schools opening when it has snowed!

tesuhoha

Its quite strange, I've just looked on the local school closures website. Every one of the high schools is closed but all the grammar schools apart from one are open. There are 6 in the immediate area and more slightly further away. All open.

peachyprice

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............

Couldn't help but think of you.

I just went to the jewellers to pick up a repair, and whaddya know, it was closed, due to snow.

Blows your theory out of the water that no other business/shop/service ever closes because of snow :rotfl::rotfl:

I guess schools aren't so unique after all.

daisiegg

peachyprice wrote: »

Couldn't help but think of you.

I just went to the jewellers to pick up a repair, and whaddya know, it was closed, due to snow.

Blows your theory out of the water that no other business/shop/service ever closes because of snow :rotfl::rotfl:

I guess schools aren't so unique after all.

Yesterday afternoon driving through my town it was like a ghost town. All the pubs (normally heaving on a Sunday afternoon) were closed and so was the small local supermarket which should have still been open at that time. So other places of work DO close in the snow, it is nonsense to say they don't.

When I was a student I used to work in a supermarket 5 mins walk from my home and I remember often being telephoned to come in and cover shifts at short notice when snow was too bad for people who lived further away to get to work. The shop would stay open but the shelves would be half empty and there wouldn't be enough tills open as they would be operating on a vastly reduced staff.

I think the difference is, schools need to know for sure how many staff they will have there and that they will all be there by a certain time, because they need enough staff to at least supervise (if not teach) the pupils. My school is closed today and I don't blame them - it is at the top of a very steep residential street, which is privately owned and doesn't get gritted. I drove past the same street yesterday and there were cars abandoned at the bottom as they couldn't get up it.

As others have said, most teachers don't live very close to their schools anymore. So, while another kind of workplace can cope if more than half of their staff are late due to the roads, schools can't, because there are laws about the ratio of adults to children you have to have. Back in December when there was a day of unexpected snow, my school had to make the decision to close at 9.30am because only 4 members of staff had managed to get there. It's not that staff weren't trying to come in; my colleague who lives a 10 minute drive away and who arrives at school before 7.30am every day left her house at 7am and still wasn't there by 9am due to the traffic. It was even worse for those who lived further away; I know of people who left their houses in the morning, were stuck in traffic for hours only to have to turn around when they heard the school was closed, got stuck in traffic on the way back and didn't arrive back home until 4 in the afternoon, having sat in a car that entire time! It is not that teachers are work-shy and don't even bother to try to get in.

My mum works in a hospital lab and was also 2 hours late to work that particular day in December, but that was ok - the lab didn't close - it just meant the work had to be delayed and done when people arrived there. But that isn't an option for schools as you can't leave children unsupervised. I don't understand why this is so difficult for people to understand! The trains were disrupted so my OH worked from home that day - that was ok, he is in a job where he can do that - sadly I can't supervise children remotely!

I don't know what jonnyl is on about with people clearing school sites, etc. I don't know of any schools that claim to be closed due to the condition of their site - they are usually closed due to the condition of the roads.

On Friday my school stayed open all day as there was very little snow (it all came down over the weekend), but like others have said, as soon as the first signs of snowfall appeared, parents were turning up to take their kids home early.

Like others have said, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Goldiegirl

I understand that schools may need to close due to 'elf and safety.

But it makes me grin that all the kids are using their time off to go sledging, which is probably more likely to cause injury than going to school!

marisco_2

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............

Firstly I would like to say that I dont agree with schools closing due to adverse weather, but can appreciate why sometimes this has to happen.

The main reason why some cant open is due simply to the number of children being cared for on the premises. There needs to be enough staff able to get in to look after them. Not just teachers but playtime and lunchtime supervisors and dinner ladies.

There are over 800 pupils at the school where I teach. They need to be in a builiding that has heat, light, running water, working toilets, a canteen that is up and running and a safe site to move around in inside and out.

You are quite right in that Tescos or any shop dont close due to snow. They are hardly fair comparrisons though are they? They dont have the same responsibilities or duty of care to so many young children as schools have.

The school where I work opened today as usual and caused no inconvenience to the families of our pupils. Many in the local area had delayed opening times of between 30 minutes to an hour. This was to allow for staff to arrive safely. I think, no actually I hope, you can see that everyone is entitled in this weather to travel into work safely and not feel worried or overly pressured to race in when there are terrible road conditions. Once these schools knew their premises were safe and their staff numbers were okay they welcomed the kids in.

The consequence of not doing this is that you allow hundreds of children in and then have to send them home because you dont have required staffing levels or safe premises. Doesn't that just potentially mess up parents days even more?

As a parent I would not wish to send my children to a school that did not take sensible levels of care and consideration before allowing my children in.

Mrs.W_2

After five looooong days trapped at home with the family, I'm beginning to believe Jack's murderous rampage in The Shining had nothing to do with supernatural intervention.

I have everything crossed for the school scraping together a handful of teachers tomorrow!

Valli

peachyprice wrote: »

Couldn't help but think of you.

I just went to the jewellers to pick up a repair, and whaddya know, it was closed, due to snow.

Blows your theory out of the water that no other business/shop/service ever closes because of snow :rotfl::rotfl:

I guess schools aren't so unique after all.

Two of my neighbours (men, no children at home) haven't been at work today - one went out and came back home (plant hire depot manager) and NDN, who works for British Gas (pipe repairs/supply, not domestic engineer) never went in.

So, as you say, NOT just schools.

mummyroysof3

Both schools were closed today which was good cos I was pretty sure I wasn't going tO take them anyway...had text to say eldests school is open tomorrow but my husband has informed me we are due more snow. Will wait and see in the morning I guess. Tbh I would rather them not open than open then shut 2 hours later so I've have to struggle back again

toshkininny

it was amazing the amount of dads that were at school pick up today. I feel sorry for one of mine as she wasn't allowd to go and play in the snow although all the other classes did!

Shoshannah

I work for a small business. We've been open normal hours Thursday, Friday, Saturday and today. We cannot work from home. Some of our staff live a 1 hour drive away. We get by.