schools opening when it has snowed!

annie1975_2

toshkininny wrote: »

Well I hope they let the children play in the snow at our school - my children didn't want to go today but my playing card was to tell them at least they can play in the snow with their friends at lunchtime.

Don't think they are allowed to play out in the snow. Health and safety.Shame really we loved it as kids..if they are just sat watching films etc they may as well be at home enjoying the snow.(Unless child care is a problem).

pollypenny

johnnyl wrote: »

rather strangely, everyone else in the country can manage to get into work.

No they cannot!

The local news featured a number of people who could not get to work.

There were some who were able to work from home, like the ITV Wales reporter who did a bit on his village in the Rhondda Valley.

maman

toshkininny wrote: »

Well I hope they let the children play in the snow at our school - my children didn't want to go today but my playing card was to tell them at least they can play in the snow with their friends at lunchtime.

Even if the school took a sensible attitude to Health & Safety that's not all the problem. If children go out in the snow they invariably get wet. Large numbers of children just don't have suitable clothes and shoes. Then they are in wet clothes all day. I used to compromise and let them out late afternoon for a while but still some parents complained.

I don't mean to be rude annie but your little comment about childcare really rankles. Teachers aren't babysitters. So much of the discussion on here and in the media seems to demonstrate that the main reason many parents are angry that schools are closed is because they miss out on the 'free' childcare.

nottslass_2

peachyprice wrote: »

Erm, maybe the fact that they are responsible for the safety of 100's or 1000's of children?

There's already a member here suing her school because her son broke his tooth on PE equipment, can you imagine the field day parents like that would have if little Johhny fell over and broke his leg in the snow covered playground?

'erm its strange how,library's, parks,car parks,doctors surgerys,hospitals,private schools,nurseries,leisure centers,shops etc manage to stay open despite the risk of being sued .

redwasp

I'm a governor of our local school, and we would never do this; we have the safety of the kids, and the staff, as well as the parents coming to school to think of. And that's above everything else, political points, stats, everything. We make every effort to stay open, but if its just too dangerous for the staff to travel, or the kids onsite, then we have no choice but to close.

pigpen

peachyprice wrote: »

There's already a member here suing her school because her son broke his tooth on PE equipment, can you imagine the field day parents like that would have if little Johhny fell over and broke his leg in the snow covered playground?

Seriously!!?? that is insane.. my daughter smashed one of her back teeth to bits on the seesaw at nursery.. I said.. these things happen.. and never gave it a second thought.. some people eh!?

The conditions here aren't bad at all really, but the number of idiot parents who walk their children in front of our 2 ton 8 seater bus is unreal.. the roads are icy and stopping distances are increased and the only way we manage to not his a woman and her 2 daughters the other day was because we clunked into a huge pothole.. but what were they thinking? Is it normal to step into the road 1.5/2m in front of a moving vehicle, ever, and reasonably expect it to stop?

We live about 10 minutes walking distance from school but I have issues with my hips and knees and 2 of my girls have disabilities so walking is difficult and painful for them so if we couldn't drive them in icy conditions they wouldn't go and 2 years ago when it was very bad they stayed home for 3 days, I was pregnant at the time and not prepared to risk myself or my girls safety just for school..

I wouldn't want mine outside in the nasty white stuff. Sitting for the whole afternoon in cold wet clothes is not acceptable! and the schools don't like wet carpets.

peachyprice

nottslass wrote: »

'erm its strange how,library's, parks,car parks,doctors surgerys,hospitals,private schools,nurseries,leisure centers,shops etc manage to stay open despite the risk of being sued .

Isn't it.

But parents are far more precious about someone else putting their little darlings at risk than adults are about risking their own health by going to the bank, library, leisure centre, shops etc, don't you find.

DCodd

nottslass wrote: »

The thing that I don't understand is that schools are to only place that appear to shut during the bad weather.

Has anyone ever seen a Tesco (or any shop) shut due to the snow ?

Every other buisness / service manages to operate despite the weather conditions, what makes a school so unique............

Have you ever thought that these businesses can open because the schools shut?

In November 2010 in my area all the schools stayed open despite the snow on the first day. The traffic was awful took me 3 hours to get to work and nearly 6 to get home (got home around Midnight). I passed a school at 10.30pm that was still open, waiting for parents to get through the traffic to pick their kids up.

Businesses and local retailers attacked the decision for the schools to stay open, blaming them for the traffic chaos. Citing warnings from the Police and Motoring organisations to only go out if necessary and the fact that the public transport was not running as evidence that the decision to stay open was irresponsible. Apparently it cost them fortunes in lost revenue and unecessary running costs.

Schools then closed the day after the first snowfall and people moaned that they shut. Damned if they do and Damned if they don't.

SingleSue

The high school in my area is open today, albeit it opened at 10.10 instead of 8.20. To get to school (which is out of catchment), I had to do rural, village roads before I reached the main road...the first part of the journey was very eek (after I had dug the car out), the second part, fine.

Mine can't walk to school, eldest especially as his joints constantly dislocate, so I have to take the car.

What got me this morning is the amount of parents who kept their children home who live much much closer to the school (certainly walking distance and on the main roads which were pretty much clear), we got in from a rural area on untreated and uncleared roads so why can't they?

Mind you, if they had closed the school I would have been just as happy and a lot less stressed!

pollypenny

nottslass wrote: »

The thing that I don't understand is that schools are to only place that appear to shut during the bad weather.

Has anyone ever seen a Tesco (or any shop) shut due to the snow ?

Every other buisness / service manages to operate despite the weather conditions, what makes a school so unique............

Not true, the Welsh news on Friday showed that many shops had not been able to open.

As has been said, what makes a school unique is that it has care of children.

They may be small and easily hurt. On the other hand, they could be hulking teenagers, who can occasionally be reckless is now.

BTw: I broke my arm, slipping on ice in the cleared grounds of my school.