Snow and school closures.

I am pleased that your GC have found a school that they are happy with. The secondary schools now seem massive and I fear that they are quite impersonal. My GC would have to have been bussed to secondary school as there is no school in the village. I don't know about yours but mine are not at the stage of travelling on their own, perhaps always having been escorted to school.
A couple of GC's friends moved closer to a school in Hexham because it was considered a better school but the houses were a lot more expensive there, so swings and roundabouts.

We are availing ourselves of the schools. My grandson was quite happy at the primary school, and his sister is happy there and going to secondary in September. She got her first choice.
In fact my grandson said that if the secondary had been smaller he would have enjoyed it. What he didn't enjoy was all the boys coming in from other areas, some of whom bullied him.
I've always thought it a shame that Northumberland now seems intent on getting rid of middle schools.

I did not say all the schools in Durham were rubbish, I said the village school that my GC attended had failed her. County Durham to be precise as distinct from the city centre.
Your schools may well be outstanding but if you are not availing yourself of them what is your point ?

Heaton primary schools as well, harrigran.
I never thought of Heaton as being in the East end. It's over the road from Tyne and Wear schools. I was talking about primary as well as secondary. It was on radio Newcastle that all the Heaton schools were open all the time.
Monica, I live in rural Durham, in a village 15 minutes drive from the Weardale ski centre. I am talking about villages in rural England, with 12 foot snowdrifts. Even had a snow plough go past my house yesterday.

Harrigran suggested that schools in Durham were rubbish. The schools in my village are all outstanding.
The reason we have schools plural is because they are all religious, but it's not all religious people who go to them, because they are like community schools.

Thanks harrigran, so it is a suburb of a city.
700 schools closed in the NE though, but perhaps not those in cities.

Jalima Heaton is in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne and I think the school dj is referring to is Heaton Manor.

And, to make travelling even more difficult, apparently the M4 is shut because of an overturned lorry and fuel spillage. I do hope that no-one is injured.

One road closed (landslide), the other has one lane open, the other lane piled high with snow and as it's now raining blocks of snow keep falling on to the part of the road that is open so driving is quite dangerous.
Oh, and it's 11 miles from home to the nearest secondary school for the older children.

Perhaps we should all move to Heaton (wherever that is).

Seriously Who left you in charge OldMeg?
“Dear”?

I thought it a lovely white holiday. Plenty of food and fun times. My dgc loved the days outside.

And calm down dear!

Take a break FGS Gilly

“People like that” have you listened to yourself Madame chairman ?

I’m sorry to upset you OldMeg but this is a free forum . Where everyone has the same rights to post . Just because the subject bores you. Well don’t read my posts . It really is that simple . Post something interesting . Go on . Start an interesting thread. Go on.

"All the teachers tripped gaily off to the pub" ? Are you sure Hellsbella. Have you got any proof? Don't you think the staff would be anxious to get home safely, rather than sit in a local pub.

You ask about my problem?

Ok. People who go on and on long after the subject has been well aired. Probably because I’ve had to chair too many meeting with people like that.

Sorry, but you did ask.

And I’m simply saying change the record Gilly - you were moaning about this the other day. You’ve done it to death. Let it go.

*dj In rural areas the local school can be 10 or 15 miles away and no alternative school within 25 miles or more. It is rural areas that are most likely to have local roads blocked by snow. 12 feet deep in places barely 20 miles from us.

All the secondary children in our village are bussed to secondary school as the nearest is over 4 miles away - and that is in south Oxfordshire.

It wasn't just schools closed. Many companies had to close down because people couldn't get to work. Buses weren't running and trains were cancelled. Electricity was cut off for some people.

Our area (well, the area where DGD live) operates a 'catchment area' but they are 'in the process of reviewing them' so it's anybody's guess where they will have to travel to school when they go on to secondary.
Perhaps we should downsize and apply to the local excellent independent schools on their behalf.

The schools in our LEA operate a feeder system suzied followed by sibling link (hard lines for the eldest child) . Very little chance of getting into the best secondaries if you don’t make it into the right feeder .

But not all schools have the “feeder primary” admissions policy, I would suggest it’s a small minority, most schools do have siblings, then catchment area policy. The mish mash of different regimes, academies, demise of local authorities, and the privatisation of state education to various trusts and bodies has led to there being different admissions policies which appear unchallengeable, and if you live in one of the areas where the admissions policy doesn’t work in your favour you will feel aggrieved.

No schools closed because everybody could get there.

I've never heard of Heaton and I would think it is quite an unusual place then if everybody could get into school, pupils and teachers. Presumably there are no children coming in to those schools from the surrounding rural areas and all teachers live in the town.

Most places aren't like that, however, people travel miles to the nearest village schools because that is the catchment and those village may feed in to a comprehensive in the nearest town - so even further to travel.
And it's not always possible for teachers and staff to get a job at their local schools even if they wanted to.

As for teachers working locally, I don't think a single one at our village school lives locally but several still managed to get there only to find the school was shut by the HT an hour later.

Isn’t that choice?
No one should have to defend their reasons for whatever type of education they choose, or for whatever reasons they choose it.
I agree.

Which is the way it always used to be and worked just fine dj

As happened in Heaton, gillybob.
No schools closed because everybody could get there.

My comments have nothing at all to do with harrigran's grandchildren either. I have never once suggested or implied that they were stealing a place from any of mine!