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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to wonder why school is closed when there is less than an inch of snow

73 replies

Frogletmamma · 08/12/2017 08:53

When I was little we still had to go to school if it was up to your necks. Now one flurry and it closes. To add insult to injury the neighbouring school is open!

OP posts:
MyRelationshipIsWeird · 08/12/2017 08:56

Health and safety gone mad Wink

The only possible danger is slipping over or potentially children throwing snowballs when there is so little snow that half of it is actually gravel.

When there's proper snow I'd be happy for my DCs to get a day off and enjoy it as it's so rare. But I work at home so it doesn't affect me. I imagine as a WOHP it must be infuriating.

boredofmyoldname · 08/12/2017 08:56

Are you in/neighbouring a rural area by any chance?

We are and although the snow looks very little here a lot of the teachers live in the more rural parts which are often not gritted or seem to get more snow making it unsuitable/unsafe to drive through so the school shuts due to staff shortages.

Zoomaa · 08/12/2017 08:57

Ridiculous.

Snow seems to come as a screaming shock to the LA every year. It gets very tiresome.

Other countries seem to cope so much better than the UK.

Nanny0gg · 08/12/2017 08:59

Maybe the staff can't get in?

I can't get off my estate as it's an ice rink when it snows and it's never gritted.

drquin · 08/12/2017 09:00

But is it closed because of the "one flurry of snow"?

Most local schools here are closed or late in opening, because school transport is not running (not school / council's decision) or because staff members' journeys are taking longer than normal.

And we're hardy northerners who can cope with snow .....

thepatchworkcat · 08/12/2017 09:01

It may be that staff can’t get in if they live further away

GerardNoWay · 08/12/2017 09:01

Having the exact same thoughts myself when it hasn't even stuck here...

We took DD to nursery no problem this morning and the snow has now stopped.

Some schools here have closed, or are opening later. Have parents kicking off on FB that a few schools AREN'T closed.

It baffles me every year that we cannot cope with a dusting of snow.

Original poster
Frogletmamma · 08/12/2017 09:03

I used to be a hardy Northerner so I'm used to it but now live in Midlands where any snow anyone panics. Live in suburbia and traffic running fine. Oh well we can put our Christmas tree up...though it is a bit early...

OP posts:
Showergel1 · 08/12/2017 09:04

Last school I worked at not one of the teachers was local, the shortest commute was 40 minutes so I imagine not enough of the teachers can make it in to be worth opening.

iBiscuit · 08/12/2017 09:11

Teachers (and pupils) might be able to get in, but if the forecast is for more snow they might not be able to get home again this afternoon.

curryforbreakfast · 08/12/2017 09:12

You never had snow up to your necks.

drquin · 08/12/2017 09:13

@Frogletmamma ..... proper northerners I'm meaning north Scotland, where snow is always more than a bit of a flurry 😂

Anatidae · 08/12/2017 09:13

Insanity.
We have snow on the ground six months of the year here. Everything works just fine.

Caulk · 08/12/2017 09:15

It’s forecast to snow all day in Birmingham today. A lot of schools have closed because staff can’t get in, or it will be difficult for them to get out later. Two schools buses near me have hit parked cars nearby this morning...

specialsubject · 08/12/2017 09:15

Because somewhere like that will have lots of gritters, winter tyres etc etc. In the UK where snow is rare we don't have those.

Original poster
Frogletmamma · 08/12/2017 09:16

Curry for breakfast-we did honest in our back garden one year in 70's. I remember as my brother (bit weird) made snow tunnels in the garden and made me play Vietnam War. Don't think school was ever cancelled

OP posts:
mummadave · 08/12/2017 09:17

Having grown up in Iceland I never understand why the country grinds to a halt at the fall of a single snowflake Shock

Original poster
Frogletmamma · 08/12/2017 09:18

PS snow is melting!

OP posts:
Changebagsandgladrags · 08/12/2017 09:24

Countries where snowy conditions are guaranteed can put measures kn place to deal with it. Drivers are used to snowy and icy conditions. Public transport can cope.

But in England, for one or two days of snow it's not worth it. So when it does snow everything grinds to a halt.

Piggywaspushed · 08/12/2017 09:28

I remember the snow up to our necks in the 70s.

School was shut. We had daaaaaays off. There were far fewer working mothers then so perhaps it wasn't noticed so much and there was no social media to bitch about it, just garden gates.

In 1987 I didn't go to school for a week during my prelim exams (mocks) because of the Big Freeze in Glasgow. All the trains basically stopped. I did really well in those exams with extra revision time so I remember that really well.

CaveMum · 08/12/2017 09:33

It’s the cost of buying more gritters, snow ploughs, etc. As someone up thread says, it’s all well and good spending taxpayers money on these items if you know you’re going to get regular use out of them, but let’s face it in this country they’d probably be lucky to be used once or twice a year, if that! It’s just not a good use of funds.

Witchend · 08/12/2017 09:34

But when we were little if teachers couldn't get in we managed with what we had. Now they can't do that really.

I remember when I was year 1 and the only time it snowed hard, we trekked across the village on our sledge to get to school. When we arrived we found some of the pupils hadn't come in, but way more than half the staff.
They shoved classes together, and I think we ended up in the hall doing a singsong half the morning, and played in the snow all afternoon.
They'd have been about 150 pupils with if I'm remembering rightly 3 staff in the afternoon and 2 in the morning.

Funny thing is I remember it as a huge adventure walking through drifts to get to school, and the great fun of making do and just getting on with what we could do at school.
Dsis remembers it as dm meanly marching us into school while we passed friends with more enlightened parents who were just playing in the school and having a boring time when there.

Witchend · 08/12/2017 09:36

playing in the snow not school.

taratill · 08/12/2017 09:40

well my DS's school sent an email at 7am to say it was staying open, so he caught the train. We've just been phoned to say it is now shutting!

Hardly worth opening for 30 minutes!

chickenowner · 08/12/2017 09:40

Schools are usually closed because staff can't get in, not because the children can't get in.

Obviously I don't know where you live, but I work in a school in a suburb at the edge of a city. I, and many of the other staff, live in villages outside the city or even in other towns in the area. Therefore it is much more difficult for us to get into work when there's snow.

(If anyone wonders why a teacher is on mn at 9.40 on a weekday, I work part time and am not in school today!!)