Slipping Through My Fingers

teafor2

Sunshine_girl2 said:

I hope you get an answer , I spoke to another friend last night whose son has only been back 3 days and he is off again due to a positive Covid test in his year bubble. However he was following the same regime as Mrsme children. 

Oh crikey Sunshine, that's not good is it. Missing break seems OK-ish, but lunch as well seems like a step too far. The reduced class sizes everybody was talking about prior to the summer holidays have fallen by the wayside, which I can understand. You can't suddenly find double the amount of classrooms in a school so he's still sat in a full class of 30 pupils. He'd really like to see his mates but even 15 minutes fresh air with his class bubble (whatever that is), would be better than nothing.  xx

teafor2

School rang me back and the Head of Year completely understood where I was coming from, in fact she agreed with me. It's a school decision, not a remit from the borough's Education Dept so she's going to pass my concerns up the line to the Head. Not sure if I'll hear anything else. Coincidentally I bumped into another parent while I was shopping, the only one I know at the school and she wasn't aware of the situation and wasn't happy either so she rang in. She's more parent orientated than I am so she said she'd put feelers out to see what other people thought. Within a couple of hours she'd rung to say quite a few parents didn't know their DC's were being kept in all day and aren't happy about it either, so maybe something will get done. Even if they just get a few minutes every day it's better than nothing. xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sorry I've been awol from your diary for a while TF2. I don't children should be in one room for six hours, it's very unhealthy physically and mentally. I hope your son''s school makes some changes. My school is a primary, but the children have staggered breaks and lunches so they are able to play outside in a year group bubble. They are much safer from the virus outside in the fresh air surely.

teafor2

Hi HHD I nearly PM'd you to ask what your school was doing but I didn't want to bother you with your DS being home and I wasn't sure if primary rules might be different anyway. I 100% agree with your comment about needing a break and some fresh air and I can't see a problem with a year group being a bubble, especially older children who are more than capable of understanding the concept of social distancing. 

I think I may have inadvertently caused a revolution Apparently there's now a big debate going on in a private FB group that I'm not a member of about children not being allowed out at DS's school. The majority think they should go out, a small minority say no. Which is fine. I have tried so hard not to be judgemental throughout this whole Covid saga and I understand some people are very frightened and personal circumstances dictate their actions, but I think at this stage when we're all being encouraged to get back to normal with regards to work and social outings, and children are back at school, still crammed into classes of 30, there should at least be a choice about what to do at lunch. 

I hope you're having a lovely time with DS. xx

teafor2

Evening

I spoke to somebody in Education Welfare today and it's fair to say they sounded stunned that DS's school had chosen to go down the route of no break or lunch. It's the only school they're aware of that's done that. Apparently, in our borough Headteachers have been given the go-ahead to do what each one thinks is best, so there's no comeback as there are no specific rules to follow.

A higher ranking member of staff also rang me and it was one of those conversations where you know somebody agrees with everything you're saying, but doesn't want to commit themselves. To cut a long story short the reasoning behind their decision is to protect working parents. They're concerned that if they put year groups in bubbles and somebody becomes infected then all 270 pupils in that year would have to isolate for 2 weeks and working parents might struggle having them at home. She also said a lot of students don't have access to internet so learning would be affected. Whether that's true or not I don't know but I always try to see both sides and the reasons sound feasible although if that's their concern I can't see anything ever changing.  

She did say that even though DS doesn't buy his lunch he can actually 'walk the route' with those that do which means he might get to see his friends for a few minutes, plus the way back into school is across the yard, so he'd be getting a chance to stretch his legs and get some fresh air. That's definitely all that's on offer at the moment though, so we'll just have to roll with it for the time being. 

The plasterer has finished so I think we'll start painting next week. I've also sorted out quite a few things in the wardrobe and managed to make space by filling my new boxes. In MSE style I've decided to keep the bedside cabinets but have bought some new handles. I think the only thing I need to buy now are the skirting boards and some new blinds. 

I've had to dip into the handbag this week to pay the plasterer cash, but I'm being reimbursed at the weekend With the school saga I forgot to update the money for the start of a new week so I'll be back in a while to do that. xx

teafor2

Back again  

Day 9/30, Prolific £10.98 cleared, 65p pending, Spends £30
Shoppix: 1435/3200  RH: 884/1500

Just £6.26 left over from last week. I've put £5 into Christmas and £1.26 into the charity pot. The dog has been groomed so that pot is down to £6. I also save in my bank for Birthdays and Christmas by rounding down every now and then so I've decided to show both figures for these pots. 

Savings: £194
DS Savings: £90
Dog: £6
Hair: £20
Birthdays: £51 + £45
Christmas: £195 + £35
Paypal: £59.82

Pots are just ticking over as normal but I'm ready to start a new week now, even though I'm nearly 2 days late.  xx

beanielou

Better late than never & you only have 5 days til next time     xx

teafor2

beanielou said:

Better late than never & you only have 5 days til next time     xx

  That's true Beanie. Just 5 days until my next 'pay day' lol. xx

teafor2

Morning  

Day 15/30, Prolific £12.63 cleared, £1 pending, Week 3 spends £30
Shoppix 1655/3200  RH: 921/1500

Spends left over from last week are £8.15. I'll add £5 to Christmas and £3 to Birthdays and pop the odd 15p into the charity pot. The plaster has dried out nicely and I'll be buying the paint/trays/rollers etc. today which I'll take from my savings. 

There's not much movement in the pots but I'll do my weekly listing
Savings: £194
DS Savings: £90
Dog: £6
Hair: £20
Birthdays: £54 + £45
Christmas: £200 + £35
Paypal: £59.82

DD is heading back to Uni next week. Some lectures are on line, some in class. For now, the timetable will be issued on a weekly basis - no idea why. I'm not sure how working students and their employees will cope with that. 

I've been giving Christmas a little bit of thought. This year there'll be no experiences to buy for the DC's and celebrations which are normally quiet, will be even quieter. I don't think Mum will be up to coming for lunch and another relative has just gone into a care home so they won't be here either. The DC's don't seem too bothered about it being quiet, probably because they're not actually children anymore and don't expect to be entertained or played with  I'd like to find some sort of online interactive quiz show type game we could do, but I'm not even sure such a thing exists! In which case the Monopoly board will no doubt come out   

Right, best shake a leg and do some jobs. Hope you're all keeping well. xx

teafor2

Morning  

It's gorgeous here today. On the one hand perfect for painting because it dries quickly, but on the other far too nice to be stuck indoors doing such a boring job.   I spent £53 on paint etc. yesterday which I bought out of my savings so that pot is now down to £141. I don't have to take it out of there but the bedroom is something I wanted doing, so I might as well spend some money on it. 

Just had a text from DS's school. There are 2 positive Covid cases so some pupils have been sent home to isolate for 2 weeks. Probably much to his disgust, he's not one of them Not that he'd get away with lounging around anyway. They're having training on Microsoft Teams for this eventuality so will be expected to work if any further isolation/lock down situations occur, which no doubt they will. They are super strict about bubbles, who can use what corridor and enter certain parts of the school but even so, I think pupils being sent home to isolate is going to become the new normal. 

Hope you're all having a lovely day. xx