kids in.

My thinking is that we don't send our eldest in. At some point the schools will reopen, yes. But right now the infection rate is still pretty bad, I think it's too early to start this, the government doesn't really know how it wants schools to manage this, and we don't need to send them in to get back to work.

I'm happy the schools will do *their best*. I'm not happy the government is doing their best to protect the kids though. The schools can do better the less kids there are to deal with, so I'll do my bit by giving them on less kid to worry about.

Both myself and the wife are secondary teachers and have a preschooler and a Yr1, both of whom are eligible to return when nurseries and school reopen.

We're currently not happy about them returning, unless we have no other option, i.e. We both have to go in to school full-time to teach yr10 (and maybe other year groups).

Lack of govt advice to schools, no requiremebt for PPE (as other EU countries are insisting on), lack of room to properly socially distance in class, and other reasons.

Make of this what you will.

If you are not in a at risk group your risk is low even if you do catch it.

We can not wait this out. Come up with solutions and ways of living with this new situation.

My son is at a small village school. There are 7 out of 39 eligible children whose parents said they would send them back.

I think the risk is pretty low because of the demographic of the school and it looks like only a few will be going. I am also not convinced that much will change by September so to a certain extent we are going to have to start making our own decisions on what level of risk we are prepared to accept and not relying on the government.

I don't have kids but am a teacher. Kids have already missed 8 weeks so what difference will a few more make? And if only some attend there will be a big divide next term.

Ask yourself this question. Would you spend the day in a small room with people who you have no idea who they have been in contact with?

I certainly wouldn't. The kids will probably be fine but the staff and parents who will inevitably become infected will not be fine.

It only takes one person who has been in contact with someone else who has been in contact with someone else etc.

Tiddly school, reception year is being split into small groups with part time attendance - he is going back. Yr3, not this term.

Wife's out of work. Currently. So she is sort of ok with continuing to home school. Although I think she would very very very much like the eldest to also go in for a couple of days a week, for sanity reasons. No idea how this plays out when she starts working again.

Splitting classes into smaller groups wont work if it's the same teacher for all groups. The virus could spread to all groups if one person is a carrier.

I'm worried about Mr Dubs going back to school, and she's a PE teacher so has most of the time outside.

They are festering germ factories at the best of times.

Far too early. Badly thought out.

Teachers have a legal right to refuse to go in if safety is comprised

Much better to plan properly for an early return for the new term

As we’re key workers, ours have been going anyway....

I guess working in and around hospitals during all this, we’ve probably normalised living around COVID to some extent now and so are perhaps also further down the line in our feelings and approach to it but can see the argument that there’s not a lot to be gained from rushing a re-start through.

Our reception age boy isn't going back until Sept.
I agree that we need to learn to live with the new normal but the sad reality is no one knows what that is, and the schools who need to know seem not to have been given help.
he can go back in Sept when hopefully there is more awareness or idea as to how this will be done

People saying 'delay' - how much better do you think transmission and infection counts of this thing will be in September?

(not trying to troll)

Infection rate is far too high and the 'test / track / trace' system is nowhere near ready. Given the shambolic efforts so far I think it will be some time before there's a system in place that people can trust.

So not sending our 5 year old back on the 1st, and it's September at the earliest for both our kids.

There is a report going round about a teacher in Bristol testing positive
Ends up with 200 folk isolating

Mrmonkfinger - I would expect infection rates to be lower. But the main thing is that schools hopefully will have had the time and support to put in good strategies. Sending them all back and crossing fingers (which some in the media seem to think is good)is a stupid idea.
The way we fight this virus is with knowledge and it is limited currently

we are going to have to start making our own decisions on what level of risk we are prepared to accept

As a teacher with asthma I appreciate your concern of the risks I'll be taking 🤨

I read somewhere that the elite Public Schools, Eton, Harrow etc. are not reopening until September at the earliest.

My friends son goes to Eton and this is what they have told me. The reasoning being that the kids who attend are from a huge graphical area, so it wouldn’t be easy to get them back part time. There are also issues with accommodation etc. My friends son is probably one of the few who could easily attend on a daily basis.

My daughter is YR6 and should be going back in June. The school’s plans seem fairly sensible, and will only let the kids mix in very small groups. She is desperate to go back.

WE had the option of sending our 11 year old back to school. Purely for the social aspect. However reading the rules laid down by the school he won't be able to do much socialising so he's decided to sack it off and stay at home.

My wife works in a primary school as a TA. They don't have any PPE so we're very much of the mindset of when she'll get Covid rather than if she'll get Covid.

As of 1st June she'll be in charge of 15 3-5 year old children who won't be in their normal classroom. The chances of social distancing being enforced are minimal. She fully expects the kids to be licking each other and anything else for that matter.

My understanding from my wife is that guidance from LEAs and in turn Central Government has been minimal. It's a case of JFDI.

Will be interesting to see if the school does open on 1st June based on the R value/rate and also if local councils kick off and revolt against the Westminster Government. As far as I can see it's fundamentally a test to see what happens to the infection rate as I'm not aware of any science being shared to back up the decision.

Wife's a teacher getting ready to go back after maternity leave

I am concerned about the whole thing but at the same time it's her job.

What is more concerning than the school's going back across the uk is that the numbers suggest that the virus hasn't really arrived here yet and we are just going to be resetting the clock on the numbers.

The over all picture for the UK when you include London looks rosy. Break it down into regions and you see that many are just coming too and or are still on the way to the peak.

I'm a teacher in a state secondary my other half works as a teacher in a private primary and secondary. So although I'm in sometimes for key worker baby sitting nothing much is changing for me, other halfs primary is going back a week or 2 after the state schools so they can get everything ready. Son is in year 4 so doesn't need to go back yet.

I'm very torn and confused.
Should year 4 be asked back in a few weeks I expect ours would go, but, I worry about the teachers more so if I'm not at work I might keep him home for there sake, who knows.
I think it may be too soon, I'd like to see the death rate and therefore virus load in the country drop more but this is no more than a personal response to the numbers. I'd go back to work if asked, but have no idea if that would be the right thing. I dont worry about myself too much or my other half, we are both pretty fit and well and the boy should be fine but is it right for the country, is it right for the vulnerable.
This post sums it up for me though;

plus a government that appeared to be on top of it, then I would be able to make a less emotional judgement call. But because the government appears to be a bit shit at advising us,

How can we trust the advice of an administration who have failed us so many times over the last few months even with the foresight of other countries during the pandemic, broken promises day after day and our children are in your hands with your clueless leadership.
They are not fit to run the country and been proved we cannot trust what they say

The reasoning being that the kids who attend are from a huge Geographical area

Hold on, so it’s NOT all about a class war on poorer kids???????

Seriously I think ideally Families should choose, if fit and healthy why not go back?
Teachers in high risk groups should also obv have option to not return.

This will mean some schools short staffed obv, case by case common sense required.

Tough one for me I've one in high school who is on the laptop every day working and one in yr6 primary that's a ball ache to try teach and hes desperate to go back tbh

Me and the mrs work as key workers and we kept them off as we managed to juggle shifts and as thought it was safer for them and us rather than them sat all day with other key workers kids catching something and passing it on to us, but I caught it at work unfortunately and gave it to my mrs so we've both had it now and the kids were off it for a few days so they probably have had it too

My mrs is back on the wards and in the care homes and I'm waiting on doc letting me back to work, it's now going to be harder to juggle shifts as so many are off work ill now so we might have to send them in as key worker kids anyway even if schools dont open, but they have already been exposed to it so in theory may be immune

But it's a tough one

How can we trust the advice of an administration who have failed us

Agreed make your own decisions, nanny state can’t work in practice

My wife is both a hospital consultant and head governor for daughters school, and the guidance they have from Government to re-open is wishy-washy at best.

My daughter is Type 1 diabetic so also in the vulnerable category, we have discussed whether we could send her back and don't feel comfortable at all doing so.

Personally i don't think we can start opening up the country as a whole until we have mass testing, track and trace running well and are well on way to vaccine, my daughters school is a tiny rural primary school of only 79 pupils, it is impossible for them to socially distance even if they tried, and the whole point is that it only takes only child or one teacher to be carrying the virus, think how quickly any other bug or illness gets carried through a school.

Seriously I think ideally Families should choose, if fit and healthy why not go back?

Because you, me, them, anyone could pass it to the vulnerable, the more that have it, the bigger the chance of this happening. Covid risks for most individuals are very small but, a very small risk x 65million will still give a very big number.

People saying ‘delay’ – how much better do you think transmission and infection counts of this thing will be in September?

Even if R is under 0.5, you're going to have to socially isolate 5 years olds.

Consider a 1 form entry school. It will have 6 or 7 classrooms for its 6 or 7 year groups, maybe a sports hall or gym which doubles up as an assembly hall and canteen.

Each classroom is going to have a 3rd to maybe 4/10ths capacity once you put 2m lines on the floor so for the 3 years they want to send back you need 8-9 classrooms. Or you use the gym, which is also the canteen...

None if this is insurmountable, but planning it and working out safe procedures etc (on a skeleton staff ) isn't something that can be done in the 10 minutes it's taken me to define the initial problem statement...

Scud, the mass testing, antibody testing and tracing was promised 5 weeks ago still nothing, rabbits in the headlights come to mind... I crave a leader!

Seriously I think ideally Families should choose, if fit and healthy why not go back?

It only takes one family to think their kid isn't a carrier...

As a teacher with asthma I appreciate your concern of the risks I’ll be taking

Initial data is showing asthma is not as big an issue as expected. CoPD etc yes but not so much asthma.

What level of risk is exceptable?

By March 30, the Marist College cluster had 47 cases and was the largest in the country. It has since grown to infect a total of 94 people, the second-largest in New Zealand after a wedding which led to 98 cases.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/national/a-virus-cluster-at-an-auckland-school-has-australian-parents-worried-should-they-be-20200430-p54orw.html

I'm married to a primary school teacher, and have a daughter in year 4 who won't be going back before September. The guidance for commencing educational provision states that PPE isn't required, but then if a child starts exhibiting symptoms of the virus PPE should be worn. Isn't that a little bit too late?

I cycled past the village pond on Saturday and it was full of families mixing, with kids playing together - these same kids will be in my daughter's school, and some will be in my wife's classroom. While there seems to be some evidence that children aren't hit symptomatically as hard as adults, there's far less - if any - evidence that they can't pass the virus on.

Additionally there is talk about the sociopsychological effects of children being kept away from their friends, but in a socially distant school environment will that not be worse? Seeing your friends but not able to interact with them fully?

@ajandtom

My wife is asthmatic so I appreciate it is difficult and I am not saying I have the answers. It was more of a general response about everything. The government advice is lacking and I feel that we will have to take our own decisions about levels of risk for a lot of things - schooling, seeing family etc.

Personally I would rather that I was allowed to see a small group of my family than the schools reopen but my family is 180 miles away. We cant sit in a bubble for ever as this isn't going away. I don't think it is unreasonable that people make their own decisions related to the level of risk that is tolerable. We do every day anyway - crossing the road, driving etc. That includes at risk teachers. If being in the school isn't an option then I feel the school should be looking more seriously at other ways of providing some form of education.

Yes there are lots of resources out there but to be honest the number is overwhelming. I could spend weeks looking at all the online content and still not decide what is the best way to go. If the school could provide a home learning schedule then that would be great with clear direction as to what the child should be doing. That has been lacking from our perspective so if it isn't safe for schools to return and the unions support that then they could support parents in other ways.

following,

Mine is in reception. I honestly dont know what to do. I feel like i am being pressured into returning to work (rightly) while my daughter gets potentially put at risk. I dont think the schools are happy either.

No one knows what to do really.

The guidance for commencing educational provision states that PPE isn’t required, but then if a child starts exhibiting symptoms of the virus PPE should be worn. Isn’t that a little bit too late?

A very good point. Symptoms mean you probably have something. However plenty of people can carry the germs with no symptoms which is why social distancing is essential.

It's a poorly conceived action with really poor justification for why it is being delivered at the age groups identified. What sensible educational benefit is being achieved by sending limited year groups in to school? A more appropriate action may have been to expand the definition of key workers rather than blanket coverage of year groups.

The test, track and trace is going to be overwhelmed at the current levels of infection across the country without kids going back to school. The Bristol comments reflect what happened at Hoppy Jr's school out in the sticks too and it's been shut down for 2 weeks. There is no way to achieve social distancing with the school even with less than 20 kids let alone with 3 whole year groups.

There appears to be a view that kids don't get it but they do as evidenced by kids that have died from it, there is an increasing body of evidence that they can get other issues exacerbated by covid and they can act as vectors to others. We're still in a position where you can't meet more than 1 person outdoors socially distanced but in schools spending 6 hours in the same room with difficult distancing is fine.
And all this to go back for the last half term where the kids do school trips, do the school play, watch videos and play games.

People say if not now when? In a couple of weeks time the schools break up for summer holidays and we are looking at September, hopefully by then a) the government have got the infection rates down to a manageable level, b) there is effective testing, tracking & tracing in place c) we get to a position that PPE might be available and d) the schools have sensible times to plan the major upheaval this will have on their day to day operations. Why rush to get kids back for minor benefit before then?

The Daily Mail says to send kids back to school. That's enough for me, I'm keeping mine at home..........

If the school could provide a home learning schedule then that would be great with clear direction as to what the child should be doing. That has been lacking from our perspective so if it isn’t safe for schools to return and the unions support that then they could support parents in other ways.

The problem our school has had is that 10% of parents complain that its too much work and too prescriptive and its stressing them and the kids out and they only have 1 computer between 2 kids and an adult working from home. Meanwhile another 10% complain that theres not enough work to keep the kids busy, another 10% complain that the work is too hard for there kids, another 10% complain its too easy, 10% of parents dont know if there is or isnt any work or where to find it, 10% dont have any idea what the kids are doing all day, 10% are lovely, supportive and appreciative whilst happy to make suggestions whilst 10% think I'm an utter useless bell end ( a lower % than stw forumites, so I'll take that) and finally 50% dont do it anyway. I realise this is more than 100% some people are in more than 1 group, sometimes at the same time!!

Its madness without track & trace system up & running to deal with any new outbreaks

but the government havent shown much common sense so far

So far it looks like the risks to kids are low, but they are potential vectors ONS study showed that children just as likely to catch it as adults

https://twitter.com/ScienceShared/status/1262381109058441216

they seem less likely to by symptomatic and maybe less likely to be infectious but its not really been shown clearly

we have twins in nursery and Yr2 & yr 4, at present nursery will be going back soon, but we are still undecided until we see what they have in place

as much as anything concerned about teachers & other school staff as well as mixing with their grandparents etc after school

Its absolutely on the government to demonstrate that there is well researched & reviewed data to back up what they are doing and that they have adequately prepared and given the schools the info & PPE they need

The 'Protective Ring' Matt Hancock threw around care homes is a warning to everyone

Can asymptomatic carriers really pose a significant risk of transmission? Not finding much evidence from WHO. Seems to be the main reason people are worried.

The problem our school has had is that 10% of parents complain that its too much work and too prescriptive and its stressing them and the kids out and they only have 1 computer between 2 kids and an adult working from home. Meanwhile another 10% complain that theres not enough work to keep the kids busy, another 10% complain that the work is too hard for there kids, another 10% complain its too easy, 10% of parents dont know if there is or isnt any work or where to find it, 10% dont have any idea what the kids are doing all day, 10% are lovely, supportive and appreciative whilst happy to make suggestions whilst 10% think I’m an utter useless bell end ( a lower % than stw forumites, so I’ll take that) and finally 50% dont do it anyway. I realise this is more than 100% some people are in more than 1 group, sometimes at the same time!!

We have had no guidance at all. The occasional task on Class Dojo but that is it. We have been doing oak national academy but he can do the lessons in about 2 hours and there seems little content to me. This was fine for a temporary measure for a couple of weeks but if we don't want to send children back then we need to provide serious alternatives and there has been time to look at that now. If people don't want to do it then fine don't make it compulsory but at least give parents who want to do it a chance.

Can asymptomatic carriers really pose a significant risk of transmission? Not finding much evidence from WHO. Seems to be the main reason people are worried.

this is key & its on the government to show that they dont

(& as data above seems to show, viral load seems to be similar)

Torn really. Kids are 5 (reception) and 3 (nursery). Both missing it and with the best will in the world, the eldest isn’t getting the sort of schooling from us that she would at school. I’m lucky to have an easygoing employer that’s let me offload lots of work so I do the essentials in the evening after kids are in bed, plus the odd call in the day, so my wife can focus on her work. We can keep it up till September but it’s worn us down a lot already.

I get all the cases for getting kids back. I don’t see how the guidance can be followed in a reception or nursery setting. My concern is also that all this is supposed to be conditional on the “5 tests” and with the shambles of easing lockdown I suspect we’re heading for a big second wave and the govt will push to open schools regardless.

Our 4yo will be going back the Nursery whenever it opens. The Nursery have said there will be no attempt at social distancing of any kind.

Our 8yo will be going back to School whenever it opens.

Wife is a teacher and has been on site sporadically throughout.

Our logic for returning the kids is simply that if we don't send them back when the settings openwhat date would we choose? There will be no substantial change for a year or so if ever.

If the entire family get infected we won't pass it on to elderly relatives because we aren't seeing elderly relatives other than via zoom.

I can't fully quantify the risk but all four of us have a 45 minutes commute on a road with several accident blackspots. I can't imagine the CV poses a greater risk than that.

(Of course, if parents don't send their kids back then SWMBO's job will be at risk. If a large number of kids are homeschooling for 12 or 24 months or maybe forever they will need less teachers. We haven't factored that into our decision because we think most parents will send their kids back in September regardless, but who knows?)

Sorry but I just want to scream at the keyboard.

Jekkyl, I'm not sure I can say anything to convince you that your wife might be onto something.

We as a nation, are being told that its "OK" to send our children back to school by Boris, Cummings and Gove. You remember those guys? The ones that referred to women in burkas as "letter boxes", the ones who systematically ripped apart the school system and the ones who have some very weird views about eugenics. The ones who created the bus with £350m written on the side. The ones who continually claim that they are "being lead by the science" but then redact huge amounts of the SAGE documents released a few days ago.

Do you trust Gove, Cummings and Boris more than your wife?

Gove, Johnson, and the Mail say it’s safe to go back. The BMA say it’s not safe yet.

Now, who should I listen to? Who has my best interests at heart?

Quite right, make your own minds up.
I’m in the “outofbreath” mindset personally.

If the school could provide a home learning schedule then that would be great with clear direction as to what the child should be doing. That has been lacking from our perspective so if it isn’t safe for schools to return and the unions support that then they could support parents in other ways.

That's a shame; lots of schools locally are putting in place timetabled online lessons every day for all year groups. Most schools I have personal knowledge of also plan to accept the identified groups from 1st or 8th June (not 'reopen', as schools have had key worker and vulnerable students in all the time), despite what the unions might be saying.

What makes me cross is Gov saying face masks advised in crowded places (transport, shops) but not in schools/classrooms.

Those saying that ‘nothing will be different’ come July or September or in 12 months time… why do you claim that? Sorry. Nothing more nuanced to add. Saying ‘returning to school buildings has to happen at some point, so may as well be first week in June, why delay?’ is just wilful ignorance.

At the moment it's a plan to be achieved if possible, not a compulsion that must happen. I understand the concerns, but it's exercised a lot of time and bandwidth.

Schools reopening has not triggered rise in Covid-19 cases, EU ministers told

"The reopening of schools in 22 European countries has not led to any significant increase in coronavirus infections among children, parents or staff, a videoconference meeting of education ministers from around the EU has heard."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/18/french-minister-tells-of-risks-of-missing-school-as-more-pupils-return-covid-19

That’s encouraging 👍🏼

not a compulsion that must happen

You say that… but experience says otherwise. I can’t say much more, but not all schools are taking this as ‘if possible’, or ‘if made safe’, or ‘if tests are met’, they are insisting that social distancing measures are now over for all their staff already. No compulsion for kids and parents next month perhaps, not true for staff… and staff mixing should be more of a concern than pupils mixing, if it turns out to be correct that transmission by kids is unlikely.

Schools reopening has not triggered rise in Covid-19 cases, EU ministers told

Did those 22 countries reduce the base of infected people before opening schools? Schools need to open, but only once we have the virus under control, and we are isolating new flare ups. What measures were put in place in schools in those countries, are we meeting or exceeding those measures when we reopen schools?

Schools reopening has not triggered rise in Covid-19 cases, EU ministers told

“The reopening of schools in 22 European countries has not led to any significant increase in coronavirus infections among children, parents or staff, a videoconference meeting of education ministers from around the EU has heard.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/18/french-minister-tells-of-risks-of-missing-school-as-more-pupils-return-covid-19/blockquote >

So far so good.

 

All those countries had lower infection rates adn falling faster.

Some councils will refuse to open schools, non in Wales, Scotland or NI will open. Teachers have the right to refuse to work if risks are not minimised.

the government will not show the scientific advice thats says its safe

R is rising

My bet is the government backs down because otherwise its just going to be chaotic and piecemeal.

Can asymptomatic carriers really pose a significant risk of transmission? Not finding much evidence from WHO. Seems to be the main reason people are worried.

Either this was a total waste of time or you don't need to actually have the virus to spread it.

The government not presenting the data before announcing just seems to have caused more chaos....

I think dowsing roads with disinfectant is probably a waste of time, yes.

We have two yr 6's and we decided last night that they are going back. One is desperate to, the other less so as she has a history of school-anxiety. However we think it will be better for her to go back otherwise she will struggle come September with almost 6 months away from a properly structured school environment.

Our school seem to have good procedures in place (15 per class, staggered study/meal/break times, only mix with people in their revised class groups etc).

Ours are pre-school,yr1 and yr3 currently,they're not going back until September.

Firstly due to the possible risks, but also from a mental well being kind of way, its not fair on the middle one sending him back when the others aren't going and if they're meant to be separate from what could be their normal group (don't know how that'll work) its just not on. Also there is a distinct possibility they won't even be taught by teachers due to the small class sizes, so whats the point really.

I mean, he's 6, how badly can it affect his future anyway!?!?

Schools reopening has not triggered rise in Covid-19 cases, EU ministers told

Which is great but our infection rate and numbers of deaths/day is still higher than most of those maxxed out at, what was the level that they were at when the restrictions were lifted? How many of them have testing, tracking and tracing in place? What is the classroom density like normally/following school restart?

We have 5 "tests" which are so vague as to be meaningless and can be fudged in any way you want to make the case for barging ahead blindly.

It's all well and good the government saying trust us it'll be fine, but through this whole thing they have shown arrogance and incompetence and failing to deliver actions at the appropriate time which has led to the UK having the worst record in Europe. Everything has happened too late despite plenty of examples elsewhere and now to counter that we are rushing to reopen too soon.

I've got 2 kids, 5 and 14.

As some others have said above, I think we all have to accept that, at least at the moment we all have to learn to live with it. There is no cure, or vaccine and they may never come.

Even if we hadn't already been exposed to it, I would be sending the youngest, she's showing signs of stress, nightmares and mood swings. We're both working (Me from home) so it's not like we have hours every day to home-school. Were doing about an hour a day. At first she missed school, now she doesn't want to go and is becoming more and more introverted.

The Eldest spends all day in his room, he goes days on end without ever leaving the house even for exercise, we've encouraged him, but he doesn't want to go. He's supposedly doing school work, but I see little evidence for it. Again his mood is getting increasingly bad.

I've come to terms with the fact that this pandemic is about choosing the least worst option and not the best. The idea of keeping them at home for another 3 months fills me with dread, not only for their mental heath but yes, economically, I grew up very poor and I don't want my kids to do the same. The best scientific evidence we have at the moment shows that it's almost certain that under 10s can't pass the virus to adults and rarely if ever get sick. Other countries in the EU have reopened their schools without a spike in cases. And as more data comes in it becomes clearer that the % of people who are either completely asymptomatic or have such mild symptoms it easily manageable at home is in the 90% range now.

Living in Wales it seems unlikely either of my kids will be going to school in 2 weeks, I suspect we'll lag a week behind just because they said they wouldn't be going back on the 1st of June.

Let’s send the House of Commons and House of Lords back first. See how that works out.

^^^ WHS. If it's safe enough for them, it's safe enough for everyone.

Those saying that ‘nothing will be different’ come July or September

The risk to each individual is small it will be smaller in september as numbers are halfing every week or thereabouts. The problem is not risk to individuals but a risk to 65million.

Those countries that have sent kids back are ones that have had very low infection rates like Denmark which has had less deaths in total than we have had in 6hours, its not comparable. Are italy or spain sending kids to school?
Belgium is an interesting one as they are starting to open up and they have a higher death/million than us!

Ours will be going back when available, probably part time to minimise risk.

My son's school is currently closed and we are offered the option of attending a "hub" 10 miles away with no wrap around care beyond 9-15.
My youngest's nursery is closed until 1st of June.

Both my wife and I are nurses. I've lost count of COVID patients I've been exposed to.
Am I wrong to now send my kids to school as I guess we are both risky clients?
The government and local authority don't make it easy for us to not need the school/nursery setting.

The problem we have is this: we are expected to work but can't find appropriate care for our children. Currently both are bundled to a child care provider 10 miles away again as it's the only place that will accommodate our shifts. Didn't think in 2020 I'd still be paying for two children so I can attend work but hey. Such is life. Granted it's only 1-2 days a week as it's to be minimal. Still equates to £98 a day which adds up.

This current provider is now unsure if they can support us come June as they may have their own children coming back potentially leaving us stranded again.

School have said if they do open they won't provide wrap around care

Childminders aren't taking on where we are.

Can't ask family or friends for obvious reasons.

Working opposite each other as much as possible.

Something has to give.

Some people we know who are furloughed are moaning they are bored at home with their kids. That's ok for them if they aren't both pulling a 30-48 hour week at work, trying to homeschool and paying a premium just to get to work as expected.

Yes. I know kids are my responsibility but this isn't a normal situation and I'm beginning to crumble with no family/friend support. It's near 1pm I've just finished a run of nights at 0800 this morning and have to contend with my boys fighting for another 5 hours until my wife gets home and I can sleep.

The new normal needs to be established.

Woe is me. Just craving some normality and sleep.

I wouldn't be sending kids back to school now. our infection rates are still too high. Assuming the infection rate keeps falling then going back in August "should" be ok (or it better be as I'll be a newly qualified teacher and want a job lol )

^^^ WHS. If it’s safe enough for them, it’s safe enough for everyone

I think them politicians left school some time ago, not that you’d know it listening to them

olly2097
Your situation sounds very tricky - wishing you all the very best sounds like you are doing a very tough job all round.

@Poah

it better be as I’ll be a newly qualified teacher and want a job lol

Have you been doing your PGSE (or similar) this year?
Myself and some colleagues were trying to work out where the lockdown leaves PGSE students, as they won't have finished their teaching practice and therefor probably won't be signed off this year.
Can you still apply for jobs, or is it a matter of finishing training next term?

Just had a letter from calderdale council saying that they are advising schools not to reopen on the 1st June.....

@ajantom. In Scotland it has been decided to call a halt on the year. My probationer has been kept,so would hope it was the same down sarf.

My brother's kids in Norway are back at school but Norway is identifying sub 30 new cases each day nationwide (yesterday 8), and can trace, test and isolate these. Deaths, for comparison, in Norway, were 1 yesterday. Their max was 16 on 20 April, and only 3 other days have had more than 10. If we had 8 new cases and one death here in Scotland - similar population - with robust TTI in place, I'd be happy to be back in school. We are not there yet, but hopefully moving in the right direction.

Just had a letter from calderdale council saying that they are advising schools not to reopen on the 1st June…

Statement on their website…

http://news.calderdale.gov.uk/keeping-schools-safe-during-covid-19/

The "good news" on that EU return is nonsense as a comparison, as they were at a much lower base than we will be, even if it's all good news in the next two weeks.

Eldest is Year 12, so potentially in for some face to face contact. He says he'll go in. It would do him good. I trust the college to only open if they think it will be as safe as they can make it. Probably drive him in (10 miles) rather than have him hanging around waiting for the college bus at both ends of the day.