Apollyon
Vital Football Legend
Not sure what announcement you mean.
The instructions from the government are that vulnerable children can come to school. I'm not sure whether that includes EHCPs or not. I think so.
The reality is that for many of these children, they are safer at home. Our traditional view of what constitutes "safe" is out of the window. A crowded school and being around other people is not safe. They are going to get the virus and they are going to give it to others. And young people are starting to die. The majority of vulnerable children (admittedly, not all) are not facing as direct a threat to their health and life as that at home.
Kids with EHCPs are different. They may be perfectly safe at home if their needs are educational. Yes, they need the routine. My son needs the school routine too and would have had an EHCP come through if not for this. But that is secondary to this virus. I wouldn't dream of sending my son into a school that a) is an environment where he might catch it and b) absolutely cannot provide him the 1-1 education he normally would have.
It's worth pointing out that what they are getting now in school is not education. It can't be. They should be getting education remotely. At our place the few children coming in are using the computers to do the work being set weekly. There are not necessarily the staff available at the moment to cater for the special needs of children. Most of these children have a regular TA. My son has two. If they are self isolating or sick, there isn't necessarily the staff for him.
My school is down to about 35% staff available now. Nearly 30% are off for 12 weeks because of themselves or someone they live with having underlying conditions. Management is down to two thirds. In our trust, there are only two heads still standing.
Having said that, any school refusing your kids (as opposed to advising against them attending) is going against the government guidance, especially if it's children in care. We are trying our best to keep in touch with those children.
Although guidance changes frequently. My daughter's school announced that both parents have to be key workers yesterday. I have not seen anything official to say that has changed. So no idea.
Ours, as I said are LAC and they have been refused access all over the country. There are of course exceptions to this but the vast majority are saying that children in care should stay at home because they are safe. The announcement was clarity on the guidelines on what constitutes a vulnerable child so those educators refusing children who are looked after, will be taking children who have EHC plans.
This is perhaps not the forum, but carers are pretty much overlooked by the general public. They are doing a brilliant job. I have staff bringing to work several change of clothes in case they are quarantined at work. Amazing stuff, so dedicated.