to think headteachers can't win?

[DrSeuss]

I'm a teacher. We are closed today for a snow day. Cue massive whinging from some parents about childcare and lack of notice as 7.15 am was apparently too late. To access the website, the Deputy Head needs to be on site so will have had to drive fifteen miles to put the notice up. God alone knows what time he left home.

My daughter's school is open. Cue massive whinging from some parents about Health and Safety/Let Kids be Kids. OK, some of the parents live a few miles away and may not be able to drive in so their kids will miss a day. However, the two Prime Whingers on the school's FB page live around three hundred yards from the gates! The school asked us all by email last night to send clothes suitable for playing outside today in a scheduled session this afternoon.

For the record, we have 10 cm of snow max, we are in the suburbs in a fairly affluent area where most people have cars. If we had more snow or lived in the country that would be different.

Heads can't really win. Close, open. It never suits. Wonder why so many teachers quit?

I have seen one of our parents complaining about how late we called our snow day - it was text at 6:35!

Apparently its not fair as they live so far out. They live about 16 miles from school and there are at least 5 or 6 schools closer that are just as good as ours. So they have either moved and decided to continue in our school (not an exam critical year so could have moved), or they chose to come to a school so far away!

We rarely close now - its normally late start to give staff and students more time to get in in bad conditions.

Agree with BarbarianMum's post below

The way I see it Head teachers have two choices
1. They make the decision to close the night before. This way parents have plenty of notice but the downside is that you will get more unnecessary closures when forecast snow doesn't materialise (cue parents moaning)
2. Head teacher announces closure having checked conditions on-site first thing in the morning. This way you avoid unnecessary closures but parents get less notice of closures (cue parents moaning).
Conclusion: parent's moan. Just get on and do what you think's best.

berries
Seconded ^^

Both the school I work in and my kids’ school shut early. Not really any more snow since they closed but it was forecast.
Schools take advice from the local borough too on closing, rather than one person making the decision.
Trouble is, if they don’t shut and it then snows heavily, we’re all stranded. Most pupils at both schools aren’t local and many staff come in from all over.
Even though not much snow, where there is, it’s very slippery. Myself and colleagues skidded on the way.

Following a heavy snowfall at 4pm today we received a message from school stating that school will be closed tomorrow and Friday. Lots of FB posts ensued. Most were joyous at having a couple of snow days, however, there then ensued very bitter posts from middle aged people - either who don't have children or whose children are grown up - complaining that it's 'ridiculous' that the country comes to a halt because of a bit if snow and they have to go to work so can't see why pupils and teachers can't get into School.

Health and safety perhaps?

Head teachers can't win...

I agree that head teachers cannot win, so can only do what they think is best under the circumstances.

I am amazed, however, that any of them actually need to travel to the school to put up the closure message on email or on the website. I simply don't believe that remote access is impossible. I work in financial services and work from home. Surely the technology needed is the same? You need the login and passwords/certificates and can then just use your home WiFi. Surely schools are no different. This is not the dark ages.

If we took away the possibility of being sued, then maybe more schools would remain open. If housing was affordable for young teachers so they did not often have to live a distance away, then maybe more schools could stay open.

Has a school ever been successfully sued because a child slipped over on an icy playground?

Ours is a regional decision. So all schools were closed today.

It was absolutely the right thing. The weather was well forecast and parents had time to make contingency arrangements.

Schools are not essential services. The only people on the roads (where we are) should have been those who had to get to hospitals etc.

I work at a school, it's a pain in the arse. I'm finding whinging from staff members even more annoying today!

We had a text from the school but it's also on a local radio site here (Essex). Lots of schools say why they are shut,

The school up the road (secondary) is a huge site with lots of paths to each section. They closed because the site itself was treacherous for staff and students. A smaller primary close by was open as they don't have the same issues as the secondary.

DS attends a special school and they closed because their pupils come in from across a wide area by transport. It was deemed too risky.

I think HT get a crap deal from this.....they cannot win.

It might only be an hours notice but that's because Heads don't want to close unnecessarily and sometimes visiting the school site is the only way to know if it's safe or not.

scrolling banner that they're closed on their website

Is it snowing in 1998, too?

In our LA, HTs have a password that they can use to access the Council's Emergency School Closure website and update it. They don't have to be on site to do that. It's the HT's discretion, along with the Governors, about whether to close or open the site.

My DH is a site manager for a number of schools in our area, with one base school that he works at primarily. He gets to the site early in the morning, assesses it for safety and how salvageable it is if it is gritted. On the way to the site, he takes minor roads to see how easy they are, or otherwise, to drive on. He then informs the HT, and they discuss this, along with the consideration of the fact that many children come from very rural areas by transport, and that many teachers will be traveling from at least 5-10 miles away, as it's a very rural school, to decide whether it is safe to open the school. They have to consider not only getting the children there, but also getting them home if the weather worsens.

DD1 goes to Special School 10.5 miles away, via transport, but normally spends 1 hour on the minibus, going out to various houses, picking other children up on the way. Her school closed early on the basis that it was too much risk to send minibuses out rurally.

Heads are asked by local authorities etc to close to try to cut down on the number of journeys taken by parents delivering children to school. the fewer cars on the road, the better in conditions like this.

I had the opposite issue. Received message at 6.45 telling me schools shut.
I guess our head teachers live locally.
Still can't understand why closed as no new snow and roads fine. Not been moaning on social media though. Only on here.

I generally agree with the Op. However the heads of both my dc's schools live locally and therefore aren't struggling in like in your school. Yesterday they sent notifications at 7am that both schools were open. Fine. Children started to leave for school and at the secondary school a large number were dropped off by parents early for a trip . Just before 8am the heads decided they were closed. Some children arrived at school to find it closed. Open/close I don't care but I think to decide to close when children had already set off for school is a bit shit.