School open, are they more concerned with ofsted and looking good?

[simplesusan]

Hello,
This is not a teacher bashing thread.
The vast majority of local schools are closed due to adverse weather conditions today.
The snow is very deep .
My eldest dcs got up and ready for school, dd1 then got a message from a friend to say senior school shut, no problems.
I then got a call to say the school where I work is closed, again no problems.

My dd1 whilst trying to clarify whether dd2's very remote village school was also closed stumbled on the info that the school bus which dd2 catches is not operating as driving conditions are too bad.
Still trying to find out whether dd2 shcool closed and no info.
Then I got an email stating that school is officially open but there were not enough teaching staff for normal lessons to go ahead.
The school also stated that as school is officially open the onus is on parents as to whether it is actually feasible for their dc to attend.
It then states that there is no public transport through the village and informs parents that the school bus is not operating.
It also states that if a parent brings a child to school they must be aware that school can close at any time without prior notice, and that if you do decided to drop your child off then the deal is that you can get back during school hours to collect them if need be.
Basically the wording made it clear that though conditions were very bad if you don't go then it will be recorded as unauthorised absence.

It also implied that if you did your child will not be undertaking any normal lessons!

I haven't taken dd2.

The last time this happened we received a phone call to say we could collect dd2 at 10 am! My dh had been in the house 15 minutes.

When I returned on foot to collect her, she was sat in the cold school hall literally twiddling her thumbs.

My moan is this. Everyone who collected their dc that day was recorded as unauthorised absense yet the children were not being taught and the message impled come quickly! Conditions are worsening come and collect your child fast!

Are there some sort of brownie points for schools who stay open?
Seriously I cannot think of any other logical reason for this kind of behaviour.
The message was very ambiguous, almost exonerating the school from any official criticism rather than making a firm call.
Btw The vast majority of children live further away than us from school. Less than 20% of children live within 1 mile of the school.

Everyone who collected their dc that day was recorded as unauthorised absense

I strongly doubt that...

The unauthorised absence thing was either a misunderstanding or a mistake.

Our Primary school had some teachers who could walk to school, but most travelled in from a distance. So those teachers who could came in and opened the school if at all possible, with the understanding that it was child care rather than schooling that was being provided. The teachers did this because they were aware how difficult it is for parents who work outside the home if the school is shut at short notice.
Can't win, teachers, can they?

WSS ^^

You only have to look through Active Convos now to see schools are damned it they do and damned if they don't.

Schools usually give an 'exceptional absence' mark for adverse weather meaning that pupils/school absence isn't affected.

I would suggest that the schools who have closed are the ones concerned about ofsted. When a school remains open, many parents choose not to send their children to school or are unable to. Ofsted make no allowances for the impact adverse weather conditions may have on attendance so schools often close to avoid unauthorised absences tainting their attendance data.

I can assure you that all children who were collected were recorded as unauthorised.
My friend pointed it out to me as her dd had had 100% attendance, apart from this. She queried it with school.

That is why I am asking is there some hidden agenda to do with Brownie points with Ofsted or some other governing body?
The school is obsessed with puntuality, not a bad thing. But you cannot have even one extra days holiday, not that mine do as we don't do term time holidays. But if say your holiday starts on the last day of term then it does go down as unauthorised.

Seeker- I would rather the school just shut than became a babysitting service although I do take your point.

The school is wrong then and damaging their own figures. Admittedly my LA does check up, and as I told my kids from our house we have no excuse although some of their friends in the villages would be fine not to go.
In your circumstances I wouldn't send DD2 either.

Yes Lunatic- you have hit the nail on the head.
The message was very much a case of: The conditions surrounding the school are terrible. So bad that public transport has ceased, be it on your own head if you make the decision to leave your child here, oh and btw they won't be in lessons today as the staff cannot get here. We are stll open though!

Overdecorated- thanks for clearing that up.

I was all set to walk her there, then this message just made me reluctant as she may as well be home than sat bored doing nothing of interrest or worth at school.
She is hoping to go tomorrow, weather permitting, as she has baked a cake for her teacher!

"I can assure you that all children who were collected were recorded as unauthorised.
My friend pointed it out to me as her dd had had 100% attendance, apart from this. She queried it with school.
then it was a mistake on the part of the school, and if it happens again, take it up with the LEA

That is why I am asking is there some hidden agenda to do with Brownie points with Ofsted or some other governing body?
The school is obsessed with puntuality, not a bad thing. But you cannot have even one extra days holiday, not that mine do as we don't do term time holidays. But if say your holiday starts on the last day of term then it does go down as unauthorised.
of course it does- you're not there and it hasn't been authorised!

Seeker- I would rather the school just shut than became a babysitting service although I do take your point."
Why? It's a service that many parents value, even if you don't use it. As I said, teachers just can't get it right!

When I was involved of the management of a local pre-school and we were planning for possible Flu pandemics, one thing that was pointed out was just how valuable it was if we kept open (if not advised to close) if only to provide "babysitting". If a school or playgroup shuts that could prevent a whole load of key workers being able to work; doctors, nurses, carers, drivers, etc.

I have been pondering if that is the reason my DC's school has stayed open when all other schools in my area are shut, Ofsted were visiting last week....

I don't understand why schools close so easily these days. When I was at primary school (1981-1985) we had serious thick snow every single winter - our town on a hill 800ft above sea level and as such the town was often cut off for two or three days. We walked to school. So did the teachers, all of whom lived in the town. The only time we closed was if the heating failed WHILE there was thick snow. Otherwise you just got on with it. Yes, those who came from nearby villages by bus couldn't get there, but if you lived in town, you walked.

Nowadays people travel further to work. I think possibly 10% of staff at my school live within walking distance

Alistron - maybe it should be a condition of employment to live within, say, two miles?

There are other reasons why things have changed apart from the staff living further away.

Children live further away too and many are often reliant on school transport which doesn't run (or runs in the mornings to get them there and then is pulled so they can't get home). Many, many schools now don't have 'cooking kitchens' - food is brought in 'cook chill' and again reliant on outside agencies who may not be able to get food/staff to school. Parents would be furious if the children weren't fed. There are lots of issues to consider and I pity the heads that have to make the decision because there's no way they're going to please everyone.

Well I think I made the right decision.
Bumped into a ta from the school whilst in the local shop buying milk and she said that most children stayed off.
She asked why dd didn't go and I explained about the school bus and that I didn't want a repeat of what had happen the previous year ie school closing early.

She then said oh we have all been outside making snowmen.
I replied that actually she can stay at home and make snowmen without me having to trudge 1.5miles each way on foot to drop her off and pick her up!

Got home and we did presicely that plus I attempted to clear the drive and road.
That's my exercise for the day.

I'll throw a question into this debate if I may?

Most state schools in my town were closed today, even the community ones like the one I work at, with a kitchen, with a catchment in walking distance. Some teachers live nearby, some miles away.

My sons Prep school was open, it draws DC's from about 15 miles in every direction and again, some teachers live nearby, others come from miles away. It hasn't shut for bad weather at any point in its history. About 90% of children and staff made it in according to DS.

Why the difference do you think?

(I am not complaining - I got a day all to myself at home)

I just checked DD's attendance figures for last week as school closed on Friday at lunchtime (have portal access for own child). There is actually a Force Majeure category in the attedance figures for exactly this situation. So there shouldn't be any unauthorised attendance due to snow.

This is what the BBC say about it:

1. The contentious issue of school attendance - which is inspected by Ofsted - isn't part of the equation, according to the DfE, which says head teachers should not be worried about the impact that remaining open might have on their attendance statistics. Before 2010, pupils who did not turn up to school in extreme weather had to be marked down as absent, which wasn't the case if the school shut. But the DfE says the department amended regulations in September 2010, allowing the school to use the attendance code Y - which does not affect attendance statistics - when a pupil cannot get in because of severe weather. However if the head teacher believes that a child could have got to school, then the child should be recorded as code O - an unauthorised absence, it says.

A school will know where their pupils are coming from. DS's school seems to have a mostly small, walking distance catchment, I wonder if that's why they've stayed open.

Only employ teachers who live within 2 miles of school, so you either restrict the pool of potential applicants or pay them a relocation fee when they are employed? Just not sensible, I wouldn't want to be that restricted on where I lived for my job unless necessary, this isn't necessary.

We are in a village, the local primary is open after 6" of snow last night and the majority of teachers have made it in. The secondary schools in the town 2 / 3 miles away are shut, the bus companies have refused to run buses so the schools are closed.

diabolo - private prep? I don't know but can hazard a guess. Are they regulated by the teacher/pupil ratios that state schools are and would you be entitled to a refund of fees for a closure? Paying parents mean different priorities?

Dame - no refund of fees for an emergency closure, so it's not that. Teacher / pupil ratios are much better than where I work, so its not that either (even with 10% of staff missing).

The head is a very old-school, stiff upper lip type - I believe it's more to do with his "keep calm and carry on" attitude than anything else.

Very possibly diabolo - my old head would rather die than close.