to be annoyed that I got less than 24 hours notice that school is closed tomorrow?

[Oubliette0292]

I got a text message today at 13:36 which I only picked up once I got home (no mobile reception at work). WTF am I supposed to do?

Read the newspapers? Watch tv? Tune into any social media?

Is it closed for an emergency reason?

is it a strike?

strike i'm guessing.

phone for emergency childcare if needed.

I think it is a strike.

Not all schools are closed. Depends how many striking staff they have. So even if OP was aware of the strike, the implications for each school are often only decided very last minute.

My DD's primary is open tomorrow.

use a dependants day?

its not a totally unexpected thing surely?

TBF my dd's class is open tomorrow so it doesn't go without saying they would be closed, not all classes are.

I'm surprised you managed to miss the teachers strike on the news, you could have asked them.

I'm guessing this is because the school didn't know until now which teachers were striking?

In which case yanbu to be annoyed, but you have to do the same as you would if your DCs were ill.

It has hardly been sudden . . Its widely known ..

Or maybe a teacher died. Recently a Surrey school closed when an ICT teacher died on the premises.

I checked with the school last week (who told me they expected to be open). Had they indicated that there was any possibility that they were going to be closed I would have made other arrangements.

"WTF are you supposed to do?"

The same as you'd do if your child was ill.

And keep yourself abreast of current affairs.

Sorry - forgot to say that it is because of the strike.

whenever there is a strike happening then really you should make a backup childcare plan or organise some cover at work etc just in case.

Sorry to hijack, but should we check on the school website in the morning or are we to assume if nothing has been mentioned at all, then we are unaffected?

Teachers are not obliged to inform their Heads of whether they are striking or not until the morning of the day itself. It is a mark of their professionalism that the teachers have informed their Head in advance.

Sorry, if you'd checked then YANBU. The Head should have had a good idea which teachers would be in and could have planned appropriately.

But last week, if no teachers had said they were striking, then technically the school was open for business as usual. At best, she cold have hazarded a guess, but then, frankly, so could the OP.

Our school sent a letter home saying they may close due to the strike, that was the other week and the strikes in this area aren't until the 17th so yes I do think they could have given you more notice even if it was just a warning like ours.
Not all schools are shutting, in fact ours hasn't confirmed that it is just that it may possibly be and it's worth having backup plans, they are hoping they won't (much to DSs disappointment)
Its a bit difficult for many people & jobs to just take a day out of the blue, expecting people to guess how their school is going to react is a little unreasonable.

But that's the whole point of a strike, wonkylegs. They're intended to disrupt.
Notice has been out there in abundance in the media that this was happening tomorrow (and on the 17th in certain areas also).

Oh, and another one before Christmas. You heard it here first!

We were told school may close on the 4th October

I then get a text at 2:45 to say it may now close tomorrow but we won't know until 8:30am, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on

I work from home so it's not a big problem, but they need to make their minds up which day and stick to it

As Union reps, my colleague & I gave our HT a rough idea of how many teachers at our place had indicated their intention of striking.

HT then took the decision to close & a letter went out on Friday.

However, our meeting with HT was a courtesy one, not a requirement. Also, our colleagues aren't obliged to tell us if they plan to strike.

So not actually the school's fault - YABU.