School closed. You have to make the time up in holidays!

skt107

bugbabe1970 wrote: »

My husband is a teacher and i am a child Care Officer in a school. We both had a day off last week and a day off today. We were both told not to attempt getting to school as it was too dangerous and the school was closed. I really cant see why I should get docked a days pay for this as i was available to go to work but was told to stay home. It is at the discretion of each headteacher as to whether they open the school or not.

Im trying not to be biased about this as I have 3 children of my own and it caused my family disruption as well. They were all off school. They go to 3 different schools that were all closed due to dangerous conditions so i apreciate the problem with child care etc.

I think the difference is if you are told not to attempt getting to school because it is closed or if you dont bother trying to get in if the school is open!

As far as the discussion goes on whether teaching is an easy/valid/worthwhile job, then surely it is the same in every proffession (sp?). You get good and bad in all, and those who want to do the best for the pupils really do put a lot of effort into their planning and teaching. Its not the hardest job, but its not the easiest.

My husband teaches in a special school for pupils with extreme emotional and behavioural difficulties, he loves it, its hard wotk, but compared with the 10 years he spent in the army its a walk in the park. And yes the school hols are a major perk, thats not deniable but as anyone who works with children knows its an exhausting, emotionally draining proffesion so the hols are justified imho.

A very good post bugbabe :-)

Belysh

Take a look at the forum on School closures are snow joke if you haven't already. It might make you feel better .

Pennylane

poet123 wrote: »

There really is nothing to debate here. In our area all the schools closed at the edict of the LEA, as they were not prepared to risk litigation if anyone was injured. No choices, no argument....closed for 4 days.

No Tesco deliveries, no post, no bins emptied for the same reasons.

I am not convinced about this at all. Show me some facts and figures please. It seems to me like a very convenient smokescreen.

I was talking to a young Lithuanian woman today. She told me that the schools over there carry on as normal until it gets to about -25. She really cannot remember many occasions when her school was closed.

Their roads are gritted, their public transport carries on. They have to use special tyres on their cars and they are responsible for clearing snow outside their own houses.

mikey72

Pennylane wrote: »

I am not convinced about this at all. Show me some facts and figures please. It seems to me like a very convenient smokescreen.

I was talking to a young Lithuanian woman today. She told me that the schools over there carry on as normal until it gets to about -25. She really cannot remember many occasions when her school was closed.

Their roads are gritted, their public transport carries on. They have to use special tyres on their cars and they are responsible for clearing snow outside their own houses.

We don't live in her catchment area though, and it'ld be a long bus ride for my kids as well.

FatAndy

aimee21j wrote: »

My school was closed last Wednesday and barely any kids turned up on the Thursday and Friday. Should they be fined/made to make up the time too?

Yes.

It works both ways. If it's possible to get to school then you should make the effort regardless of whether you're a teacher or a pupil.

FatAndy

skt107 wrote: »

I agree Andy, some schools do close down what seems to be too quickly. But when there are case studies of parents suing the school because their child has fallen on the ice on the way into school, you can see why schools have to be careful unfortunately. It's rubbish but it's true!

I understand the point but schools are not being closed in the interests of the safety of the pupils. If a child is in school they'll spend the day safe and warm and properly supervised in a classroom. If the school is closed they'll most likely be wandering the streets and will therefore be far more likely to slip on ice and injure themselves. Not to mention other risks like being hit by a car crossing the road.

So basically the child is put at far greater risk, but if and when an accident occurs it's someone else's fault. I'm not suggesting that this has anything to do with teachers, it's to do with society as a whole. But it is wrong.

LouiseSA

the182guy wrote: »

Hi all,

Someone I know works for a primary school. Today and yesterday the school has been closed because of the weather, they have been told that because they are off they have to make the time up during the summer holiday, or they can try and come in if they don't want to do that.

Doesn't seem right to me, I know two other people that work at different schools who when asked have never heard of this policy.

What are your thoughts?

My main concerns that my son who is in year 10 cant afford to miss so much school and I hope they open the school at half so the pupils can catch up on the lessons they have missed.

poet123

Pennylane wrote: »

I am not convinced about this at all. Show me some facts and figures please. It seems to me like a very convenient smokescreen.

I was talking to a young Lithuanian woman today. She told me that the schools over there carry on as normal until it gets to about -25. She really cannot remember many occasions when her school was closed.

Their roads are gritted, their public transport carries on. They have to use special tyres on their cars and they are responsible for clearing snow outside their own houses.

It is a balancing act though, in Lithuania they are geared up for the weather because that is the norm. Here, if councils invest too much money in snow planning they would be pilloried if that snow did not arrive ,which it generally doesn't. These have been exceptional conditions which may not be repeated in the next 30 years.

Can I ask if you have bought snow chains or tyres? I suspect not, because like me, you do not expect to use them frequently enough to jujstify the outlay.


That is why we are unprepared. Now, we could be very prepared for snow, and have freak floods which we are not prepared for, money and resources are finite and have to be spent on the balance of probability. We will only ever have have basic preparations in place for extremes of weather in the UK because of the cost implication.

With regard to your point re litigation, the fear of it is enough to ensure those in authority err on the side of caution. I am not privy to the figures re law suits against schools but I have sat in on many parent meetings where the threat has been made, and for quite trivial issues. I am therefore sure, that given that the police, and motoring advice was not to travel/venture out unless necessary, if the schools had opened and accidents had occurred there would have been a lot of claims. Y ou needd only look at hwo many peiople claim for whiplash. from mnior bumps to know that we are an increasingly litiginous society.

I would far rather my LEA spent it's limited budget on educatiiong my child than on defending a case brought by unscrupulous parents out to make a quick buck, or on the other side of the coin, pay out a legitimate claim for a seriously injured child

donnajunkie

skt107 wrote: »

Yeah you can plan a lesson in a few seconds...if you're a crap teacher!!!!! These days you have to meet the needs of the children, which means we don't just stand up and dictate...especially in a primary school! It means spending time thinking about the best way to teach it to the children, and making it so that they enjoy what they're learning!

Then there's the differentiation - which means 3 if not 4 different tasks for each lesson which suits the childs level. Then you have practical resources to prepare, whiteboard presentations to get ready. So a typical lesson can easily take an hour to plan and prepare if not longer. Not all of them of course, but a lot of them. Then you have 30 books to mark after that. For each lesson.

And that's just the planning and marking, that doesn't even consider all of the other paperwork/assessments/subject co-ordination/report writing/target setting/displays that needs to be done. If you would be happy sending your child to a school where a teacher spends 2 minutes planning a lesson then I would be worried. It's not stupid - it's about wanting to the best for those children.

Sorry to everyone else on this site - I just found that post quite insensitive.

i dont understand why a lot of the things involved cant be thought of on the spot while in the lesson. for example the thinking of questions to ask the kids. if i was a teacher of metal work and the lesson was going to be about welding. i would not need to sit and plan to work out things like what questions i am going to ask. i could think of them straight away in the lesson. i could ask what types of welding processes are there or what does mma stand for etc.

Apolonation

Anihilator wrote: »

How do you know they arent? Its unlikely staff who choose just not to show up are getting free pay.

Secondly no it isnt. Its entirely upto management at the school. Situations will be different in each school.

The fact is you either make it to work and do your job, make up the time or take it as leave (if they allow)

You certainly cant expect to get paid to stay at home.

The idiots on these forums really are a bunch of scammers.

How has this guy not been KA-BANned yet? :T