Martyn
Member
Janeavsallar
Member
School Closures
I think a lot is down to health and safety and schools being sued if a child is injured, but also most of the teachers in our kids school live miles away, not so many teachers live locally anymore so they havent got enough teachers for supervision also if the catering staff are not in a meal is not provided put that together with were we live most of the high schools are not in built up areas therefore buses are needed.
I think its easier for them to stay home than have them in in the morning then send them home when the weather gets worse in the afternoon, back last year they did this and only put a general bus to the centre of town rather than specific areas as normal because the roads were so bad, we eventually got them home about 7pm as the roads were total grid lock.
Anyway just had a look on the school web site and it says school tomorrow as long as the weather stays the same so school tomorrow but heavy snow is forecast for tomorrow afternoon so who knows.
They are bored rigid and doing my head in, they have been in school one day since before the christmas holidays which started two days early because of snow, and to top it off the internet has just come back on since yesterday afternoon.
Roll on the summer
Jane
I think its easier for them to stay home than have them in in the morning then send them home when the weather gets worse in the afternoon, back last year they did this and only put a general bus to the centre of town rather than specific areas as normal because the roads were so bad, we eventually got them home about 7pm as the roads were total grid lock.
Anyway just had a look on the school web site and it says school tomorrow as long as the weather stays the same so school tomorrow but heavy snow is forecast for tomorrow afternoon so who knows.
They are bored rigid and doing my head in, they have been in school one day since before the christmas holidays which started two days early because of snow, and to top it off the internet has just come back on since yesterday afternoon.
Roll on the summer
Jane
School Closures
Elf and safety innit.There have been two issues regarding this I've heard discussed recently
(1)the childrens education being the main one
&
(2)parents being restricted from going to work due to the closures,so do some parents look at school as nothing more than a child minding service.
(1)the childrens education being the main one
&
(2)parents being restricted from going to work due to the closures,so do some parents look at school as nothing more than a child minding service.
Mushroom
Member
School Closures
Five days - no wonder it was shut, If you set off on a Monday, it would be Friday afternoon when you got there and everyone would have gone home!
Seriously it is a two fold thing - First of all there are a lot of teachers out there who live nowhere near where they teach and they don't set off if they think they will be in traffic for hours !
That in itself is a matter for debate as we have all had to make that choice at some time or other and most of us for whatever reason might have had to set off.
Secondly in this compo culture, the schools/authorities are worried that if one of the little darlings falls over in the snow/ice, like kids do, they might sue.
Sad, but true.
Seriously it is a two fold thing - First of all there are a lot of teachers out there who live nowhere near where they teach and they don't set off if they think they will be in traffic for hours !
That in itself is a matter for debate as we have all had to make that choice at some time or other and most of us for whatever reason might have had to set off.
Secondly in this compo culture, the schools/authorities are worried that if one of the little darlings falls over in the snow/ice, like kids do, they might sue.
Sad, but true.
kaplumba
Member
School Closures
In 1963 I lived quite near our village school and so did the teachers, however I remember it being closed for weeks due to frozen pipes, outside toilets that had frozen and the solid fuel heating not working. My friends and I had great times playing on sledges.
It's not so much health and safety with school closures now it's the distance teachers have to travel to work, very few live near their schools these days. I know some who travel 40 - 50 miles every morning. If teachers are worried about icy playgrounds they will keep them inside so while the kids are there it is not a problem. If during the day the weather deteriorates it's not always easy for parents to collect them. Loads of parents now drop their kids off by car, keeping those drivers off the roads during peak times makes everything safer. I know it's not ideal but for those who have kids at home for a few days educate them yourselves. There is loads you can do - baking, reading, quizzes, feeding birds, card games etc. We still have snow but most of the schools were open today.
It's not so much health and safety with school closures now it's the distance teachers have to travel to work, very few live near their schools these days. I know some who travel 40 - 50 miles every morning. If teachers are worried about icy playgrounds they will keep them inside so while the kids are there it is not a problem. If during the day the weather deteriorates it's not always easy for parents to collect them. Loads of parents now drop their kids off by car, keeping those drivers off the roads during peak times makes everything safer. I know it's not ideal but for those who have kids at home for a few days educate them yourselves. There is loads you can do - baking, reading, quizzes, feeding birds, card games etc. We still have snow but most of the schools were open today.
jandj
Member
School Closures
In 1981 when the bad weather and snow hit Bristol, I was a primary teacher. We were told by Avon Education Authority that if we could not make it to our own school, then we had to report to our nearest local school. As far as I can remember, there were few if any, closures.
Sunny Seasider
Life is so precious
School Closures
I was brought up in Cumbria and we had some severe winters, I can never remember not walking to our school whatever the weather we were there.
Neil_Denizli
Member
School Closures
i believe it's because this is a different kind of snow. in the 60s, we had russian snow, blowing in from siberia. while it disrupted life sometimes, we just got on with things. snow was a fact of life. but today's snow, well ... it's different. some say it's because it's climate change snow ... others that it's terrorist snow, from the mountains of afghanistan ... or even, a local but more radical kind of snow. it's nothing less than a threat to our way of life.
School Closures
Same here, We lived on an RAF camp and as a lot of people will know, they are always miles from anywhere, our village school was just under 3 miles away so we didn't qualify for a school bus, there were very few cars then and we didn't have bikes until much later, so we walked in whatever weather there was and didn't question or protest because that was the norm, in winter we took the main road to avoid snow drifts that would bury you and in summer it was a stroll through the lanes or accross the fields, I never remember the school closing and if it was a day when the big classroom fires (coke boilers ) wouldn't burn, then we had our coats on in the class to keep warm.
CJD
Member
School Closures
I think its a great idea closing the schools.. 
I got into
work 10 mins quicker than normal last thursday despite
the snow & ice, the lollipop lady takes great delight in causing tailbacks through the local village, she's out there in
the middle of the road at the mere sight of a child coming
round the corner she has been known to cause tailbacks of 1
mile in both directions...bless her!!:evil:
I got intowork 10 mins quicker than normal last thursday despite
the snow & ice, the lollipop lady takes great delight in causing tailbacks through the local village, she's out there in
the middle of the road at the mere sight of a child coming
round the corner she has been known to cause tailbacks of 1
mile in both directions...bless her!!:evil:
School Closures
as andy said , when i was at school i , even the worst of weather our school was open.only if the boilers froze were we sent home ,and then we returned within a couple of days. went back to this namby pamby state .and now the health and safety issue enters yet again.the shops musnt clear their pavements etc .so instead like around where i live , its a death trap to walk. better that 50 people fall and break their bones , than salting the area and 1 unfortunate person falls .far simpler and safer in the past ,when sense was the order of the day not crazy rules.
davido
davido
davido
davido
pembelu
Member
School Closures
when i was teaching and living nearby to the school i cant recal a closure as such. i recal half days as some teachers made it some didnt.I recal bonding with some kids in this time as we had smaller class sizes (heaven) and no major need to cover the set curriculum so we often resorted to games and simple interesting chat. Some teachers fought for the computer rooms for thier class so those that had arrived simply had free internet or gaming time (although they were banned technically) , in that part of london my guess is most didnt have internet access at home....and were probably left unsupervised more often than not.
i think it was often the case that closure was decided as the best course of action as the heating system was outdated and the school in itself was bloody cold!So many of the old victorian schools are! its now being rebuilt on a nearby plot and seeing as most who attend arrive on foot or indeed are local my guess is it will open more often than not but id call this a community school where actually many staff are locals or live locally.thats what made it a good school at that time.
i think it was often the case that closure was decided as the best course of action as the heating system was outdated and the school in itself was bloody cold!So many of the old victorian schools are! its now being rebuilt on a nearby plot and seeing as most who attend arrive on foot or indeed are local my guess is it will open more often than not but id call this a community school where actually many staff are locals or live locally.thats what made it a good school at that time.
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