BABY JACK’S STORY
– Education expert Keir Bloomer
Baby Jack is eight weeks old – and absolutely thriving.
“I don’t know whether it’s a product of lockdown or not, but he’s just a superhappy baby,” mum Sarah Ballantyne said.
“It hasn’t been a great year for a lot of people, but Jack has made it a special one for us.
“We’ve certainly had something positive to focus our attention on.”
The week Scotland plunged into lockdown was the same week Sarah found out she was expecting.
“It wasn’t ideal,” she said. “It was still early days and nobody knew what was going to happen.
“But we were optimistic and assumed it was just a shortlived thing and would have blown over by the time the baby arrived.
“My mind was busy thinking about baby showers. I didn’t think for a minute that we would still be in lockdown a year down the line.”
Events manager Sarah and partner John Bell were a little nervous, and, as time moved on, started to become anxious about the birth.
“It turned out I had a big baby, so I was having growth scans every couple of weeks,” Sarah, 33, said.
“John wasn’t allowed to come to the appointments so I had to make important decisions on my own.
“There were conversations about complications like shoulder dysplasia, a difficult delivery… it was quite overwhelming not having John there.”
Sarah opted to have a C-section, largely because it guaranteed John would be with her when the baby arrived, as opposed to only being called last minute for a natural labour.
Happily, everything went smoothly and baby Jack arrived on December 10, weighing 8lb 4oz. The first few weeks back at the couple’s flat in Dennistoun, Glasgow were hard.
“I lost my mum eight years ago so my girlfriends had big plans to pop in every day and help me with the baby after the section – but of course, nobody was allowed to come,” Sarah said.
“And there was very little post-natal support either. We felt completely on our own. It was a case of a lot of Googling or downloading apps on our phones to learn about things.”
Sarah has been focusing on the positives and using the time with Jack to bond and get into a routine.
“We haven’t been able to go to classes so Jack hasn’t met other babies and I haven’t had that peer support and all the hints and tips you pick up from other mums.
“But Jack doesn’t seem to mind. I don’t want him to miss out, so every day, we have sensory class, read stories and do tummy time.
“And he’s coming on in leaps and bounds. While there have been some negatives, the plus point is that I get to spend real quality time with him while I’m on maternity leave.”
Sadly, at two months old, Jack has yet to meet many members of his family.
“We were thankful that it was Christmas a few weeks after he was born and we were able to spend the day with family,” Sarah said. “That was a real blessing.
“But since then, we have been back to not seeing anyone. It is so sad knowing there are people who want to cuddle him, but they can’t.
“I worry that by the time some people get to meet my baby, he won’t be a baby anymore. But at the moment, he’s bringing us so much joy and that’s the best we can ask for.”
Sarah added: “I am terrified about the future. I worry that not interacting with other people might turn Jack into a clingy baby… and what will happen when it’s time for him to start nursery?
“But thankfully that’s not for a while yet and hopefully things will be back to normal by then.”
It’s sad that people can’t cuddle him yet, but he is bringing us so much happiness
eventuality and bought Caroline’s parents an ipad for Christmas so they could at least meet the baby virtually.
“They aren’t very technically aware but they have mastered it well enough to meet Fraser and that’s better than not seeing him at all,” Caroline said.
Caroline and Pete, 33, found out they were expecting not long after lockdown hit last March.
And the pregnancy got off to a bit of a rocky start when Caroline’s appendix ruptured 14 weeks in and she had to undergo emergency surgery.
“It was a scary time wondering if everything would work out with the pregnancy and if I would get bad news when I was on my own as Pete was only allowed to visit for an hour a day and had to book in.
“But apart from that, everything was good. Named birthing partners were allowed to come to scans so Pete was with me for those and able to be with me in labour and for five hours a day after Fraser was born.
“Although there were fewer midwife appointments, the maternity team have been fantastic.”
With the baby here safely, the couple say their biggest parental challenge now is finding things to fit Fraser.
“He outgrew newborn size on the first day, so we need to get him some bigger clothes,” Caroline laughed.
The pandemic has heaped even more pressure on Scotland’s army of young carers, support charities fear.
The Carers Trust Scotland warns 45% of young carers and 68% of young adult carers have admitted their mental health has worsened because of the additional stress linked to lockdown.
The charity’s survey revealed 58% of 12 to 17-year-old respondents said their education was suffering while 42% of carers aged 18 to 25 felt they were “unable to take a break” from caring responsibilities, which it fears is leading to isolation.
Ruth Williams is one of the many teenagers struggling to juggle schoolwork and friendships in the midst of lockdown – but the 15- yearold has the added responsibility of helping to care for her dad.
As one of Scotland’s 29,000 young carers, Ruth helps her mum, Rachel, 47, with tasks around the house, while providing essential support for her dad, Arwel, 43, who requires the use of a wheelchair.
“It can be difficult to juggle everything at times, especially since I’ve been doing school from home,” says Ruth, who lives with her parents and younger brother in Bathgate, West Lothian.
“If there’s not a set deadline, I’m more likely to procrastinate. Then later, when I could be doing schoolwork, I’m helping my mum around the house.
“A lot of what I do is general chores so my mum doesn’t have to do everything, as well as caring for my dad, so I feel sometimes I’m in quite a fortunate position compared to most.”
Ruth, who is part of the Carers Trust Young Carer Advisory Group, knows how hard it has been to keep in contact with friends. She says: “My dad has been shielding, so I was worried about catching the virus, especially when we went back to school. There were quite a few cases at school.”
With public services under increasing pressure during the pandemic, even more people have taken on a caring role in the past y e a r, with the number of carers in Scotland rising from an estimated 690,000 to more than 1.1 million.
Last month, local carer centres received a £750,000 funding boost from the Scottish Government, which Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said would, “ensure more unpaid carers can benefit from a much- needed break and emotional support”.
There is no reason why ministers should wait to publish the report, particularly because the entire process has been stage-managed by ministers, according to Keir Bloomer, a former director of education who was a key architect of the Curriculum for Excellence.
He said: “If you commission an outside organisation to look at and report on the operation of one of your policies it should not be set up in a way which gives you an opportunity to comment on and alter what the report says. That is less than objective.”
Dr Bloomer, chairman of the Education Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was interviewed by the OECD as part of its probe, but when he later submitted written evidence it was rejected.
He added: “I was interviewed by OECD for an hour but when the Royal Society of Edinburgh put in written comments to OECD they did not accept them. We were simply told, initially by the Scottish Government on behalf of the OECD, which is slightly suspicious, that they were not in the business of receiving written submissions.
“It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Scottish Government has stage managed this in a way that has prevented OECD actually finding out what opinion in Scotland, especially among the education community, actually is.”