Almost half of parents are happy with school Covid measures

A survey by Childcare.co.uk shows that almost half of parents (49%) are happy with the COVID-19 safety precautions their school has introduced, whereas two fifths (42%) don’t believe there are enough precautions to keep students safe.

The survey shows that one in ten (12%) feel there are too many measures, to the point that it’s affecting children’s learning.

Meanwhile, almost a third (29%) of parents further stated their child feels unsafe at school.

The survey of more than 2,000 parents also discovered that the majority of British parents (73%) are worried about their child’s health at school, with ‘year group bubbles’ the most commonly selected COVID-19 protocol parents disapprove of.

The survey has discovered that more than two fifths (44%) of parents feel that schools do not have enough safety precautions in place to protect their children from COVID-19.

The majority (73%) are worried about their child contracting the virus when at school, however 30% of parents aren’t concerned for their child’s own health, but the possible spread of infection to more vulnerable members of their family. Half of parents (50%) who are not worried about their child catching the virus at school, stated it is because children are ‘practically immune’ to COVID-19.

Of the safety protocols in place, it was revealed that the introduction of ‘year group bubbles’ and ‘the use of facemasks at all times’ were the most commonly selected (each received 43% of votes) safety measures parents do not agree with. Limited extra-curricular/after school activities, social distancing in the classroom and that facemasks must be worn in common areas but not classrooms, are other popular precautions parents disapprove of.

When asking the parents on how their children feel about returning to school, almost a third confirmed (30%) that their child currently feels unsafe at school, with a further 30% sharing that their child is anxious about going to school as a result. However nearly three quarters (72%) of parents did verify that their child is happy to be back at school with their friends and one in five (21%) pupils are happy with the precautions their school has in place.

Of the one in twenty (5%) parents who haven’t sent their child back to school this term, a fifth (20%) have shared that they will continue home-schooling on a permanent basis, whereas nearly half (42%) will continue home-schooling until their child’s been vaccinated.

Richard Conway, founder of Childcare.co.uk, said: “Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is not behind us yet and as anticipated, infection cases are on the rise again. Naturally, it’s up for debate whether the increase is due to the return of school settings across the nation, or if there are other factors at play. Regardless, a week on since students returned to schools, we wanted to discover how parents, and children, feel about it.

“The results were very insightful, as it’s evident that whether parents feel like it was right or wrong to send their kids back, the majority are still worried about their children contracting the virus when at school. It was saddening to discover that this worry is common among pupils too, as a child should never feel anxious about going to school. With a second lockdown potentially on the horizon it will be interesting to see how schools react to increased cases and whether they will act independently on deciding to remain open, or whether the government will act nationwide to limit the spread in our education institutes.”