Mixed views from parents in Wales

SOME parents say they won’t be sending their children back to school when they re-open in Wales later this month because they are not confident it is safe.

Others say they will be and that their children need to be in school after three months of remote learning.

Some are unsure.

Since schools shut on March 20 children have been learning from home, while the children of key workers and those deemed vulnerable can go in for childcare at hub schools.

Around 6,000 are currently in hub schools.

The Welsh Government has announced a phased re-opening of schools on June 29.

But parents remain divided over easing of lockdown and sending their children back to the classroom.

■ Jessica Newnes, from Crosskeys, said until schools prove they are safe she won’t be sending in her children Freya-mai, seven, and Aled, six, this term.

“I personally will not be returning them to school until September.

“Schools are germ central yet you can’t use your family’s toilet (when visiting under new lockdown measures). This is all down to economic pressure on Kirsty Williams I believe.

“My children are not guinea pigs in this world and until school can prove its safe they won’t be returning.

“Their mental health is more important than four weeks of check in school your.”

She praised the head teacher of their school Ty Sign in Risca but said the pandemic coming two-and-a-half years since her children lost their father to blood clots meant the strain was too much to risk.

“We have self isolated for the past 12 weeks so would feel like sending them back would put them at risk when I’ve done everything within my power to keep them safe.

“Personally I would rather send mine back in September once I know the figures show there is not a increased risk by sending them back.”

■ Vaughnie King, whose two sons aged 12 and 14 go to high school in Cardiff welcomed the Welsh Government’s announcement saying the closure of schools has affected secondary pupils in particular.

“We have been given the green light to make our own decision and I will be sending my sons back to school.

“I fully understand the situation in March was serious but some people are so fearful they can’t see the wood for the trees now.

“I welcome the decision to re-open schools 100 per cent and my boys will be going.

“Kirsty Williams has been quite straight. She said it’s your choice if you don’t want to send your children back, even in September, you won’t be penalised.

“I have two boys doing very well in high school but in the last week the oldest especially has become disengaged. It’s a lot to ask for them to learn like this.

“Damage has been done to young people. They have been extremely patient. I don’t want to devalue anyone’s life but I feel really concerned for those who are vulnerable and those not studying now.”

■ Ross Murphy, meanwhile, is worried about the safety of children’s teachers.

“I think schools returning is a really stupid decision.

“We have been told that not sending children to school when they return will not result in fines being issued.

“But my question is, if staff feel unsafe to return, are they still going to be paid if they don’t go to work?

“I think this question is on the minds of a lot of teachers and teaching assistants and believe they should be paid if they don’t feel safe returning.”

■ Ellie Hartshorne has made the decision not to send her three children back to school as she believes social distancing is a lot to ask of primary school children.

“My two youngest, I don’t think will be very good at it. My little boy is in nursery and doesn’t really understand what’s going on, and my daughter in year one loves a cuddle with her friends and teachers. She will get upset if her teacher who used to cuddle her now turns her away.

“My eldest is year five and, although he gets social distancing, will still find it hard that his normal break of playing football with his mates won’t be allowed.

“I think going back now will confuse them a bit, and they will expect things to be normal and obviously it won’t.”

Ellie has three children. Her oldest, Oliver is 10, Sophie is five and her youngest, Joey is three, and only started nursery school in January so didn’t have much time there before lockdown.

The student nurse, who lives in Llanrumney, Cardiff, with her husband Steve Hartshorne, also fears there will be a massive logistical challenge for working parents with the staggered starts.

Her three children are in the same school, and she is worried that if she did let them go back, they would be in on different days and times.

Like many parents in Wales, 34-year-old Ellie has also taken into consideration the health of her children, as her youngest is epileptic and has heart issues, so she doesn’t want to risk any of her children catching the virus in school.

Ellie has also been told by her university that her teaching will be online until at least March, so although she acknowledges that the risk is lower for children, she said: “If it’s not safe for me, why would I risk my kids? I’ve had a good run, the kids have their whole lives ahead of them.”

More guidance to support schools re-opening is expected to be published by the Welsh Government next week.

This will include information on managing their facilities and logistical arrangements, including buildings, resources, cleaning and transport.

■ Many parents, including Western Mail columnist Sara Robinson, will be waiting until there is more detail on how their child’s school will reopen and be run, before they make the decision to send them back.

For Sara, homeschooling her 13-year-old son James since March has been a success, but she acknowledged that it will not be the case for every child so she understands the need and the decision to reopen the schools.

“I really didn’t expect them to be going back until September. I will be a bit sad when he goes back.

“In terms of him going back, we have got to look at what the schools are proposing, how long it will be for, what will happen with school buses, those kinds of things.”

James attends Ysgol Gyfun Cymraeg Glyntaf and, like many pupils who attend Welsh language schools, the catchment area is much bigger meaning many pupils often rely on school buses.

Sara is concerned about the logistics of getting James to school if the school buses aren’t running and they will need to weigh up the benefits of him going to school for what could be a short period of time when homeschooling has worked well so far.

“He is really keen to get back, he misses his friends. But now that he has seen some friends since the changes to lockdown rules on Monday I think he will be in less of a rush to get back, especially as he is getting on with school work at home fine.”

One important issue Sara raised was in regards to how teachers will manage social distancing.

Most teenagers will be able to understand the importance of social distancing, but there will inevitably be some who will break the rules, and it is still unknown how teachers will manage that.

Other parents have already done the balancing act of weighing the negatives against the positives, and have decided it will be much more beneficial to their children to return to school sooner than later.

■ Rebecca Morgan from Caerau, Cardiff, said she will be sending her six-year-old son Henry back to school on June 29.

She said: “He has missed his school, his friends, the routine and his learning environment.

“He knows that it’s going to look and feel very different from what he’s used to. We have had a good chat about it.”

Rebecca added that her son’s school has consistently handled the situation well and she has full trust in them to keep her son safe.

“I think the virus is going to pose a risk for some time to come, I’m not particularly fearful. It seems he won’t be in school as much as before and there will be rules put in place in order to minimise the risk.

“Keeping him off school won’t lessen the risk greatly enough, I believe he will be better off in school for his educational development as well as emotional.”