Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 100 total)
  • Why are so many schools shut?
  • cheese@4p
    Full Member

    Schools closed = far less cars on the dodgy roads, making it easier for us to get to and from work, so I’m happy with it.

    MoseyMTB
    Free Member

    Some of us ‘lazy teachers’ work in schools on the north Yorkshire moors where we have a foot of snow.

    I tried but couldn’t physically get the car out. Plus I was up till midnight last night planning to give your children the best possible start in life!

    It has to be safe, we are not just baby sitters!

    miketually
    Free Member

    School have to decide whether they’ll have enough staff to cope with the kids. Generally, the kids are local and the staff are not. They also have to do this on the basis of the forecast weather.

    There’s not a single closed school in Darlington today though both Durham and North Yorkshire have loads closed.

    We (sixth form college) never close. But, we don’t have to worry about having more staffing levels like a school and most of our staff are relatively local while the students travel in from further afield.

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    mrmuddybum
    Free Member

    A friend of mines wife is a teacher, and they are told that if they can’t get to the school they work at, they should go to the nearest local school where they live. Not sure how widespread that is though, or if any of them actually abide by it.

    JollyGreenGiant
    Free Member

    One other major difference when I was at school was that most familes not only lived near but also had one parent (usually the mother who was at home and didnt work). Its a lot hader being able to send kids home early if you can`t guarantee a parent is home to receive or collect them.

    teasel
    Free Member

    I was gonna reply that it’s just a teenage thing and they’ll get over it before realising I’d misread the thread title…

    richmtb
    Full Member

    So back in 2009 we had a lot of snow up in Scotland.

    I had one team member who lived in a fairly rural location (although we are still talking Central Belt not the Highlands)

    He claimed he couldn’t get in because of the conditions -local roads not cleared etc – even though he drove a Freelander! So he has to work from home – fine. Then his internet connection goes down so now he is essentially getting a free holiday.

    I checked and there was a train station in his village, he bitched and moaned that it was over a mile from his house and he would struggle to get there. I told him fine but he was taking any additional days out of work as annual leave.

    Funnily enough road conditions improved in his village the very next day

    So in conclusion there are some right lazy barstewards who just like an excuse for a day off!

    rocketman
    Free Member

    If a child at school slips on the ice/snow then parents want cash and blame the school

    This was always the reason we were given. Snow & ice and not enough staff to police the kids the easiest solution is to close the school.

    Dancake
    Free Member

    Tough. It’s a school, not a glorified baby-sitter

    Quite right. We just leave my four-year-old home alone with a giant bag of crisps and some lego so my wife can go to work

    Actually, no – she stayed at home unpaid.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    Yet if I take my 2 horrors out of school for a few days. I get a snotty letter telling me how their education will suffer and is detrimental to their learning a development. No thought is given to that when a snowflake tumbles down.

    I have never missed a days work due to snow/weather.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    We’ve priced Teachers and Nurses out of our city centres, so they have long commutes to work. The days when everyone lived neat their work seem to be long gone, which is a real shame as commuting is pretty sole destroying, costly and pretty daft if you think about it.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Yet if I take my 2 horrors out of school for a few days. I get a snotty letter telling me how their education will suffer and is detrimental to their learning a development. No thought is given to that when a snowflake tumbles down.

    But (Devil’s Advocate and all that) it can’t be detrimental if the school is shut as it is the worry of children slipping behind if they miss lessons that everyone else attends.

    franksinatra
    Full Member

    In my area they have a sensible policy. They have identified teachers that live withinn walking distance of a school (doesn’t need to be their normal place of work school) When weather is forecast to be bad teachers are then deplyed to nearest, walking distance school. If this results in enough staff to open, then the school is open. If not enough staff then partial closure.

    as an aside, my neighbour taught in a local school that had a tiny catchment area, every single child lived within walking distance. In 2009 when weather was terrible, staff drove in, some from 40 miles away in really bad conditions yet more than 50% of kids didn’t turn up, despite living within walking distance. Can only conclude parents were happy to have them off school or wouldn’t drive them in and couldn’t entertain the idea of actually manning up and walking them the short distance to school.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Headmaster at the school where my Mrs works slept over at the school a couple of days last week so he could guarantee it would be open.

    Lazy sod.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    We’ve priced Teachers and Nurses out of our city centres

    Just about all public sector workers

    if they miss lessons that everyone else attends

    Ah yes the last week of term, when its TV, video games and generally doing **** all

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    I’m glad our kids school is shut! They don’t let them go out at playtimes when there’s snow on the ground which is bloody ridiculous, in fact one day last year they’d been stuck inside for three days on the bounce so we kept them off on the Friday! Also it means we are off sledging in the next thirty minutes and no doubt it’ll be a four hour session again!!!

    nealglover
    Free Member

    Yet if I take my 2 horrors out of school for a few days. I get a snotty letter telling me how their education will suffer and is detrimental to their learning a development. No thought is given to that when a snowflake tumbles down.

    Do you think the teacher and all the other kids sit doing nothing, and wait for yours to come back, if you take them out of school for a few days ?

    Or do you think they carry on with lessons as usual and your kids miss stuff ?

    big_n_daft
    Free Member

    We’ve priced Teachers and Nurses out of our city centres, so they have long commutes to work

    which Cities? or is it just London

    Vast majority of teachers on well above national average wages

    bruneep
    Full Member

    Or do you think they carry on with lessons as usual and your kids miss stuff ?

    Lessons don’t make me laugh 😆

    last week of term, when its TV, video games and generally doing **** all

    Spongebob
    Free Member

    My ex is a head teacher and shuts her school frequently. She doesn’t know how to drive in snow and is incapable of rationally judging risk. Like the rest of her public sector chums, risk aversion is a preoccupation, finances are off the radar! They all feel as if the world will sue the socks of them if anything goes wrong and they may be deemed to be responsible. Their logic is loopy eg person climbs on school roof and falls through polycarbonate sky light, lands of furniture below. School thinks they are culpable, so don’t place furniture below skylight!? My reckoning is that person trespassing is entirely responsible, period!

    When i asked he about reflecting on previous cases over the past 25 years, she could not recall one single case where she or any of her head teacher colleagues in other schools were faced with a claim!.

    Teachers are brainwashed by county council’s perceived risks and eventually, they too become institutionalised. This is the public sector culture of today and they are clueless about the real aggravation they cause when closing up and having a nice day off!

    The entire lot of them have no concern about money as they will receive their annual budgets and salaries regardless of whether they are open for business, or remain closed.

    The solution is simple; divide the budget by the number of days the school’s doors are open each year and subtract the sum for each day every time the school is closed. They can then insure for the risk of when it clearly isn’t possible to open. Parents then won’t have their own jobs and businesses put at risk by having to regularly take time out to look after their children! The schools will only close in dire emergencies and the taxes we pay will deliver the services we righly deserve.

    Job done! 😀

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    onehundredthidiot – Member

    My sister lives in the same town I do and teaches primary there they have “resiliant schools” which means that staff attend nearest school as opposed to their own school.

    This is the most sensible thing I have heard but never seen happen, re schools and snow. Should apply to all service sectors – hospitals, care centres, schools, the lot – surely some resources are better than none.

    Mrs Cat is now an ex Community Midwife who went out in all weathers, irrespective of how deep the snow became. We had to buy her a 4×4 because that’s what her job dictated, no help from the Trust, they just expected her to get there, as did the expectant mums.

    Perhaps Pob’s announcement re performance related pay for teachers may change things. 😀

    monsho
    Free Member

    There’s another factor to it, attendance in schools is a big factor to if its viewed as ‘succeeding’ or ‘failing’, if the school opened and half the kids didn’t turn up it would be marked against them, hence shutting the school – according to the missus (teacher). Asked her why weather wasn’t taken into account and she said it just isn’t…yay…

    they can take the best part of a year off, paid

    Erm, yeah, check that fact fella…

    bruneep
    Full Member

    right o Fire station will be closed tomorrow as flurries have hit here. Take care out there.

    nealglover
    Free Member

    last week of term, when its TV, video games and generally doing **** all

    was that the sound of goalposts being moved ? 😉

    poly
    Free Member

    This is the most sensible thing I have heard but never seen happen, re schools and snow. Should apply to all service sectors – hospitals, care centres, schools, the lot – surely some resources are better than none.

    The model rogerthecat describes is I believe standard practice across Scotland (teachers to attend local school if unable to attend their own, even outside their own local authority area).

    2 years ago schools still shut because the council risk assessed it. I don’t think I ever got a response to my letter asking why it was inherently unsafe in a school classroom compared to the likely situation that the children were outside playing in the ice / snow / sledging and / or poorly supervised at home. I don’t think my letter pointing out the obligation in the Education Act to open on 190 days a year was too popular – especially when they subsequently closed for the royal wedding…

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    @Monsho
    Howdo chap. 😀

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    teachers to attend local school if unable to attend their own, even outside their own local authority area

    I’m sure my wife will welcome them to her school.

    Gastrostomy feeding is one of those things you need no training for.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    which Cities? or is it just London

    Vast majority of teachers on well above national average wages

    Most cities. You need to earn well above mean average wage to buy a house in most places now….

    monsho
    Free Member

    @Rogerthecat

    Afternoon…

    Got rid of your bread yet?

    freeagent
    Free Member

    My wife is a teacher – and her school is closed today.

    They closed at 11.30am on Friday – semi rural location – 50% of kids are bussed in from rural locations. The bus company forced their hand on Friday by phoning the school and telling them the buses would be at the school at 11.30 – any child who wasn’t on a bus would have to make their own way home.

    Today they are closed because the site has been deemed to dangerous to work in.

    When it started to snow on friday – the school was immediately inundated with f***wit parents demanding their child be let out of school because they didn’t want to drive and pick them up later if the snow got any worse.

    There are many issues which have lead to the current situation – not all apply to all schools though.

    Schools are sh*t scared of litigation if someone falls over on the site.

    The last two schools my wife has worked in – the caretakers used to live on site – however when the schools became academys they sold the caretakers houses off to make some money, and now the caretakers live miles away, and often cannot get in to help clear the site.

    When I was at school the on-site caretakers would grit the whole school – my wifes school doesn’t hold any grit as it is deemed a waste of money (it might not snow again for 5 years?)

    Teachers (and kids) now travel a lot further to get to school – the days of going to the nearest school are long gone – you try and send your child to the best school, which is not always the nearest.

    Many teachers are also parents – school closeures have a bit of a cascade effect – if your kids are out of school and you can’t find anyone to look after them what do you do?

    I think this slightly silly situation is a product of modern life, and is here to stay…

    poly
    Free Member

    footflaps –

    I assume you mean MEDIAN not MEAN as nobody uses mean as average wage (skewed by outliers) therefore if your statement were accurate 50% of the population could not afford to live “most places” now…

    Bear in mind (1) individual earnings are not the same as household.
    (2) STARTING salary for teachers is round about the average for all workers in the UK…

    hoodie
    Free Member

    I think once one shuts then another and another it kind of just snowballs……

    rogerthecat
    Free Member

    @Monsho.
    Just the odd 26 loaves left, could post you a few?

    gonefishin
    Free Member

    Many teachers are also parents – school closeures have a bit of a cascade effect – if your kids are out of school and you can’t find anyone to look after them what do you do?

    My parents used to take me to their school when there wasn’t anyone else to look after us. I remember being allowed to draw all over the blackboards in empty classrooms in my Dad’s school. It was a great day out as I recall.

    franksinatra
    Full Member

    my wifes school doesn’t hold any grit as it is deemed a waste of money (it might not snow again for 5 years?)

    Does grit have a use-by date on it?

    Spongebob
    Free Member

    I suppose back in my school days, only a few had cars and most pupils lived close enough to walk to school, as did most of the teachers. The school bus did the rest and the roads were pretty clear. The lower number of drivers that were there were used to driving in snow and weren’t needlessly panicked by the hyped up media and “good advice” that authorities now give out (understandable if you are delivering emergency services and don’t fancy the thought of being inundated with incidents, as is the case with congested roads full of drivers inexperienced in driving in snow).

    When you think about it, cheap cars and cheap transport has allowed these bad habits to form, where people waste time and fuel getting about. Life was inevitably much simpler and straightforward back then. So being richer does not mean a better quality of life (I learned this clocking up starship mileages in a company car – purgatory in a luxury vehicle).

    johnellison
    Free Member

    I live in and went to primary school in a rural area, from 1976 to 1983. I can’t recall the school ever being closed because of bad weather. One of the teachers lived 20 miles away and always managed to get in. If we couldn’t be driven to school or the buses weren’t running we had to walk.

    When I went to secondary school, which was 16 miles from home we had a bus laid on. I can only remember that school being shut once, for one day, in 1987.

    It’s an absolute nonsense. Perhaps they could use “snow-days” learning how to drive in the stuff…

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Rural Leicestershire here.

    We have two schools in the village, right next to each other. One is a primary, the other a secondary.

    The catchment area for the primary is the village, the majority of pupils (including my own two) walk in; this one is open. The catchment area for the second one is much wider and the majority of the kids have to be bussed in from very rural areas; this one is closed as the bus company is refusing to run.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Our local one closes because otherwise you’ve got massive amounts of kids making avoidable journeys in an assortment of ways.

    Sure, in ye old days they stayed open more, but then less crowded roads etc meant it was safer too.

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    I lost 3 days from school between 1973 & 1984, and that was due to a broken boiler in the winter of 79/80.

    Have to take my hat off to the head of my lads primary, in Lichfield.
    He refuses to shut the school as he sadi most live within 15min walk, & it causes the parents too much disruption. We arrived this morning to find he’d been in since 6am clearing paths with the caretaker. Top bloke. Could do with more like him.

    Compare that to the school the wifes sister teaches at, in B’ham. That was shut last Thursday…the day BEFORE the snow came. She became cross at mu suggestion that, as a PUBLIC SERVANT, she should be out gritting paths.

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