No reopening in North as rising R-number sparks fears
Govt urged to help 4.5m new unpaid carers due to Covid Exams risk next summer as crowded secondaries struggle
DISTRESSING Joyce and Helen
THE moment Joyce Wilson had to shower her elderly mum for the first time was distressing for them both.
Helen Forfar, 91, once a capable civil servant, was embarrassed as she cowered exposed. Joyce, 65, was devastated at seeing her mum so vulnerable and having to perform such an intimate task.
But the pair had to overcome their emotions quickly, because the lockdown had left Helen isolated.
It meant her daughter had little choice but to step in and become, for the first time in her life, a carer.
Joyce decided her mum must move in with her and her husband after the communal areas in her assisted-living facilities in Edinburgh were closed, leaving Helen, who has dementia, isolated in her room.
The emotional toll and physical strain for Joyce of providing care on top of her part-time job as a PA was something she had to adapt to quickly. And she’s not alone.
EXHAUSTED
She is one of 4.5 million people across the UK now estimated to have become unpaid carers for the first time due to the pandemic.
The figure, revealed at the start of Carers Week today, equates to three times the NHS workforce.
Joyce admits she is exhausted in every sense. She says: “I have never cared before and it has been exhausting and emotionally draining, feeling ‘on’ all the time.”
The new carers are on top of an existing 9.1 million who were already caring unpaid before the outbreak.
This week, six carers’ charities are calling on the Government to recognise the role they are playing and ensure they are supported through the crisis – and beyond.
They want a plan for social care reform, setting out long-term investment in services so unpaid carers can more easily take respite and stay in paid work.
They also want a rise in the Carer’s Allowance – currently £67.25 a week plus a one-off coronavirus supplement to help cover excess costs.
Helen Walker, of Carers UK, said: “Recognising the contribution of unpaid carers to our society and properly supporting them has never been more important...”
SECONDARY school pupils might not fully return to class until January next year, with the coronavirus crisis looking set to unleash more exam chaos.
Students preparing for GCSEs and A-levels face months without a normal education because of problems of maintaining social distancing in crowded and cramped schools.
It is understood exam regulator Ofqual is drawing up contingency plans to push back 2021’s exams from May to as late as July.
Teaching unions confirmed government advice on social distancing means thousands of pupils may only return part-time in September.
Some Year 10 and 12 students, due to sit exams next year, will be in the first wave back from next Monday.
But it is feared schools with limited space in classrooms and dining areas, plus cramped corridors, are unlikely to fully reopen until January. It comes as headteachers in Greater Manchester and Lancashire were instructed to postpone plans to reopen for two weeks after it emerged the R number, or infection rate, was just over the critical threshold of one in the North West.
Home-schooling could last another six months, it is suggested.
In a letter to parents, Andrew Halls, headmaster at King’s College School, in Wimbledon,
South West London, said: “I would love to believe that the coronavirus will soon pack its suitcase and fly to Mars, but this seems improbable... Some children, though it is impossible to say what proportion, may not be back in school until January 2021.”
Parents have also been told to prepare for sudden closures as new coronavirus outbreaks occur. If that happens it would almost certainly mean exams being cancelled and grades handed out based on predicted results, as happened earlier this year.
Health officials at Blackburn with Darwen council, which runs 85 schools in Lancashire, emailed on Friday evening advising them not to reopen today.
Claire Gammon, headteacher at the Queen Elizabeth grammar school in Blackburn told parents the news on its website.
She said: “Following updated guidance, we are delaying the phased reopening of school until 22 June 2020. We appreciate this is late notice, however we are having to work with an ever-evolving situation.”
Adding to the misery, many heads of schools in deprived areas said they
ANDREW HALLS HEAD OF KING’S COLLEGE SCHOOL have still not received computers for disadvantaged pupils despite a pledge by the Government to help in April.
Matthew Shanks, of the multiacademy trust Education South West, said he had ordered devices in April but none have been delivered.
“It would have been quicker to have the funds and buy them ourselves,” he said. “It is absolutely vital we are able to use these laptops with pupils to try to level the field.”
No details have been given as to how primaries can take the next steps towards getting other year groups back following the return of youngsters in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
Meanwhile a nationwide survey out today suggests 59% of parents believe their child is happier being home-schooled, with as many as a quarter claiming their child was experiencing bullying before lockdown.
However many say kids are missing pals and struggling with work.
Some pupils may not be back in school until January 2021