School Closures

[GenevaSaint]

Now, I'm all for the schools closing on the first day while it was still snowing, but where are they going to draw the line? The forecast is freezing conditions until at least Tuesday according to BBC with snow on Sunday and Monday in Soton. To keep the schools closed Fri, Mon and Tue is a joke surely? I know that's not planned yet, but I can't see what will change between now and Tuesday based ont he forecast.

 

If health and safety issues are the reason for closure, where do they think the kids go when they're not in school. Out on the ice and snow or tucked up in doors reading and doing maths?

[sotonjoe]

Can't see them being closed monday, tuesday or, for many, even tomorrow, so you won't have too much to get worked up about. ;-)

[krissyboy31]

If health and safety issues are the reason for closure, where do they think the kids go when they're not in school. Out on the ice and snow or tucked up in doors reading and doing maths?

 

Yes but they are not the schools problem then, they are the parents (or guardians).

[GenevaSaint]

Can't see them being closed monday, tuesday or, for many, even tomorrow, so you won't have too much to get worked up about. ;-)

 

I bloody hope not, got cabin fever at home, had two weeks with the kids over xmas already!

 

BTW, just check on BBC Solent website 106 schools across Hampshire closed tomorrow with more being added during the day.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshire/hi/front_page/newsid_8418000/8418474.stm

 

Fareham college is open for staff but not pupils!

Edited 7 January, 2010 by GenevaSaint
added school closures

[GenevaSaint]

Yes but they are not the schools problem then, they are the parents (or guardians).

 

I agree, but is that the message we want to send out! Kids break an arm or leg as long as you're not in school so we're not liable for any claims? They could just not allow the kids outside as they do when it rains.....

[JustMike]

my kids school been shut wednesday, thursday and tomorrow. its not just down to the fact its snowing, its teachers and parents not being able to get in. And, if they do get the kids in there has been some doubt whether the parents will be able to get there to collect them

[JustMike]

I agree, but is that the message we want to send out! Kids break an arm or leg as long as you're not in school so we're not liable for any claims? They could just not allow the kids outside as they do when it rains.....

 

do you have kids??

[Give it to Ron]

Did you go to work today? Not all teachers and staff live right next to school and have to travel in a fair way so why put there safety at risk just because you are p1ssed off looking after your kids?

My nipper has to catch a school bus - the school and bus company have deemed it unsafe to run so why should I put his life and mine at risk taking him to school that will also be dangerous to walk on pavements near the school?

Where do kids go .....on the computer doing their homework .

[GenevaSaint]

do you have kids??

 

I do yes.

[Lord Duckhunter]

They closed my kids school early on Weds although we had no snow settling on the roads in Poole. They said it was so the teachers could get home ok.

 

I spoke to the head who said "what else could I do", I said "struggle home like the rest of us have to". They finish at 3pm anyway, and 3pm would be an early finish for everyone else.

 

Bloody joke.

[Jillyanne]

Loved the Barton Peveril website about the kids 'having' to go for their exams next week.

 

http://www.barton-peveril.ac.uk/

[GenevaSaint]

Did you go to work today? Not all teachers and staff live right next to school and have to travel in a fair way so why put there safety at risk just because you are p1ssed off looking after your kids?

My nipper has to catch a school bus - the school and bus company have deemed it unsafe to run so why should I put his life and mine at risk taking him to school that will also be dangerous to walk on pavements near the school?

Where do kids go .....on the computer doing their homework .

 

I couldn't go to work today as I had to look after the kids. If I could have I would have driven to work in Bournemouth from Southampton. I know that not all teachers live next to the school, but the roads in Southampton are fine, the buses are running, the only dodgy roads are side roads and they're passable with sensible driving.

 

Put it this way Ron, how do other snow bound countries seem to keep their school systems running quite happily. I lived on the outskirts of Geneva for 2 years and in the winter it snowed regularly as the elevation was around 550m, the kids had 1 day off school in that entire time.

Edited 7 January, 2010 by GenevaSaint

[bridge too far]

My son-in-law is a teacher in High Wycombe. For those of you that don't know - you can't go anywhere in HW without going up and down quite steep hills.

 

His school is a good 5 miles from his home and his home is on a very steep hill. Even if he managed to get in, it's doubtful whether many of the pupils would.

 

Better to be safe than sorry I would think.

[bridge too far]

They closed my kids school early on Weds although we had no snow settling on the roads in Poole. They said it was so the teachers could get home ok.

 

I spoke to the head who said "what else could I do", I said "struggle home like the rest of us have to". They finish at 3pm anyway, and 3pm would be an early finish for everyone else.

 

Bloody joke.

 

The schools might finish at 3 but the teachers don't, I can assure you.

[GenevaSaint]

Where do kids go .....on the computer doing their homework .

 

Not when they're under 12, very little homework to do. I was just pointing out that the snow and ice are acceptable to everyone apart from the health and safety freaks. Was this such an issue when you were young, I don't remeber it being so for me, I'm 39.

[trousers]

'Great' Britain 2010

[GenevaSaint]

My son-in-law is a teacher in High Wycombe. For those of you that don't know - you can't go anywhere in HW without going up and down quite steep hills.

 

His school is a good 5 miles from his home and his home is on a very steep hill. Even if he managed to get in, it's doubtful whether many of the pupils would.

 

Better to be safe than sorry I would think.

 

Which is fair enough, I'm thinking more local to Southampton here BTF. The conditions are not that bad around here.

[GenevaSaint]

my kids school been shut wednesday, thursday and tomorrow. its not just down to the fact its snowing, its teachers and parents not being able to get in. And, if they do get the kids in there has been some doubt whether the parents will be able to get there to collect them

 

Mike, I guess it all depends on location really. The main roads leading to my kids school in Woolston are fine, I'm sure out in the sticks things might me more precarious.

[trousers]

Better to be safe than sorry I would think.

 

Fish would never have left the water millions of years ago if life on Earth had adopted that policy.

 

We're too risk averse these days.

 

IMHO of course.

[70's Mike]

my youngest goes to Brookfield in Locks Heath and they are closed tomorrow because site is apparently dangerous.

i am all for keeping kids safe but i remember back to my school days and walking to and from school in the snow was part of growing up i sometimes if PC AND H&S is actually depriving kids of future memories.

[JustMike]

I couldn't go to work today as I had to look after the kids. If I could have I would have driven to work in Bournemouth from Southampton. I know that not all teachers live next to the school, but the roads in Southampton are fine, the buses are running, the only dodgy roads are side roads and they're passable with sensible driving.

 

Put it this way Ron, how do other snow bound countries seem to keep their school systems running quite happily. I lived on the outskirts of Geneva for 2 years and in the winder it snowed regularly as the elevation was around 550m, the kids had 1 day off school in that entire time.

 

im a teacher at university and we were open but alot of schools in the area are closed so many lecturers were off, not that the students turned up anyway. The roads in southampton are not fine, you obviously havent seen my road or indeed many other roads. Other countries are better equipped to deal with this because it happens every year and for longer periods. With our schools alot of the problem is heating systems which fail and by law the schools have to close if the temperature cannot get above 16 degrees c.

[Give it to Ron]

 

Put it this way Ron, how do other snow bound countries seem to keep their school systems running quite happily. I lived on the outskirts of Geneva for 2 years and in the winter it snowed regularly as the elevation was around 550m, the kids had 1 day off school in that entire time.

 

I sort of agree with what you are saying but Geneva and other countries have far worse snow and far more regularly than we do. I am sure they have far more need for snow ploughs than we do for instance.

Why would a council thats already financially in ruins as many are buy something like that to use once every five years or so.

 

The councils should be geared up with more salt and grit but again many only stock just enough and its your council bill that will rise to change this.

 

Its a different world to when I was at school...I remember us being off school for snow though - nowadays its the worry of being sued. I read that if you clear your drive and someone slips you are liable ...if you leave it you are not.

Edited 7 January, 2010 by Give it to Ron

[trousers]

Perhaps schools should be located next to hosiptals because they manage to stay open.

 

And while we're at it, create a scheme whereby a teacher stays overnight with a nurse on bad weather days. That way we guarantee the teacher getting to work because nurses manage it ok.

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

Did you go to work today? Not all teachers and staff live right next to school and have to travel in a fair way so why put there safety at risk just because you are p1ssed off looking after your kids?

My nipper has to catch a school bus - the school and bus company have deemed it unsafe to run so why should I put his life and mine at risk taking him to school that will also be dangerous to walk on pavements near the school?

Where do kids go .....on the computer doing their homework .

 

Excellent post, I have to commute 1hr 20mins to get to my school, and leaving at 6:45am, I always get the brunt of the bad weather or (not recently I must admit) the poorly gritted roads. My apologies that your free baby-sitting service wasn't open today Geneva, we will try to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

 

You think it's bad in Hampshire, 1,000 (yes, 1,000) schools are closed in Essex!! FWIW, my school actually stayed open today.

Edited 7 January, 2010 by Thorpe-le-Saint

[trousers]

With our schools alot of the problem is heating systems which fail

 

Why do they fail?

[JustMike]

Perhaps schools should be located next to hosiptals because they manage to stay open.

 

And while we're at it, create a scheme whereby a teacher stays overnight with a nurse on bad weather days. That way we guarantee the teacher getting to work because nurses manage it ok.

 

southampton general has been on "black alert" which i think means emergencies only. Staff have been unable to get in and normal service is a long way off, so no, they are not managing

[JustMike]

Why do they fail?

 

pipes freeze, mainly down to how old the systems are. Not the schools fault, its local authorities that should sort it but that means spending ££ which they use for their 2nd homes etc ;-)

[trousers]

My apologies that your free baby-sitting service wasn't open today

 

Hoorah....I just won the £10 sweepstake here on the first teacher to come on here and mention the phrase "free babysitting service"

 

And here was me thinking my child's education, whoops, sorry, babysitting service, was paid for by our extortionate taxes.

[Master Bates]

Same as work, if the temperature drops below a certain temperature you get the day off.

[trousers]

southampton general has been on "black alert" which i think means emergencies only. Staff have been unable to get in and normal service is a long way off, so no, they are not managing

 

My wife and sister-in-law work in the local hospital here in snowbound north east hampshire and they are managing fine. Still, easier to generalise I guess...

 

No-one is asking for a 'normal service' at schools, just that they stay open to accept those pupils and teachers that are able to get in and run a skeleton service. I spent many happy snow days in the school hall when I was a kid.

[bridge too far]

Perhaps schools should be located next to hosiptals because they manage to stay open.

 

And while we're at it, create a scheme whereby a teacher stays overnight with a nurse on bad weather days. That way we guarantee the teacher getting to work because nurses manage it ok.

 

Except, of course, that most towns and cities have only one, maybe two at the most, hospitals but loads more schools, silly man :smt018

 

And actually, a lot of hospitals are only open for emergencies and existing in-patients because not enough staff can get in for outpatients and elective surgery.

 

Of course, hospitals have plenty of beds to accommodate people too.

 

But I know you've got your tongue firmly planted in your teeth

[GenevaSaint]

im a teacher at university and we were open but alot of schools in the area are closed so many lecturers were off, not that the students turned up anyway. The roads in southampton are not fine, you obviously havent seen my road or indeed many other roads. Other countries are better equipped to deal with this because it happens every year and for longer periods. With our schools alot of the problem is heating systems which fail and by law the schools have to close if the temperature cannot get above 16 degrees c.

 

My missus managed to get to the Uni ok. not all roads are ok I admit. but the main routes are, otherwise the buses wouldn't be running.

[JustMike]

Hoorah....I just won the £10 sweepstake here on the first teacher to come on here and mention the phrase "free babysitting service"

 

And here was me thinking my child's education, whoops, sorry, babysitting service, was paid for by our extortionate taxes.

 

but when your child is potentially put at risk by the elements im glad they close.

 

not too sure the term "free babysitting servive" should have been used though. lol

[trousers]

Same as work, if the temperature drops below a certain temperature you get the day off.

 

That would account for why my local Iceland store closed down I guess.

[JustMike]

My wife and sister-in-law work in the local hospital here in snowbound north east hampshire and they are managing fine. Still, easier to generalise I guess...

 

No-one is asking for a 'normal service' at schools, just that they stay open to accept those pupils and teachers that are able to get in and run a skeleton service. I spent many happy snow days in the school hall when I was a kid.

 

trouble with that though is the teacher to pupil ratios. you could end up with 1 teacher and 60 kids!!

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

Hoorah....I just won the £10 sweepstake here on the first teacher to come on here and mention the phrase "free babysitting service"

 

And here was me thinking my child's education, whoops, sorry, babysitting service, was paid for by our extortionate taxes.

 

It is, but when you start thinking that a teachers (or for that matter anyones) dangerous journey into work isn't worth worrying about as you have to look after your kids which is a 'pain the arse' (obviously, that is not what you posted, but it was the OP) I think people need to get their priorities right.

[JustMike]

That would account for why my local Iceland store closed down I guess.

 

i lol'd

[trousers]

but when your child is potentially put at risk by the elements im glad they close.

 

not too sure the term "free babysitting servive" should have been used though. lol

 

My kids are more at risk walking to school when the eather is fine as the cars are going much faster. Much less dangerours walking to school in snow.

 

So, no, I wouldn't be putting my child at any greater risk than normal.

[GenevaSaint]

Excellent post, I have to commute 1hr 20mins to get to my school, and leaving at 6:45am, I always get the brunt of the bad weather or (not recently I must admit) the poorly gritted roads. My apologies that your free baby-sitting service wasn't open today Geneva, we will try to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

 

You think it's bad in Hampshire, 1,000 (yes, 1,000) schools are closed in Essex!! FWIW, my school actually stayed open today.

 

I too have to commute a long way to work, it's not a free baby sitting service I pay 40% taxes thanks very much. And I also leave for work @ 7am in the morning.

 

By closing the schools the knock on for the rest of the country is massive. I bet you'd be the first person complaining if your post wasn't delivered or your Guardian never arrived at the shop this morning. ;-)

 

I'm not having a go Thorpe, I just think we're too namby pamby these days. If the ice in the play ground is an issue, keep the kids in as they do when it's raining, not too difficult is it surely?

[trousers]

Except, of course, that most towns and cities have only one, maybe two at the most, hospitals but loads more schools, silly man :smt018

 

And actually, a lot of hospitals are only open for emergencies and existing in-patients because not enough staff can get in for outpatients and elective surgery.

 

Of course, hospitals have plenty of beds to accommodate people too.

 

But I know you've got your tongue firmly planted in your teeth

 

Why can't schools operate a similar 'skeleton' service to hospitals rather than the lazy 'all or nothing' approach? It worked fine 25 years ago, why not now?

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

My kids are more at risk walking to school when the eather is fine as the cars are going much faster. Much less dangerours walking to school in snow.

 

So, no, I wouldn't be putting my child at any greater risk than normal.

 

You're kidding right??!? How many children do you think have slipped over and injured themselves recently? Also, taking into consideration how long it takes a car to stop in this weather, or for that matter how much cars can slip and slide, I think there is considerable more danger!!

[JustMike]

My kids are more at risk walking to school when the eather is fine as the cars are going much faster. Much less dangerours walking to school in snow.

 

So, no, I wouldn't be putting my child at any greater risk than normal.

 

more chance of slipping up, more chance of cars being out of control, more chance of heating system failing, more chance of parents unable to get access to school to collect. sounds like greater risk to me

[JustMike]

Why can't schools operate a similar 'skeleton' service to hospitals rather than the lazy 'all or nothing' approach? It worked fine 25 years ago, why not now?

 

see my post above about ratios

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

I too have to commute a long way to work, it's not a free baby sitting service I pay 40% taxes thanks very much. And I also leave for work @ 7am in the morning.

 

By closing the schools the knock on for the rest of the country is massive. I bet you'd be the first person complaining if your post wasn't delivered or your Guardian never arrived at the shop this morning. ;-)

 

I'm not having a go Thorpe, I just think we're too namby pamby these days. If the ice in the play ground is an issue, keep the kids in as they do when it's raining, not too difficult is it surely?

 

I don't think that is the problem if I'm honest, for example, my school grits the playground and walkways around the school. The problem lies with staff not being able to make it on either on time or at all...well, that has been the case at my school since Tuesday anyway.

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

see my post above about ratios

 

Exactly, a lot more legal ramifications these days.

[trousers]

If the ice in the play ground is an issue, keep the kids in as they do when it's raining, not too difficult is it surely?

 

That was one of the great things about going to school in the '70s and '80s....we made massive slides the length of the playground and the teachers joined in.

[Redbul]

Just been told that my nipper's school is shut again tomorrow; 3rd day on the trot. I can only ever remember having one snow day off my entire school career and that was when a boiler burst and there was no heating.

 

So why is there so many school closures nowadays? Do teachers live that much further away? Aren't heating systems as robust as they used to be? Is it the fear of litigation? I think we are more risk averse, if there was no public transport (buses nestled in the nadir of Lordswood Road ) we used to walk and think nothing of it.

 

I don't know, but I remember winter as being one of the most fun seasons at school; massive polished ice slides from one corner of the playground to the other, the 2 mile walk to school and back broken up by snow ball fights, bombing down hills on bin bags or tin trays....

[Whitey Grandad]

Wimps, the lot of 'em.

 

The trouble is nowadays, too many people live too far away from their place of work. The cost of moving house is too so with HIPS, stamp duty, legal fees, that most people prefer to stay where they are and commute. It's no wonder that the roads are clogged and CO2 emissions are going through the roof.

[mickn]

If we all listened to 'official' sources none of us should go out in this weather at all, its a pathetic over reaction imo.

[Special K]

It is, but when you start thinking that a teachers (or for that matter anyones) dangerous journey into work isn't worth worrying about as you have to look after your kids which is a 'pain the arse' (obviously, that is not what you posted, but it was the OP) I think people need to get their priorities right.

 

Exactly. I'd love to be spending more time at home with my kids, instead of being at work.