Hungry Britain

That's not compulsion Jen and you have to move with the times. Schools normally don't open their doors until almost nine o'clock, and most parents don't have flexible working hours. Parents who are teachers generally have to be in work for 8.30 so there is a childminding gap here, and that's not allowing for travelling time. Most other parents have to be in work for 9.00 and that means at their desk, till, etc.. again you need to factor in travel and parking.

Schools who provide a Breakfast Club can help to alleviate this issue. I've seen at least 50 Breakfast Clubs in action. Often they are run by parents, or TAs and provide space for play, talk, reading etc. as well as food.

Yes, in a world where mum/dad stayed at home and had time for a family breakfast before escorting her/his children to school, it is of course ideal. But in the real world that's not going to happen.

That was to Jane not Jen

My DS and DiL have exactly the kind of gap, morning and afternoon, that Aka describes and the Breakfast Club and after school activities help to fill that gap. They also employ a carer part-time. It means the DGS get an opportunity to do creative activities and sports after school. They could and do, also do that stuff at home but they like doing them in organised groups. As far as depression is concerned, when I worked in HR I saw so many cases of hardworking and committed professional people who developed depression. Some times they could come in and work normally and some times they couldn't. This would mean with most employers that they end up losing their jobs. Then it is very hard to get another because your employment history has become questionable (why did you leave your last job? Why is there this gap in your history?). There are a lot of 'hidden' conditions that mean you can carry on fairly normally sometimes but are a very bad risk for an employer.

I agree Aka my son and DiL both work in industry and both have to be in work for 8am when they are on day shift. The working population is so much more than 9-5 and when parents are quite rightly encouraged to work and not scrounge from the state there is often no help allowing them to do so. Unless they are on their two days with me, my granchildren virtually never get to eat breakfast "around the table". Sadly for a lot of children breakfast is more often than not a rushed affair far too early in the morning.

I'm back (briefly) to add my to Jendurham I was chief carer to my husband while he had terminal cancer. For the last few weeks we had carers coming in four times a day for half-an-hour to help, but most of the responsibility was mine. While he was able to get about we would walk daily, like my neighbour who had the stroke, and outwardly he still looked like a healthy 70-year-old, but he could not have walked alone.

For Cactus neighbour to qualify for a carer's allowance (which is £59.75 a week, and is hardly mega-money at 59 pence an hour) she would have to fulfil these conditions -

"Spend at least 35 hours a week caring for a disabled person. It doesn't matter whether or not you live with them.

Care for someone who receives the higher or middle rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, either rate of Personal Independence Payment daily living component, or any rate of Attendance Allowance.

Not earn more than £100 a week (after deductions)

Not be in full-time education."

Plus she would have had to fill in a very long and detailed form about exactly what she had to do to look after him, covering all aspects of his care, and that would be checked up on.

I totally agree Jane- breakfast clubs are very important and valuable- but I would hate them to become the norm for all. We both worked, and I had a long commute- but we always got up a bit earlier so that we could have breakfast together, or at least one of us with the kids. And in the evening, we had our meal sitting at the table, together as a family- about 90% of the time (not always possible due to on-call, home visits and parents' evenings, meetings, etc). That family time together was just invaluable for us all - and our adult girls still talk about how important it was.

"A childminding gap" !!!!!!

Is that what school is for? Childminding? And is that what my excellently educated teacher daughter is - a childminder?!!! [ shock]

(Aka 8.36)

Maybe people should n't have kids if they can't afford for one of them to stay at home and look after them. You should n't be relying on schools to mind your children for you.

Agree jingl all kids are better educated at home!

Oh no jingle what are you saying? Children are not just for the rich you know and peoples circumstances can change in a breath!

.......and that is absolutely NOT how I read Aka's post at all.

No. Not just for the rich. But it's good if people think ahead, and plan if possible. School should n't be looked upon as a place for "minding" children.

I note that you have now moved on to child minding, in or out of schools. Has Hungry Britain run its course?

No, I'm sure it hasn't. Do carry on.

Teachers childminding ? Well yes, to an extent. If ever school was closed for a day for any reason, the cry from parents was almost always "Now I've got to find/sort out childminding"; rarely was it "Oh dear that's a valuable day of education lost."

Sorry. Off-subject. I'll shush.

dragon good point.

Thank you Aka.

May I add my penny worth?
I see both extremes. I see both disabled people who won't give in to their disability and the people who are determined to live on benefits.
The latter have frequently been on benefit for many years without having been checked up on. Now they are examined and found fit for work, they think it's not fair as they haven't changed for years,
Another problem is that it is not their ability to perform their original or indeed any particular job that is being examined, but are they capable of performing a number of very basic physical and mental activities.

Absolutely spot on, Dragonfly

In my area breakfast and after school clubs are not run by teachers, and a charge is made.
Whether some children receive free places if parents are on benefits I wouldn't know.

Yes, Galen, my husband used to say that he could probably stuff paper into envelopes. That was before his ataxia got so bad that he couldn't fold a piece of paper.
How long have you been doing the reviews?
Have the rules changed much?
I have read on Pulse that lots of doctors have given up working for Atos because they do not agree with the system now.

Which is the way it should be shysal I know my DGC would benefit from a breakfast club, but their school is sadly lacking in everything but the bare necessities.

We found out, Galen, when he was 65, that for years he could have been getting a lot more benefit, but the DWP had not told him so. I never had any bnefit as a carer for him. There's that side too. We found out through Ageuk.

I DO NOT WORK FOR ATOS
I sit on the appeals. We are independant of the dwp and ATOS. We're part of the MoJ.
Dwp are bad at telling people what they're entitled to. They're ok if you ask 'ami entitled to anything else?' But my feeling is that they don't volunteer it!
At least that's my impression. I could be wrong.
I seem to spend a lot of time advising people as to their disability entitlements.