News that the majority of nursery and primary age children will return to school on Monday January 4 has prompted mixed feelings from parents – torn between worry about Covid-19 and concern for their children’s education.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed that secondary school pupils in exam years will return the week beginning January 11 to allow for more time to set-up rapid testing of pupils and staff. Those not in exam years will return the week commencing January 18, he told the House of Commons on Wednesday.
In areas of the country where transmission rates are highest, children in both primary and secondary school will be told to stay home for remote learning.
“In a small number of areas where infections rates are highest, only vulnerable children and children of key workers will attend face-to-face,” said Williamson.
That list currently includes 22 London boroughs and parts of Essex, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, but the government plan includes the option to move other primary schools to remote education should rates of incidence or transmission of the virus in a local area rise. Any further changes will be announced alongside tier changes, the government said.
These plans come after Matt Hancock announced an extension of tier 4, with 78% of people in England living under the rules from midnight on December 30.
The planned reopening of most primary schools came as a huge relief to Jenna Rigby in Lancashire.
The mum-of-five had to put her work as a self-employed personal trainer on hold during the school closures in spring – meaning the family’s income shrank overnight.
It was “near impossible” to home school her children between the ages of nine and four simultaneously, says Rigby – and she’s glad she doesn’t have to do it again just yet.
“I am lucky to have resources others don’t, but even having one iPad and one desktop still causes challenges in online learning apps. I managed to home-school each child for around 30 minutes a day in spring, when they’re meant to have six hours a day – I’m barely scratching the surface,” she says.
“Children thrive from routine and therefore being at home leads to behavioural problems and less motivation to get school tasks complete. Meanwhile you’re attempting to stop your business from collapsing with the never-ending task of re-arranging clients and appointments.”
If schools in her area do close at a later date, Rigby is worried about other families with bigger financial challenges.
“My main concern lies in the area that I live in Pendle, Lancashire is a largely poor area and children already challenged will fall further behind ultimately increasing the amount of children in the poverty cycle,” she says. “Our children are the future of this country, and education is key to its success.”
Other parents are on the fence regarding the news. Kate Everall, who runs the Lesbemums blog with her wife, Sharon, has mixed feelings about primary schools reopening, and how this will impact her five-year-old son.
“As much as I value our son’s education and would prefer he stayed in school (we’re not teachers!), the environment in which he started school – less than a year ago – is completely different. I’d go as far as to say that it’s unsafe,” she says.
“I also have a lot more respect for his teachers than our government do, who are also scared and worried, therefore I’d rather we stay home and keep everyone safe.”
Everall and her wife both work full-time and they’d struggle to balance work and life if their son’s school suddenly closes. “Especially with the winter weather – excursions to the local nature reserve that helped us a lot this spring would be few and far between,” she says.
“But, we’d make it work because we’d have to. This isn’t permanent, after all, and it will pass – just as long as everyone does their part.”
Tinuke Bernard, from Hertfordshire, also thinks more schools should close. “Personally, as much as it is challenging trying to work full time from home with a three-year-old and 12-year-old, I’d rather the schools stay closed for all of January, if not longer and we stop putting everyone in harms way,” she says.
“I feel we need a total lockdown, that there’s no point having shops closed if we’re still going back and forth to schools and businesses, gymnastics classes and whatnot.”
Having the kids at home would make working “very strenuous”, she adds, but it’s a sacrifice she believes we need to make. “I think everyone I work with has seen my three-year-old streak past naked whilst I’m on a video call at one point or another. This is just what happens now.”
Samantha Stewart, from Leeds, who has one child in year seven and another in year 10, agrees that the new system doesn’t go far enough.
“The government has failed to control the virus and I think there is now no option but to close to all pupils apart from the children of key workers and vulnerable children,” says Stewart, who is also a school governor.
“I am concerned about the long term mental health impacts of the pandemic but I don’t think these can be addressed by sending children into school when school is not able to function properly due to high levels of covid amongst staff and pupils.”
Halima Khatun, a Stockport-based author and mum to a three-year-old and nine-month-old, has mixed feelings about nurseries remaining open.
“Personally, it would be a shame to close schools as my daughter just started nursery in September and she’s settled in and loves school and her classmates. It’s such an important part of social development, especially as we’ve avoided all the usual playgroups, playgrounds,” she says.
“However, from a societal perspective, with the virus being out of control I think we have to buckle down and do what we can to suppress it.”
Khatun says the most frustrating thing for parents – and the nation in general – is the ever-changing guidance.
“It just seems like we just get used to one normal, then it changes again,” she adds. “I believe the problem is that we keep flip-flopping with the rules: don’t eat out/ eat out, go into the office/work from home. It just means that we’ll never contain the virus and this will drag on forever.”
Ben Anderson, a London-based dad who runs the The Diary Of A Dad Instagram account, agrees that inconsistency is part of the problem.
“For our school-aged kids, we aren’t too concerned about the impact of disruption to education for a week or two,” says Anderson, whose has children of six, four and three, as well as five-months-old. “I think the longer term impact of lots of stop / starts will be much more detrimental.”
Anderson has been impressed by the online learning set-up by his children’s school and thinks closures might be for the best. “If the situation is as bad as the numbers suggest the law of averages says that someone at the school will have the virus which will result in the kids being sent home anyway,” he says.
But avoiding another term at home is a relief for single parents like Emma Butcher from Somerset, who’s children are six and 10. On a societal level, she believes schools should close. But on a personal level, she was “extremely anxious” about what closures might mean for her children’s education and her wellbeing.
“Attempting to home school primary aged children, whilst working to tight deadlines is not a challenge I relish,” she says.
“As a single mother, I am solely responsible for monitoring two children’s schooling, mental health, working and running the household with no support from a partner. Whilst practical support is important, I don’t think you can underestimate the need for emotional support also.”
Ben Westwood, a single parent from East Sussex, was worried how closures would affect his two teenage children. The initial closures this spring had a “big impact on their education and wellbeing”, he says.
“It was particularly difficult because 2021 is GCSE year for my son and he lost a lot of vital learning,” he says. “Home schooling is even harder as a single parent because I have been working from home in my university job.”
But like most of the parents who spoke to HuffPost UK, Westwood has conflicted feelings about the reopenings, particularly because his son caught Covid at school last term, and he and his daughter fell ill shortly afterwards.
“A month later I’m still trying to get my strength back. My children both have friends with older parents and one father ended up in intensive care. So I can see both sides,” he says.
“As we’ve already caught Covid, I’m less worried about getting it again but I am concerned for other families with high-risk relatives at home. But on the other hand, I want my children to get their education and see their friends, especially my son as he’s due to take exams in June.”
Every parent we spoke said they would like more answers and support in 2021.
“In the longer term I think that GCSE and A-level exams for the next two years will need to be modified to reflect the loss of learning,” says Stewart.
“I think it is extremely important that we are given a definitive timeline for the return of [all] children at school to help people plan, and see an end goal,” adds Butcher.
Rigby is doubtful this is the last we’ll hear about closures and says a plan for 2021 would help to boost positivity for her five children and many others.
“It’s difficult to enter this new year with a positive perspective when we still haven’t arranged the foundations of our living, despite being nine months into this pandemic,” she says.
“It’s a basic need that children require education and the government needs to act proactively in ensuring this happens. Patience is difficult to maintain when there is no process in place to prevent further closures in 2021.”