schools opening when it has snowed!

marisco_2

Valli wrote: »

There aren't even 5000 chemical plants

If johnnyl had made the most of his education he would know how to research information like that

Valli

marisco wrote: »

If johnnyl had made the most of his education he would know how to research information like that

Lucky for me I was working in that industry; I know how scant it is now;) there were three large chemical plants locally; they've all gone now.

thegirlintheattic

bylromarha wrote: »

Disagree with that one - all my kids away today were marked as unauthorised absence. If my head could have found a way round it, she would have!

Should be changed when it goes through the absence officer. We mark in SIMS as N, which then gets changed to Y. The absence officer checks that the children are those who could not walk to school AND are in areas where there was bad snow and no alternative transport.

The rules changed in 10 so that Y can be used when students cannot make it into school due to exceptional circumstances (such as weather). It used to be only used for things like the whole school closing or student's LEA provided transport being cancelled. The government changed to rules so that schools are not punished for staying open.

Maybe point this out to your head:
http://bso.bradford.gov.uk/news/4703-adverse-weather---attendance-at-school---use-of-the-y-code

Also from BBC "9. The contentious issue of school attendance - which is inspected by Ofsted - isn't part of the equation, according to the DfE, which says head teachers should not be worried about the impact that remaining open might have on their attendance statistics. Before 2010, pupils who did not turn up to school in extreme weather had to be marked down as absent, which wasn't the case if the school shut. But the DfE says the department amended regulations in September 2010, allowing the school to use the attendance code Y - which does not affect attendance statistics - when a pupil cannot get in because of severe weather. However if the head teacher believes that a child could have got to school, then the child should be recorded as code O - an unauthorised absence, it says."

kingfisherblue

The decision to keep our special school open was only made at 8.45am, which was far too late for most parents. By that time, children are on the transport provided. That's for those who actually had transport.

I had made the decision to keep my son off school, as the side roads are not gritted and were dreadful after a snowfall on Friday. I had to drive to school to collect my son, andd whilst main roads were ok, the side roads were not. The school is on a side road that was awful, and my car slid as I turned out of the school gates. I didn't want to risk that again, so I kept my son off. As it happens, school was open for those whose transport providers turned up, but my son's route was one of those that did not run.

My son doesn't have any behavioural issues, but some parents have had a difficult day because their children need the routine and find it hard to cope with disruptions. I have pointed this out to the school, and requested an earlier decision tomorrow. We have now been informed that we will receive a text by 7.30am.

Even if school is open, there is no guarantee of transport, and there does not seem to be a system to inform anyone whether our transport is running or not.

Wyre

I'm going to turn this round a second. We got a call at 6.30am saying the youngest's school was open but a bit later than normal. This was done by phone tree so everyone knew. It was on the website and so on.

So my lass gets her train which was delayed due to the weather, walks the rest of the way to the school, through the boys school that is closed and goes to her form room to find she is the only child that turned up. She was the only child in all her lessons bar one where there were 2 of them.

I would love to the reason why the other parents chose not to send their girls to school.

POPPYOSCAR

We live in a rural area outside of the town.

We managed to get our daughter to the college bus at 7.30am in the town centre as usual.

However, hardly any of the students turned up and only one of her tutors so she has spent a boring day she tells me(probably on the phone to her boyfriend all day!)

She has also tonight gone to her dance classes which are over 10 miles away, the teacher emailed to say it was still on. I just hope she is not the only one there!

johnnyl

daisiegg wrote: »

None of those other places are looking after children. How can you not get that through your head?!
...

there is nothing to get into anyones head, it makes no difference. Health and safety law applies to all. We have a responsibility at our work to protect the welfare of those on and off-site from potential gas explosions.

do we

a) turn the gas off, shut the plant and sign on the dole

or

b) Reduce the risks in practical ways.

The answer is b. Id expect schools to do the same and reduce the risk on their premises from the snow, something that can and is done elsewhere.

bylromarha wrote: »

Southern Water refused to take my phone call on Friday, and Saturday, and made me wait longer due to reduced operators just now - reason on voicemail service...due to the snow.

100% of the call centre of a large utility was closed for 2 days.

Maybe if I'd needed to ring other companies, I'd find more were closed.

Were 20% of call centres closed - no.

must try harder

mrcow wrote: »

Lloyds bank telephone banking service were apologising to customers yesterday for the unusual delays in their service. Reason - bad weather.

yes, we know, everyone can fiond one example. Ive challenged you to find a proffesion that was 20% closed. There isnt one.

johnnyl

marisco wrote: »

If johnnyl had made the most of his education he would know how to research information like that

if marisco read a little further down he / she would realise that the challenge is to find any other group that has a 20% no show rate. So are 20% of chemical plants shut...the answer is no. 20% of hairdressers? No....20% of anything other than schools.....no

people ask the question as to why schools have this reputation, the simple answer is that the reputation is as a consequence of what schools do.

daisiegg

johnnyl wrote: »

there is nothing to get into anyones head, it makes no difference. Health and safety law applies to all. We have a responsibility at our work to protect the welfare of those on and off-site from potential gas explosions.

do we

a) turn the gas off, shut the plant and sign on the dole

or

b) Reduce the risks in practical ways.

The answer is b. Id expect schools to do the same and reduce the risk on their premises from the snow, something that can and is done elsewhere.

.

THAT IS NOT THE PROBLEM! We are not talking about schools closing because of dangerous premises - they are closing because of dangerous roads! As I have said, most businesses can remain open if more than half their staff are late to work but schools CANNOT as they have to have a certain ratio of adults to children. You are clearly struggling to comprehend this.

Wyre

Have to say round here the council does not grit anything other than the main roads and most of the schools are off small side roads. Even when the main roads are clear it can be a complete nightmare trying to get to them.