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Original poster

Do you ever keep your dc home because of the weather even if the school is open?

123 replies

Soubriquet · 10/03/2023 07:59

Weather is horrible here. It’s cold, it’s wet and it’s sleeting.

My dc (8 and 9 (nearly 10)) walk to school on their own together. It takes 10 mins and is down a straight road with hardly any traffic.

Im keeping them home today because I don’t like the idea of them walking alone in this weather. I can’t take them. I’ve been disabled for the last few months and I haven’t been able to afford a mobility scooter or electric wheelchair, so I’m kinda stuck at home.

OP posts:

Persipan · 10/03/2023 08:35

I understand what you mean about walking on ice - I'm terrible at it! - but from what you've described it isn't icy so no, I wouldn't keep them home.

xSilverandcoldx · 10/03/2023 08:36

Mine definitely go in unless the school is actually closed. I agree it's not setting them up to cope with unpleasant things when they are older if you keep them off due to weather.

However I would make sure they were dressed appropriately and took a change of clothes if they really are soaked. I'd also give the school office a ring to check they arrived ok. That might set your mind at ease.

LavenderHeather · 10/03/2023 08:36

Yes, if the weather is horribly cold and wet and they aren’t 100% (eg have a cold) I keep them off. In December when it was -6 they had 3 days off as they were too cold

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toomuchlaundry · 10/03/2023 08:37

We have always lived a fair distance from schools (so not walking distance), so have sometimes not gone in even if school is open. I remember a couple of times when DS was at Primary School driving through horrible conditions and then parking a fair distance from the school (as road by the school was treacherous) and starting to walk the rest of the way to then get the phone call that they had decided to close the school!

Now DS is at college and goes on the school bus. There have been times when the buses don’t run but the school is still open. In those instances, school run remote lessons for those at home. No such thing as a snow day anymore

Rosula · 10/03/2023 08:48

It's highly unlikely to ice over by 3 pm if it's raining now, and even if it did a 10 minute walk is hardly going to be dangerous. I would send them.

mondaytosunday · 10/03/2023 08:50

Send them to school! Really you are being ridiculous. I grew up where freezing rain, sleet etc was a practically a daily thing and much much colder. Give them appropriate clothes and boots and off they go!

blackheartsgirl · 10/03/2023 08:53

If they were 10 minutes away and they were ops dc age then yes I’d make them go.

I’ve kept mine of once before in the snow when the school was kept open. But they were teens, the school is 5 miles away and the snow was deep and they would have had to walk through a remote valley with steep sides to get to school. School buses not running and I couldn’t drive at the time.

Toddlerteaplease · 10/03/2023 08:54

Yep unless you are completely snowed in they go.

Enthrallingstoryofstillness · 10/03/2023 08:58

Resounding send them in from pretty much everyone, yes you're being ridiculous

SpinningFloppa · 10/03/2023 08:59

Yes I would still take them. Our school wouldn't allow them to walk alone though

Toddlerteaplease · 10/03/2023 09:00

Snow rats are a pretty pathetic reason for not going to work. Unless you live very rurally or the snow is exceptionally heavy. I'm
A nurse and none of my colleagues would dream of not coming in just because it's snowing.

Toddlerteaplease · 10/03/2023 09:01

Days

Badbudgeter · 10/03/2023 09:10

I have kept mines at home. We’re rural though and the bus driver can decide if he feels weather is poor not to travel. A few years ago I thought I’d take dc down anyway and slid into the back of someone; luckily no real damage done. Now if the driver said it’s a snow day we have a snow day.

I think your circumstances sound tricky though. Are you getting all the support you’re entitled to? I’m wondering if the LA would provide transport due to your disabilities or if there is any support funding to help pay for a mobility vehicle/scooter. I’d reach out and ask for help.

Original poster

Soubriquet · 10/03/2023 09:11

We are rural. There is a school, a church and a village hall and that’s it. There is nothing else apart from houses.

RE help…I’ve tried mobility trust and all I keep getting is emails telling me to contact them when my PiP is up for renewal. I tried a gofundme and raised a massive sum of £10… so I’ve given up really for now

OP posts:

PeekAtYou · 10/03/2023 09:16

I would send my kids in for such a short walk. I would be hoping that they got the chance to play with their friends outside too.

DidyouNO · 10/03/2023 09:21

If schools open then my kids go. We live in Scotland so if I kept them off each time they'd miss a lot. Children generally don't like to miss school because their friends are there. I think it's a shame to keep them off for them to miss out.

MadameSzyszkoBohusz · 10/03/2023 09:21

The walk to school was horrible just now. Driving sleet, high winds, freezing. An arsehole lorry driver drove through a puddle at speed as he passed me and soaked me to the bone.

It wouldn't have occurred to me to keep the DC off though. They need to be in school.

Verylongtime · 10/03/2023 09:25

Yes, they should have gone to school.

2bazookas · 10/03/2023 09:25

No. Just dress them appropriately.

Don't let climate damage their education . Every day missed makes it harder for pupils to keep up with the rest of the class

Mine had to wait for the rural school bus on a very exposed high moorland hillside (Scottish highlands); no bus shelter. They had appropriate clothes for the climate, to keep them warm dry and cosy.

Oscarover · 10/03/2023 09:26

i have done in the past. It’s a little different though as we have to travel just over 7 miles along country roads with no pavements. My concern was that I would get into difficulty on the way and possibly either have an accident or become stranded because my car wouldn’t quite make it. If we lived within walking distance however we would have just walked.

Oscarover · 10/03/2023 09:28

I would also judge the journey on the buses. During heavy snow if the buses cancelled to the secondary schools I would lean towards just staying home

MarshaBradyo · 10/03/2023 09:28

No just send them in

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 10/03/2023 09:29

The kids walking down the lane to school on there own today are just fine. I can see them from my window. There’s just not as much joshing around as usual, as they are keen to get there.

Kindly, don’t think that they are not competent because you are having a bit of a struggle at the moment

MunchMonster · 10/03/2023 09:30

I would definitely be sending them in. I'd give them an umberalla and dress wrap them up. I think it sets them up with unrealistic expectations for work if they get to stay at home when the weather is bad.

Nimbostratus100 · 10/03/2023 09:30

are your children in school now @Soubriquet ?

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