A Sydney mum has hit out at her daughter’s school, claiming she is being “shamed” into keeping her child at home as the Delta outbreak wreaks havoc across NSW.
The single mum, who asked to remain anonymous, told news.com.au she was in the middle of trying to launch her own architecture business while juggling caring for a toddler and an eight-year-old.
Due to all of that, the mum made the decision to send her child to school last week.
However, she was left shocked on August 3 when her daughter arrived home with a letter from her school, Brighton-Le-Sands Public in Sydney’s south.
The letter urged parents working in “non-essential” industries to keep their children at home.
“We are aware that some families are bringing their children to school because ‘it is too hard to keep them at home’. If this is you, please keep your child at home,” the letter said.
The school said it had been receiving complaints from the school community about parents not keeping their kids at home and said its 15 per cent attendance from students was “well above” the local and state average.
RELATED: Follow our live blog for coronavirus NSW news
After receiving the letter, the mum said she felt she was “being shamed for not being able to keep her at home”.
“I got very upset because they had clearly discussed the letter with my daughter at school and she came home saying, ‘Mummy, I have a very important letter.’ Then she told me she didn’t want to go to school anymore,” she told news.com.au.
The mum attempted to remedy her daughter’s concerns, explaining, “I work for myself and if I don’t work, I don’t get paid.”
“They almost shame the children as well as the parents … and that’s what upset me the most,” she said.
“A couple of weeks ago the message was ‘no child will be sent away from school, no questions asked’ and that’s how it should be. People should have a choice to do what suits their circumstances.
“My daughter is better off going to school in that environment. I have a young son who is a toddler and I work for myself. I don’t survive if I have to sit up and work all night and then care for the kids in the day.”
While the mum said she understood there were other parents out there who could juggle it all, she has no support system in Australia, with her extended family living overseas and her and her former partner sharing custody 50-50.
Despite her child doing better in a classroom environment, the mum said there was still little support at school when she does go.
“One thing that made me upset is that her teacher has said that she must talk to the teacher available at school and ask if she needs extra assistance but she’s eight years old, how is she able to even comprehend the work she needs to do?” the mum said.
“And if she doesn’t she should then go and ask for help? We’re treating our children like adults and not even adults are coping.”
Brighton-Le-Sands is located in the Bayside local government area, one of three LGAs added to NSW’s regions of concern yesterday.
RELATED: Bayside, Strathfield and Burwood added to councils of concern
The mum said this upping of restrictions meant she would now be keeping her daughter at home.
“I feel like I have no other option to stay at home and keep the kids with me … I know there’s supposedly all this assistance from the government but they are not easy to get. It takes hours to go to Centrelink and get parenting payments so the less I have to deal with that the better,” she said.
In a statement, a NSW Education spokesman said the letter from Brighton-Le-Sands Public was not meaning to shame people.
“The letter from Brighton-Le-Sands Public School does not intend to shame parents, is not directed at any one parent and re-emphasises the current health advice that parents and carers in Greater Sydney should keep their children at home if they can,” the spokesman said.
“This advice from NSW Health is aimed at reducing transmission of the virus. Parents with children at schools under level four restrictions must keep them home if they can.”
The mum said she did not read the letter the way the department intended.
“The letter doesn’t read like that to me … it essentially reads more of, ‘You are sending more kids than we anticipated and we don’t know how to manage or resource that and we’re going to force you to stay at home because we don‘t know how to handle it.’”
The Education spokesman said no child would be turned away from school but encouraged parents to keep them home when they could.
“Schools and outside of school hours care (OOSHC) services remain open for any child who needs it. Example, if their parent or carer is an essential worker, and no child will be turned away,” the spokesman said.
“The wellbeing and safety of students and staff is our priority, and overwhelmingly, parents have not been sending their children to school, and we thank them for their efforts.
“On average between 92 and 93 per cent of students were learning from home which suggests people are following the advice.”
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