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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Unaceptable taking a "snow day" when schools are open

409 replies

Creambun2 · 28/02/2018 11:28

It really annoys me that the vast majority of schools are open in my area, yet many, many children have been taken out of school by parents "to enjoy the snow". Talk about lack of respect for the staff and other pupils who bother to turn up. We only have a couple of cm of snow!

OP posts:

TeenTimesTwo · 28/02/2018 12:13

At DDs old primary, if there was snow they would open if they could.
But they then took full advantage of the snow, so making snowmen etc. I think it would be a lot more fun for the kids to be at school, with their friends, with a vast open space to play in, than at home.

user1499786242 · 28/02/2018 12:14

I remember one snow day from my childhood
It was one of the best days ever! I love looking back at the pictures of that day and will never forget it...

Umm can't say I feel that way about days at school TBH!

I would rather my kids have an amazing day with memories like I did!
Doesn't happen often so I would let them enjoy the snow if I was able to!
Life is too short

steff13 · 28/02/2018 12:14

The US system (which is set up for snow) if there is less than 4-6 inches then everything will be open.

It's at the discretion of the superintendent of the school district whether to call a snow day. If the school serves a lot of rural areas, they're more likely to close with less snow, as those areas aren't served by plows the way urban areas are. It depends on the conditions of the roads rather than the amount of snow; it could snow 6" this evening, but the cities would be out clearing the streets all night and they'd be completely safe in the morning.

If the school call a snow day that day is added to the end of the summer term (shorter summer holiday)

There are a number of inclement weather days build into each school year. They only start having to make up days at the end of the year if they've exceeded those days.

Viviennemary · 28/02/2018 12:15

What is with this gratitude stuff. Teachers get paid don't they.

JacquesHammer · 28/02/2018 12:15

The same selfish, entitled parents who do this are then expecting the teacher to re-do stuff so their child can catch up!

Oh do calm down. I'm taking my DD out of school for three days next week. I don't expect them to catch her up, she doesn't need it.

We'd made the decison not to go in before school texted. Why struggle in when she doesn't need to?

ChaosNeverRains · 28/02/2018 12:15

IMO if this was something which happened every year the OP may have a point. But given it’s something which happens maybe once every ten years or so the likelihood is that the DC are only going to be in this position once, maybe twice in their whole school careers? In which case it’s really nothing in the scheme of things.

My DC’s school is closed and as they’re in secondary I wouldn’t have just given a snow day. However given the area round here is treturous because of ice etc and public transport was limited and delayed I was on the verge of taking the decision not to send them in for safety reasons rather than anything else before the school announced that they were closed which made my life considerably easier.....

beepthemeep · 28/02/2018 12:17

These sorts of threads are always great for weeding out the exact sort of parent I will NOT be when DD starts school

frankenburger · 28/02/2018 12:19

How often does it snow? Hardly ever. Why should children not get to enjoy a spectacular and rare event? Oh wait - they might miss how to add fractions with different denominators. Get a life.
The people who think this breeds a air of disrespect to the system need to take a good look at themselves and what they value in life.

Bimbler · 28/02/2018 12:20

It really annoys me that the vast majority of schools are open in my area, yet many, many children have been taken out of school by parents "to enjoy the snow".

Really annoyed you say? How awful for you.

cygnet12 · 28/02/2018 12:21

If the school is open and I'm able to get there on foot, they go to school. Play in the snow when they're back, plenty in the garden

Valentinesfart · 28/02/2018 12:21

These sorts of threads are always great for weeding out the exact sort of parent I will NOT be when DD starts school

Hahaha aw bless.

IpreferFrieda · 28/02/2018 12:21

Blimey your knickers are in a twist arnt they.

Trust me the ones not in won’t herd to catch up. It’s just crowd control with so many kids off. When I was s TA in a first school we had about a quarter of the kids turn up one snow day and they played, watched DVDs and made snowman.

It’s very rare and so I would keep mine off to sledge and make memories. General school attendance is the aim, odd days off are fine.

Calm down.

Eltonjohnssyrup · 28/02/2018 12:22

Incidentally, nurses and doctors don’t always get in. I lived very close to a service HQ when I worked there and have personally sat coordinating so that nurses went to patients near their homes (not usual patients) so that they got seen and supported when their usual nurse hadn’t got in. And community based nurses who could get into hospitals went and assisted there too.

Bimbler · 28/02/2018 12:23

These sorts of threads are always great for weeding out the exact sort of parent I will NOT be when DD starts school

Have you not already ascertained what kind of parent you are, or do you scan MN threads taking instruction from other people?

How very odd!

IpreferFrieda · 28/02/2018 12:26

Sounds like the ops kids are giving her a hard time as they see their friends enjoying a stolen fun snow day.

the sort of parent I will not be when dd starts school you might want to be a bit further along the parenting journey before you start proclaiming your views on other parents.

Knittedfairies · 28/02/2018 12:27

Many schools close because some parents chose to take their children out to 'enjoy the snow'. If closed, they have no unauthorised absences. If open and half the school is taking a duvet/snow day, OFSTED will be looking...

EllenRipley · 28/02/2018 12:27

Schools do not own our children and there is more to life than school. I don't know about anywhere else but the kids at my son's primary school aren't allowed outside if there's a whiff or rain/snow. So if the weather worsens here and we wake up to a winter wonderland tomorrow, damn tootin' I'll be taking my son sledging!

Relax, OP.

motherofyorkies · 28/02/2018 12:28

The US system (which is set up for snow) if there is less than 4-6 inches then everything will be open

@steff13 is right. Snow is handled very differently in different parts of the country and in cities vs. rural areas. In one place a tiny bit of snow can close schools because they lack snow removal equipment, snow tires, etc., (Think Atlanta, Memphis, etc.) yet in another area, schools never close for snow. The further north you go, the less likely schools are to close for snow. (Alaska, for example, just gets on it). There really is no such thing as "the US system."

Part of the problem with calling school off is that many parents need someplace for their children to be during the day while they are at work, so they children end up on the roads anyway. In Canada, they leave the schools open but declare certain days "no transportation" days, attendance isn't required, and no new material is presented. The children who come to school that day review, play games, and go outside to play in the snow.

dayandnightshapes · 28/02/2018 12:28

The last time I experienced snow like this, I was living in the midlands and it was 5 years ago. If I had school aged children, I may well enjoy a snow day. It doesn't happen often and is very exciting.

TheClitterati · 28/02/2018 12:28

our school is open but both Dc said they did no work at all yesterday.

If there is another significant snowfall I'm tempted to keep them home and go play in the snow too.

ShewasjustawishStevie · 28/02/2018 12:29

Why they're all grown up, stuck in the office, they won't remember the tedious lessons they had to endure at school. They will remember the Day Mum Let Us Play Wag to go Sledging on Lakey Hill 😀

Valentinesfart · 28/02/2018 12:29

the sort of parent I will not be when dd starts school you might want to be a bit further along the parenting journey before you start proclaiming your views on other parents.

We all do it though... then spend the next twenty years feeling like a twat.

IpreferFrieda · 28/02/2018 12:33

knitted

Omg not ofsted!!!! I used to regard my parenting choices as far more important than an ofsted inspection. Schools might be open but if it’s not safe to walk or car it then fuck that. When mine were little our local school was 3 mikes away with no pavement. I wouldnt risk my life or my kids lives to satisfy any school or ofsted bollocks.

IpreferFrieda · 28/02/2018 12:35

valentine

My teenagers were going to be easy as we would have family conferences and talk through all our issues gently and cooperatively

Oh also my toddlers would never tantrum!!

beepthemeep · 28/02/2018 12:36

Great name valentine - stinky hot air! There's a lot of entitled posts here and on other threads and assumptions about teachers etc that are just beyond cringe. Clue - if you can't see them, yours are probably right in there :)

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