schools opening when it has snowed!

Frith

I wish my sons' schools were shut tomorrow! Last Thursday, my younger son's school head phoned to ask me not to send him in on Friday (this before a flake of snow, but it was forecast). His school is a 60 mile round trip (taxi for 10 miles, then 20 miles in a minibus).

We've had 19cm of snow since then and the roads are possibly even worse now than they were on Friday.

make_me_wise

bylromarha wrote: »

Nope, they began turning up at the doors. As it was snowing. Local parents walked in to do that. Didn't matter that the school site had been cleared and was safe to be in, they came to get their kids anyway.

Same thing happened at the school where I teach. Parents turning up asking to take their kids home mid morning. We were happy to stay open. The parents were the ones panicking and wanting to get their kids home safely, early in the day.

bylromarha

johnnyl wrote: »

Ive worked on projects where I have put in 16 hrs + in a day, not for nothing mind IO am well paid for it. It isnt a 9-5 job, its a et it done job. That is obviously an extreme

Not an extreme at all - OH is self employed and our marriage nearly fell apart as he was working 18 hour days for 6 months of the year. It cracked him and it cracked us.

And 16 hour days aren't unheard of in teaching either...residentials (24 hour work for 7 days there) , school day trips, sport tournaments, parents evenings, school concerts and shows...

Own_My_Own

A good few years ago when my 2 were at primary school, it shut early due to snow.
I walked up there in what felt like a blizzard, as I would not drive. The roads were blocked by parents who could or would not walk. What was normally a 10 minute walk took nearer 30 minutes.
By 3 o'clock, when they should have been let out, the wind and snow had stopped and everything was calm.

I always think of that day, when schools shut early now. The children were at more risk getting home than they would have been staying there. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Spendless

bylromarha wrote: »

Nope, they began turning up at the doors. As it was snowing. Local parents walked in to do that. Didn't matter that the school site had been cleared and was safe to be in, they came to get their kids anyway.

You learn something every day.:D I can understand that if parents live far away and worry if they leave it too long, they'll not be able to get home, but not for schools where the majority live within walking distance.

I live where it's flat. We only ever get bad snow if the surrounding hillier areas get it really bad. It's only lightly snowing at min. I suspect if kids schools close it will be to do with their staff getting in and getting home, especially eldest's secondary school as the staff tend to come from further afield.

Lunar_Eclipse

I can understand small and rural schools closing, but there is no reason why most schools can't open tomorrow.

Anyone worried about being able to get to work needs to investigate ways of getting closer ahead of bad weather and staying there. Just as my husband might consider staying in a hotel in London for example, some teachers, family issues aside, could do the same.

poet123

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

I can understand small and rural schools closing, but there is no reason why most schools can't open tomorrow.

Anyone worried about being able to get to work needs to investigate ways of getting closer ahead of bad weather and staying there. Just as my husband might consider staying in a hotel in London for example, some teachers, family issues aside, could do the same.

And would your husband foot the bill for that himself? And, if most teachers can't get in, fewer pupils will, so they would be doing that for the sake of it.

ruby-roo_2

Got to laugh at johnnyl. Dont know about the rest of you but I cant take someone seriously when they express themsleves in an agressive tone and use swear words. It totally undermines the point they are trying to get across.

Valli

One day, when kids are trapped in a school, with no food, no blankets and, possibly (because power lines go down in bad weather) no heating then some of these nay-sayers will realise why schools are closed if there is snow.
Let's just hope, if it happens, the child with say, diabetes or asthma doesn't have a problem and doesn't require the ambulance that cannot get to the school because of the snow.

zoominatorone

poet123 wrote: »

And would your husband foot the bill for that himself? And, if most teachers can't get in, fewer pupils will, so they would be doing that for the sake of it.

They should be going in "for the sake of it" anyway--no wonder teachers get a bad press, they think they are above the rules of everyone else.

People would soon start kicking off if supermarket staff started callin in en-masse because of the snow and shops had to close! Or are they somehow less worthy than teachers?