to think that closing schools actually isn't necessary at all?

[manicinsomniac]

I fully accept that I might be and I have several pros and cons in my head. Just interested in others' opinions.

Where I live we have had a lot of snow. Not all roads are clear. The school is in a rural area. 50% of staff and 80% of children live between 10 and 60 minutes drive away. We are open (due to our 20% of boarders) and only 2 staff members and 14 children (out of about 40 staff and 350 children) are absent.

The children were under no compulsion to attend (email just said come if safe) but they have made it so AIBU to think that closing for almost all other schools should not have been necessary?

Cons (reasons I think I might be BU):
*we don't very often get snow like this so maybe the children are gaining more by being at home and getting the chance to play in it.

• if all schools opened then the journeys might have been harder than they were and maybe it wouldn't be possible to get in (ie maybe it was only ok for us because the roads were quieter)
  
• For staff who are nervous drivers there is an awful lot of judgement
  
• The children who don't make it in are getting behind through no fault of their own.
  
  Pros (reasons I think I am not BU):
  
• the children continue to get their education
  
• the children are with their friends and have all the grounds to play in all together (we have an organised snow fight and a sculpture competition today for eg)
  *'community spirit and British reslilience' and all that jazz!

[Backtobedlam]

What a lot of people seem to forget is that schools are not there to provide free childcare for parents, they are there to educate children and look after their welfare. As a head imagine you open the school in trecherous conditions and a family is involved in an accident trying to get there, or a car skids into a group of children on their way to school? It w Some journeys are unavoidable, working in a hospital or fire brigade for example. Children having a few days off school isn't going to damage their education,

[Backtobedlam]

Sorry posted to soon...it isn't going to damage their education, and with children if in doubt I'd rather not take the risk.

[mummytime]

Sometimes it's not the schools fault, it could be the local council. About 5 years ago someone in our local council seemed to take a decision to save money by buying less grit and reducing/stopping gritting some roads. Then when the bad snows happened 2 and 3 years ago almost every school in the county closed. Why? Roads which had been previously always passable, were now abandoned to snow - my kids used one to sledge down - part of the town centre one way system. In other cases you could get to within 100 metres f the school, but as soon as you turned of a main road, the side roads were ice-rinks and there was no where to park. Most bus routes had to be stopped/curtailed as there was at least one impassable road on the route.
Last year and this year the council reversed the decision, they grit the old pattern of roads, and try to grit the access roads to schools. They also bought equipment to turn refuse trucks into snow ploughs etc.
Result very few schools are/have been closed for more than 1 day.

So don't forget the councils' responsibilities towards school closures.

[JustAHolyFool]

My university is closed for the 5th day in a row. I honestly think it's ridiculous. I live in a very flat, very urban area, there are currently no problems reported on the roads apart from the usual slow-moving traffic. People who have driven in have reported that there is no real problem.

We get snow in the UK more or less every year. People need to learn to drive in it. I don't buy all this "nervous driver" stuff. If you're a nervous driver, take the bus or the train, don't put us all in danger in your car that you're not competent to drive.

I come from a very rural, very hilly, very northerly area. 90% of children have to come in on buses, most of them from at least 10 miles away through hills. We get inches of snow every year without fail, and yes, sometimes the schools have to close. If the schools closed every time we got an inch or two, however, they'd be closed most of the winter.

I think a hell of a lot of people wake up and think it's a good excuse for a day off. Who can prove that your road is passable or not?

[Lancelottie]

Umm, take what bus and train?

We're five miles from the nearest train station, and there's one bus through the village an hour (which doesn't go to the train station).

[OBface]

My DD goes to Kindergarten on a farm in the middle of nowhere - it (proudly) hasn't closed in the 23 years it has been open. All the other schools in the area have been shut since the beginning of the week. Says it all.

[merrymouse]

Odd for a university to close - not as though their students need supervision or can't just go back home by themselves if a lecture is cancelled.

[merrymouse]

Anyway, basically I would agree with what Nit's last post.

[JustAHolyFool]

Umm, take the buses and trains that are all running fine in our area.

[merrymouse]

Your sure there isn't some kind of planned holiday at your university?

[JustAHolyFool]

Oh yes, you're right, I completely forgot about that holiday and misread the information on the website and misread the email that I got.

[merrymouse]

sorry, that was supposed to be a joke.

My main point was that a university closing is more comparable to a company deciding to close down for the day, as people who attend a university are adults.

It's not really comparable to a school where most of the people in the building are children and staff ratios have to be maintained for their safety.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

Why are you so sure of that? Seems an odd conclusion to reach unless you know of the thought processes of the heads in question. Surely a headteacher is more likely to think it through than not? I don't know why people are so keen to think otherwise, based on - as far as I can see - nothing.

Justaholyfool you seemed to be saying that people generally 'in this country' needed to learn to drive in the snow etc, and if they could not do that, then to get buses or trains. Now the buses and trains in your area are probably lovely for you, but I'm not too sure how they will help all the other people who don't live there, like the posters above?

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

So all the head teachers you've known have closed without - in your opinion - exploring sufficient options or demonstrating enough regret? Ok.

[perfectstorm]

She said "some". Why convert that to "all"? It completely alters the emphasis, to the point it distorts the meaning.

[perfectstorm]

^I'm sure there are some HTs who very regretfully close, having explored all the options, and then made a judgement call."

How do you get "all" from that?

[Cherriesarelovely]

I've thought about this long and hard this week. At my school we (unusually) closed for a day last week. It was the worst day weatherwise. I cannot see how the head could have made the decision to open not knowing when she or the small staff would get there (on the day we didn't close it took my colleague and I 2.5 hrs). In theory even if only half of the children had arrived but none of the staff what would happen then? In fact all of our parents supported the decision and said they would not have driven in those conditions anyway.

[Cherriesarelovely]

Oh and our HT agonises about these decisions every year.

[RustyBear]

" People need to learn to drive in it."
"don't put us all in danger in your car that you're not competent to drive."

How do they do the former without doing the latter?

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

Fair point - I assume the 'some' are a significant enough amount to draw wider conclusions from, though? And that this consideration of other options, and lack of regret, is measurable?

Also - once again - the OP is about whether schools need to close or not at all.

[JustAHolyFool]

Well Rusty how to people learn to drive?

Bit of a non-point.

[Pixel]

sowornout, I see your point but that's another reason for setting it all up in advance of bad weather. Anyway, I was under the impression they were scaling back the CRB stuff to more manageable levels, guess it was just a 'plan' and nothing has actually happened if it's still the same shambles. Typical! (can't remember where I originally read it but I've just done a quick search and found this where it says "Teachers and care home workers who do require checks will have their records constantly updated so a new trawl is not required when they move jobs.")
I understand we need checks but as you say, much of it is pointless red tape and has killed common sense stone dead!

[ShephardsDelight]

YANBU
I'm pretty sure other countries cope better than we do with a lot of snow.