My 11-year-old daughter takes most things in her stride - but being told she can't attend her last ever week of primary school is really getting her down.
Ellie was instructed on Sunday night that she - like more than a million other children across the country - would have to self-isolate for 10 days because she'd come into contact with a positive Covid case last Friday afternoon. Ellie had actually taken a test that day as she was going to her class sleepover, but despite that coming back negative - and every test since then not showing any signs of infection - she must stay home for another week.
Instead of making memories with her friends, saying goodbye to her school and taking part in all the fun end-of-year events - her class had planned a massive water fight on the field because of the weather - she's got to stay in. Her school have even had to set them homework to do while they're off, although the teachers can't expect much to get done in the last week of term.
When I think of how Boris Johnson tried to wriggle out of his own self-isolation by claiming he and Rushi Sunak were part of a pilot scheme, it makes me furious. What a joke, it just made me think... what's the point anymore? It wasn't like they'd announced this scheme three weeks ago, he literally just chose it on the day, then U-turned on it. Why don't our children have that option?
I'm really frustrated that this bubble system is still in place 16 months on, and that somebody high up hasn't once thought 'we can't keep sending 30 children home'. If we took that stance with normal illnesses children would never be in school! If we've got to learn to live with it, we've got to live with it.
When you look back over the last 16 months of chaos and disruption to kids' education, I don't know how we're ever going to catch them up to speed. It's going to either be a miracle and make us overhaul the whole education system properly, like it needs, or they're going to end up so far behind that the same parameters for measuring learning won't count anymore.
Ellie's little brother Ramzy, is also isolating this week after his Year 3 class came into contact with a positive case. Both of them are active dancers and were meant to be starting dance summer camp on Monday, now they'll have to miss it despite neither of them having Covid.
They've got a vocabulary now that no child should have. A bubble is no longer the thing you blow from washing up liquid, it means something much more sinister now. Ellie is a clever girl and asks intelligent questions, but she just wants her life back. They all do.
We had to cancel three family holidays last year, including one to Butlins where they were meant to be dancing with Diversity. Ramzy always says he's got the same hair as Perri Kiely so he was really excited about going, but that had to be scrapped in the end. They get to an age where holidays like that aren't fun for them anymore so you don't do it. Now that ship has sailed.
I heard about the Covid vaccine being rolled out to children aged 12 and over, but in all honesty I don't think I'll let my kids get it until there's more research done on it. I'm double-jabbed and I'm 35 so it's fine for me, but until there's been a bit more time spent looking at the side effects, I'm swinging towards no.
As a call centre operator I'm able to work with Ellie at home fairly easily, but my heart goes out to parents in my position who don't have childcare options. I can't see how this can last much longer.
