[Closed] I'm joining the teachers

Like their pupils, they should live within the area, then there would be no school closures due to snow.

Commuting is the problem, the slightest whif of snow and the country comes to a standstill. This is why schools and business carried on in the past, in such weather. If we didn't have a society that wants to live in a cheaper area than they work. It's about money - as usual!

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of teachers are much happier living further away from work, sending their own children to schools in less popular catchment areas, just to pi55 me off!

Great idea.

Presumably we shouldn't have any schools in affluent areas then, so there's no discrepancy between teacher's salaries and housing costs?

Rather strangely our area is at it's worst since Christmas (we've just had another dump)the roads and paths are nasty and the school has opened.

it makes no difference to us as we work it so one of us is allways at home. thatway the kids allways have somewhere to go.
it's not allways easy but i had it as a kid and so did my mrs.
maybe the blame is not just with the teachers.

If winters were like this every year it would factor much higher on peoples house choices, but then, if it happened every year, you'd like to think we'd be better prepared for it!

Now you see- if all the teachers had 4x4s like the mums do........

No not what I'm saying you all sound like tabloid newspaper writers!

If the government wants to keep schools open. Which also would mean less parents having to take the day from work, to look after their children for one. A relocation package would have to be offered to teachers, it is being done in parts of London which is affluent or just expensive to live.

My neighbour is a teacher, with two kids, she is off owrk today, because her colleagues can't get in (commuters) - her children also school locally!

Think outside the box not within the daily mash parameters please - to those that jumped on my comments.

🙂

KT - Now that's what the teachers should spend the millions on that they save by not living close to the schools they work at.

Personally I'd like to live in a more expensive area than I work.

i sound like a tabloid writer 🙄

they should live within the area

Having seen the abuse that my mother suffered as a direct result of living within the catchment area of the school in which she worked (and I attended), were I a teacher there is no way that I would live in the catchment area of the school in which I worked. The impact on day to day life is just too great.

A couple of the teachers at my youngest's school live 40 miles away

now, I know they don't want to be in the catchment area but that's spreading out a bit much

My boy's school is open.

However, my wife is a lecturer - now get this: the staff have been told to come in as normal, if they have lessons before 12pm. But the students have been told not to come in as there are no lessons. Huh? 😕

now, I know they don't want to be in the catchment area but that's spreading out a bit much

What if they get moved to another school. Should they have to move home as well just so that they don't have to travel as much? Should their children be forced to move school also?

That's quite common I'm sure, cetainly in the area I live. West Sussex.

I see what you're saying but the problem with your argument is that 'the government' would have to increase salaries / relocation packages on a continuous basis whereas this kind of disruption is extremely rare and even this time is likely to affect what - a week or so of school? Trouble is that some areas are expensive to live in all year round, not just when it snows.

Also - how much does the economy really lose as a result of the disruption? People are still eating / buying goods, a significant proportion of the nations office workers can also work from home.... what's really being lost?

woodsman for pm.
he's absolutely right though. i've thought about this many times, although the idea of living within catchment is awful to me and i have no wish to teach my kids during the day as well as at home i drive/ride past schools that i could work at and teachers there do the same but in the opposite direction.
yes some skilled super duper people will always be head hunted and therefore have to travel to their place of work but as a general rule of thumb if people didn't commute the country would be in a better state.
also our kids have only had two days off through all of this, we walk them to school as do probably 60percent of parents (gone up these past two weeks and i even heard one parent saying to another that they enjoyed the walk in and they may do it more often!). the head comes from notts as he's an interim head brought in by the council after the last one left !!!! but he's made it into work today and does most days regardless of the weather.
dezB, it'll be something to do with intent to open and keeping the council lea happy, i'm a teacher and to be honest schools great without the kids you can get loads done!

'get moved to another school' who moves them? why? is this necessary? do all teachers have children? nonsense - if people want things to work, a review is needed, rather than throwing it lame or 'political' excuses or nothing will change.

FWIW - I can't remember taking a day off school due to snow. But, I doubt if this culture of cummuting existed as much then.

What if they get moved to another school.

[i]Get[/i] moved? We're teachers, we're not in the army.

A relocation package would have to be offered to teachers, it is being done in parts of London which is affluent or just expensive to live.

Yes, briliant idea. They could model it on, I don't know, something like the MP's housing allowance.

Hell, I'd become a teacher if it gave me a shot at buying a house in Chelsea, waiting on the price rise, then selling up and retiring on the profit.

I'd beceome a teacher if we could develop a 'child-free' education system, the majority of my family (parents, 2 out of 3 siblings, and a couple of brother in laws) and they echo nickharts comments. Not a lot of 'teaching' would get done though!

Scrub that,the kids have been told to return home.

I would like to apologise after my last teachers/snow posting.
Personally I have always held the veiw that you should live near your work or within reason. However of course I understand that that isn't always possible for many reasons, and that we can all choose to live where ever we want anyway.
But it's a little bug bare I've had for decades. Though it was mainly aimed at the weekend gentry. Those in particular that owned or profited from working or running businesses that had a detrimental effect on it's location and local population. That could however afford to move miles away into a 'nice' area, buying up (as it was back then) counrty properties.
It's unreasonable but it winds me up. But I do think that part of our transport problems stem from this, lets face it everyman and his dog does it now. We now have rows and rows of country cottages owned by people that commute to cities every day, and on the other hand country workers commuting in from city suburbs every day.
However, snow chains that's the answer 😕

who moves them?

Local Authorities mostly

why?

Falling school roles means fewer teachers.

is this necessary?

Well it gets a bit expensive if you don't as you will inevitable end up with too many teachers and since your worry centers around cost/loss to the economy it is something that needs to be accounted for.

There is also the matter of promotion. If a teacher wishes to advance up the career ladder then moving schools is probably the most effective way of doing that. Given that teachers have a rather incestuous tendency to marry each other, well they did in my family, if one gets a promotion should the other have to move further away from their place of work to accommodate this?

I can't remember taking a day off school due to snow.

I can. It used to happen almost every year when I was at primary school in the early eighties.

Get moved? We're teachers, we're not in the army.

Well yes I realise that, but the fact remains that schools do get closed and falling school roles do result in schools having to lose teachers and rising school roles mean others have to hired.

On a completely personal note I certainly suffered from bullying that was a direct result of having a parent as a teacher at my secondary school.

'woodsman for pm' - lol!

ok, I'm appointing nickhart as my minister for education. DezB as my public relations officer - sorry Dez!

I must dash, I've got someone coming round to break the ice on my moat!

😉

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I would pull up a chair but....

It seems the schools whole employ their teachers perhaps don't take where the Teacher live as a consideration, unless all the candidates suitable live in the back of beyond. Saying that my tuther arf live a mile from school and could not get her car up our road, doesn't mean she could walk to the school where she works, I wonder how many teacher live within walking distance but decided because they cant drive the therefore can't walk because they may slip. WE all know decisions are made supposedly on the grounds of health & safety but they have probably misinterpreted the guidelines so make dubious decisions to close the school.

😯 Wasn't supposed to be another anti-teacher / schools closing thread - though I suppose I should have realised how it would go. Slightly surprised that nobody's having a go at me. The thing is, our site is in a similar position to schools (literally - there is a school adjoining it - that's also shut today). Notices last week that they were almost out of salt, and it was being rationed - was expecting them to fail to clear the car parks on site today, and apart from driving conditions it's not reasonable for them to get people to drive in to park on the side streets nearby (far too few spaces, even if they are usable in these conditions). Don't suppose it's too different for schools.

FWIW I only live 6 miles away from work - when we moved here mrs aracer worked a similar distance in the opposite direction. If I was healthy (was thinking of taking today off sick anyway) I could probably ski in in less than an hour.

Also worth mentioning that the teacher who lives next door would love to get a job a the local school which her daughter goes to - most kids walk there, is only 5 minutes or so walk from here. I presume there isn't the same problem of living in the catchment area of a village primary school in a very middle class area. Trouble is jobs aren't necessarily available where teachers want - she hasn't found anything within 10 miles of here.

I'm a teacher and my commute is about 15miles each way is that acceptable?

I've been thinking about this since the last thread on this sometime ago. Strikes me that most people on here are men, and we have a shared enjoyment of the out doors and challenge. I'm off sick at the moment and was a bit gutted that when the snow hit I wasnt getting up early before the traffic and having some fun in the car on the way to work. Bit juvenile and a maybe not that sensible but I'd have got to work. However most teachers, especially at primary schools are women who often dont enjoy the things we do. My partner hasnt drven the car since it snowed, shes terrified of it luckily she can walk to work. Its also the case that health and safety of pupils has gone too far imo, caused by people not accepting that accidents happen these days.

I'm a teacher and commute 3 miles to work. On a bike. In the snow. And the ice.

We didn't have a single day of closure last week. We've had snow and ice for the last 4 weeks (though we were on holiday for 2 of them). Staff have made it in from 25 miles away, where there's a lot of snow.

We didn't have a single day of closure last week

I think you were the only ones Mike - well done

BTW - how was the ice this morning? - I was out running earlier & it was treacherous

I think you were the only ones Mike - well done

I think The Other College was open all week too.

BTW - how was the ice this morning? - I was out running earlier & it was treacherous

Gritted roads fine. Pavements and bike paths lethal.

[I'm a teacher and my commute is about 15miles each way is that acceptable?]

I think it's needs to go to a panel.

Its boarderline isnt it, I couldnt regularly ride it (not that I can ride a bike but thats another story).

It was however the nearest I could geta job theat helped me progress at the time.

just had a look on TESjobs, and the only closer job is back at the school I left and wild horses wouldnt make me go back there. Theres also a job at Eton but I'm not sure thats closer and dont think it would be right for me, I may kill people if I went there. 😆