Snow Day Rights

RichardD1970

Robin9 wrote: »

and the schools didn't close !

The problem is that nowadays the staff mostly live much further away and it is impractical or even dangerous to try to reach the school.

This means that even if some more local staff could make it in there is still an issue of not having the required number of staff to keep the school open.

Add into that the fact that most kids now get driven to school, how long before the parents start blaming the school for "forcing" them to drive in dangerous conditions. :rotfl:

London50

RichardD1970 wrote: »

The problem is that nowadays the staff mostly live much further away and it is impractical or even dangerous to try to reach the school.

This means that even if some more local staff could make it in there is still an issue of not having the required number of staff to keep the school open.

Add into that the fact that most kids now get driven to school, how long before the parents start blaming the school for "forcing" them to drive in dangerous conditions. :rotfl:

while I agree with some of what you say it is strange to me that it only seems in this country that a couple of inches of snow or a bit of ice and large areas come to a standstill.While rural areas do have some claim regarding the closing of schools due to loss of heating IMO there is no reason why a person teaching {or in any other job} cannot use their legs and walk {I know for many "walk" is a four letter word in more than its'spelling}. Life does not stop just because it snows or the temp drops low.
The winter of 62/63 was bad few schools shut due to the weather and I do wonder if generations past were tougher than the ones today {perhaps that is something that could be debated sometime on the forum ??};)

JCS1

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Some geniune feedback. You are not allowed unpaid leave to look after your child (if, for example, their school is shut). You are allowed UL to arrange cover to look after your child. If their school is shut for more than a day, you are supposed to have used the first day to make such arrangements. It's exactly the same if your child is sick - we get frequent posts on this board from parents who fail to appreciate the difference between their right to take a day to arrange emergency care and their assumed but non-existent right to at home to look after their child for the period of sickness.

Quite surprised the official article doesn't make this distinction.

TyreLever

"If you're unable to get to work, the best thing is try to come to an alternative agreement with your employer, such as working from home"

Hear this work from home stuff a lot. Im a fork lift driver, how would I go about working from home? What a stupid thing to say.

RichardD1970

London50 wrote: »

while I agree with some of what you say it is strange to me that it only seems in this country that a couple of inches of snow or a bit of ice and large areas come to a standstill.While rural areas do have some claim regarding the closing of schools due to loss of heating IMO there is no reason why a person teaching {or in any other job} cannot use their legs and walk {I know for many "walk" is a four letter word in more than its'spelling}. Life does not stop just because it snows or the temp drops low.
The winter of 62/63 was bad few schools shut due to the weather and I do wonder if generations past were tougher than the ones today {perhaps that is something that could be debated sometime on the forum ??};)

How far? The majority of teachers I know (which is quite a few) live from 5 to 50 miles away. The one who lives five could very easily walk it, but what about the ones who live 10, 20, 50 miles away?

Yes the UK doesn't cope well with what is, in reality, a relative little amount of snow because it is such a rare, sporadic occurrence that it isn't worth investing in the infrastructure and equipment to deal with the odd occasion.

z1a

TyreLever wrote: »

"If you're unable to get to work, the best thing is try to come to an alternative agreement with your employer, such as working from home"

Hear this work from home stuff a lot. Im a fork lift driver, how would I go about working from home? What a stupid thing to say.

Oh, I dunno, maybe you can help transport my 19 ton cnc to my house, then I can work from home once I've had 3 phase leccy supplied.

London50

RichardD1970 wrote: »

How far? The majority of teachers I know (which is quite a few) live from 5 to 50 miles away. The one who lives five could very easily walk it, but what about the ones who live 10, 20, 50 miles away?

Yes the UK doesn't cope well with what is, in reality, a relative little amount of snow because it is such a rare, sporadic occurrence that it isn't worth investing in the infrastructure and equipment to deal with the odd occasion.

YesI agree the fact of teachers living x distance away from their teaching school would be a problem but {and yes to many will think this a stupid idea} why cannot in a situation like that these teachers then cover a local school,I would hope that classes would have work that the students could do if only for a few days until things improve allowing the norm to happen. After all doctors/nurses ect can do it within the NHS so why not schools:idea:

RichardD1970

London50 wrote: »

YesI agree the fact of teachers living x distance away from their teaching school would be a problem but {and yes to many will think this a stupid idea} why cannot in a situation like that these teachers then cover a local school,I would hope that classes would have work that the students could do if only for a few days until things improve allowing the norm to happen. After all doctors/nurses ect can do it within the NHS so why not schools:idea:

It could be a workable solution, I don't know?

I'm not sure how much cooperation you would get between different LEA's with regards to remuneration and insurance issues etc

System

Robin9 wrote: »

and the schools didn't close !

Today, teachers live further away. One of my parents' neighbours, both are teachers who teach 25-30 miles away in different directions. A friend works 40 miles away from her home. My friend cannot afford property prices of the town and surrounding villages where she teaches as they are 40% more expensive than her place (home counties).

Back in 62/63, the teachers lived within a mile or two from the school. This was the case when I was at primary school. Only 2 of out the 12 teachers did live outside of the village. A friend has a daughter at the school and she says only 1 teacher in 15 (village has grown a lot in 25 years) lives in the village now.

System

TyreLever wrote: »

"If you're unable to get to work, the best thing is try to come to an alternative agreement with your employer, such as working from home"

Hear this work from home stuff a lot. Im a fork lift driver, how would I go about working from home? What a stupid thing to say.

Can't do that with retail work.