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

[Soubriquet]

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.

I think you need more support if you can't get your DC to school in the morning op.

Mine's at home. Yes life is tough but they'll get enough of that when they're at home.

Typo - when they're adults!

For a 10 minute walk I'd definitely send them in! I've just driven for almost an hour in the snow to get mine to school as roads were bad!

@Soubriquet you mention pip, do you qualify for mobility help via the motability scheme? The Red Cross hire mobility aids if you can self propel a wheelchair or even crutches to help. Not sure what your disability requirements are but I have varying needs myself so do understand how difficult getting out can be. I have a rollator that is also a wheelchair, but requires pushing, for when I'm out but also can sometimes manage very short distances (think around the house type distances) with a walking stick.

You might be able to get some help from other charities but also other hire places, again not sure what's affordable for you, or even eBay.

I’ll ask some of our kids at school who have a 20 minute walk down a farm track to stand and wait for the bus at the side of a country road.

Children in our school are actively encouraged to walk to school. Lots of children walk alone.

It's a 30 mile motorway journey, and it was sleeting and poor visibility yesterday, so I kept him home. Closed today anyway.

No, I wouldn't. I don't think it's good to set a precedent for kids that it's somehow dangerous to go out in bad weather. Yes, there are more risks but really nothing bad enough to not allow a short straightforward walk.

I've done it once. Wouldn't normally do it.

The previous evening the conditions on the estate were really dangerous. What was happening was the snow was melting as people drove over it, and promptly refreezing. The council, in their negative wisdom, had removed all the grit bins and the roads were almost impassable, but people were trying, which was meaning cars skidding onto pavement, etc.
My dc, in normal times had a 40-50 minute walk to school along busy roads.
I went out to have a look, and saw that conditions were the same, if not worse than the previous evening and concluded that it wasn't safe to walk. Added to that the previous winter ds had had a serious illness which had meant he'd missed most of a term of school, and was still very easily tired.

However I will say that when I was about 6 we had a huge snowfall on our village. We rarely got snow so it was very exciting. I remember dm bundling us up and an adventurous walk across the village (we lived at the opposite end, so it was quite a trek) with the sledge. We conquered the extreme conditions (well about 6" of snow) and arrived at school glowing at our triumph.
About half the school got in, and similar proportion of teachers and we had the most amazing fun, mixing up classes, doing snow craft, going outside and making igloos and snowmen with the teachers. I was chosen to paint snowflakes on a window, which as I wasn't very artistic, I rarely got chosen for such things. <very proud>
It was wonderful.
Dsis remembers it as mean mum forced us to go to school when others got to stay at home. 🤣🤣🤣

So your dc may have differing views on the matter.

Your DC goes to a school thirty miles away?

Wet and cold I would send them in. We had to walk home in sleet on Wednesday. It wasn't pleasant (30 minute round trip for me) but not bad enough to stay home.

Having said that I have kept DD home when the pavements were very icy and would definitely do in future as the risk of serious injury outweighs missing a day of school. It is a bit frustrating when schools close for snow which is not bad to walk in and then open when everywhere is sheet ice. Luckily we live in the South so this doesn't happen often.

Not disagreeing with your general point (though IMO civilly getting your point across is just an important a life skill), but I grew up hearing stuff like that, and now I fully work from my bed on 6 figs 🤣 Life will probably be even more different by the time those kids are grown up.

I never let them stay off, they need to be taught resilience. They'lll grow up sacking off anything if it's raining heavily, snowing, windy.

I live in London so the walk to school is never dangerous - I would feel differently in the countryside, but I wouldn't cancel a day of school for sleet.

However the school run this morning was genuinely miserable even here, and it's Friday, and we're into March so the weather HAS to improve soon, so I wouldn't worry about one day.

The snow really picked up and we started to have a massive storm so yes I kept them home.

What did you tell the school op? Were you honest or did you just say they were ill?

Yes I have done especially when they were taxied into school as I worried about them getting there and back. Not very often I haven't walked them there in snow though. If you don't feel comfortable with them walking alone OP then I'd say it's fine to keep them home. It seems all schools are closed around here today, nothing is moving and buses weren't running earlier.

I was honest and said it was because of the weather. They were perfectly fine with it. We wasn’t the first family to call

I was thinking this ours has a policy someone over 16 must drop off and collect

Seems odd to me. My DC’s primary (inner London) actively encourages upper primary children to come and leave alone.

No.

My DC has missed enough school with covid/lockdown and now teacher strikes. In the conditions you describe I’d be wrapping them up warm and definitely putting to school. (The evil part of me also thinks why make the teachers lives easier in having less children in the class to teach , where I am they get plenty of proper snow days off that no other working person gets).

Same here. The younger primary classes must be collected by an adult but the older classes it’s at the parents discretion.

YABU book taxis or ask friends to help. If it's in walking distance and the school is open it's do-able. Get them some proper wet weather gear (rain-proof over trousers) as this isn't going to be the last rotten weather day they will encounter walking to and from school.