Snow and school closures.

Why do people complain so much is my question. The UK doesn't usually have extremes of weather, we aren't geared up for excessive heat, snow etc. We have an austerity government where essential, front line services are being slashed to the bone. Is it surprising we don't have snow ploughs etc when it so rarely snows?
As others have said, in the 50's and 60's most of us, including teachers, walked to School. Teachers may now drive at least an hour or an hour and half to do a 15 mile journey that outside rush hour would take half an hour. Pupils often take two buses to get to their high school of choice. It isn't complicated to realise that opening schools under these circumstances would pose more problems than it solves.
I wish it were not so. It is. We should just get over it, count our blessings and stop complaining.

When I was a child in the bad winter of 62, our school never closed - nor did any others. BUT it was the norm for mothers not to work, grandparents to live nearby and school to be just a walk away with no need to drop off siblings at nursery or childminder en route.
Things have changed.
Our school closed early on Wednesday and the staff all tripped gaily off to the pub. For my twopennorth, I'd have preferred the Head to say in the text "Anyone who can't leave work and doesn't want their child in an empty house/snowstorm, the school will remain open and students will be supervised by staff who live locally." I don't teach anymore but I don't see why I should get a paid day off when I could be looking after kids whose parents will lose money if they leave work. I suppose the drawback is that you have to guarantee a child/staff ratio for Elfen Safety.

Agreed trisher

'Twas ever thus. And that's why no one wants to do the job!

Poor Head teachers it's a case of damned if they do and damned if they don't. I am certain, sure that this is a decision not taken lightly, they do have to answer to LA and Ofsted

The wind was blowing the snow.....

Last time it snowed my DGS school closed for one day only until the playground was cleared of snow and ice.
The others schools on either side (walking distance from DGS school) remained closed.

Today DGS school remained open.
The school cleared a path and opened side a entrance for all pupils.
The schools on either side were closed yesterday and today.
Up to yet my other DGS nursery has also remained open.

I actually hope that the nursery and school are closed tomorrow.
The roads were very icy at school pick up and the snow was blowing the snow like a sand storm from the fields and on to the roads.?

Teachers no longer live near their school. If teachers have a long journey to school, head teachers may be concerned that they will not have enough teachers in for proper supervision.

It is a difficult call to make. I had an evening class on Tuesaday in a town 15 miles away. We had snow showers all afternoon and they were due to continue all evening and temperatures were plunging. I decided not to go. Of course once the decision was made the snow stopped, it turned to be very localised, with none in the town where my class was. But I had to make a decision and made on best information available.

My teacher daughter-in-law has a snow day today so is simply working from home and catching up on the mountain of paperwork that she would otherwise be doing in her own time after school.

I seem to remember in the dim and distant days if you were a teacher who couldn't get to the school where you taught, you went to your local school and taught there. Seems a good idea now that schools are closing because staff can't get to work because they have to travel.

I’m sure they do, gilly, but if the HT cannot guarantee the safety of the children if there aren’t enough staff, then it makes sense to close. Some parents are litigious and blame the school for inadequate supervision if there is a fight or their child falls over. ( even when said child is misbehaving)

^ Maybe just tell them that a snowball should only be snow and nothing else but maybe I'm old fashioned.^
I do remember some 'very naughty, rough boys' making snowballs with stones in the middle when I was little and pelting us girls with them.
very naughty, rough boys, keep away from them - my DM's words.

I think the parents "moan about the school being closed" mainly because they can't go to work and probably don't get paid suzied.

The last school I worked at was an independent school. It didn’t close as then parents might have demanded a refund! Teachers who lived within walking distance were expected to be in. It took me 1 hour to walk in but I did only to find hardly any children there. We had a lovely day. Parents who moan about their child’s school being closed might be the first ones to complain if their little darling had been injured slipping on ice in the playground or in a snowball fight.

I read recently that in America snow days taken have to be added to the end of the summer term.

Me neither harri we used to trudge through the snow and the heating was often off when we got there, lessons in coats!

They've all gone soft

DS and family live in a village, they can't get to work and the schools are closed. Just had a call to say the power was off.
I can not remember losing a day at school through bad weather, maybe we were made of stronger stuff.

In a bad winter a few years ago (2010/11?) our LA told teachers that they should report to their nearest school if they couldn't reach their own school. That allowed some schools to stay open, particularly primary schools.

In that same winter, the school bus my daughter used only ran for nine days between 23rd Nov and 11th Feb. Normally the school says that children shouldn't be brought into school under their own steam because of the danger that they couldn't get home again.

In that case, though, parents, with the agreement of school, overrode the advice and we all took our children in ourselves, using the same roads the bus apparently couldn't negotiate!

In most areas of Scotland, it is the local authority who decide if schools close, using text messaging service to parents, Twitter, council and school websites, radio etc. I used to have to get up at the crack of dawn to put it on our school website, as that was the first place most parents looked. ?
Much more sensible than leaving HTs to do it. .

Headteachers agonise about these decisions. They definitely don’t take them lightly.
They have to take into account the number of staff who can safely travel there, the state of the local roads, pavement access, the paths in the school grounds, bus services running or not.
Then they have to guess all those issues for end of the school day - whether children and staff can travel home safely.
I think it’s a rare school nowadays where pupils and teachers all live within easy walking distance.
Headteachers will get criticised for whatever decision they make, but they would be considered responsible if a child or member of staff were to be seriously injured.

ime-time

But actually it was fun. We extended play ime took turns supervising, built snowmen etc. Before the days of Elf and Safety of course.

mome ??

some.

Unlike teachers, mome people don't get paid if they don't go to work though.

Exactly why my eldest DGD's school has closed OurKid1 . As it happens she could walk there but the majority of children are bused in from miles away. The buses were all taken off so school has closed.

My youngest 2's school was open yesterday (closed today) but they have to take 2 buses to/from school and couldn't physically get there.

Bring back the days when children could go to schools close to home. It's madness.