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AIBU?

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Original poster

Fortune telling - schools announced as closed tomorrow?

26 replies

EggysMom · 01/03/2018 18:06

For context, I'm in Manchester. We had suburban snow this morning (gritters obviously concentrating on main roads), it was treacherous, I was not surprised that my son's school closed.

But we received a text mid-afternoon saying it would also be closed tomorrow. Now we've had only a light flurry since, there's no sign of the great fall that is happening out to the east of the city (Oldham and beyond). We're not due to have more. But they've already declared school closed - aibu to think this is a bit previous? There might be zero travel issues here tomorrow.

And to cap it off, our son's disability club on Saturday afternoon has also been closed, two days ahead, due to the poor weather. What little snow currently sitting in pavements and gardens could be completely gone by then! Again, a bit early to announce?

OP posts:
Sallystyle · 01/03/2018 18:08

Our schools are closed tomorrow because of the horrendous ice and wind.

That isn't going to change by the morning.

DalekDalekDalek · 01/03/2018 18:10

I don't know. It might be better to tell parents early about schools closing as it gives them more time to make alternative plans for child care.

And they're probably not "fortune telling", they've probably looked at the weather forecast which is almost as accurate as fortune telling.

WhoAmIReally99 · 01/03/2018 18:11

Our local authority has advised all schools to close tomorrow. It's due to start snowing again soon and be heavy all night. Paths are covered to hip height places with drifts so we wouldn't have been able to walk there tomorrow anyway.

LondonHereICome · 01/03/2018 18:13

It's not the snow

It's the ice and wind

YouCantGetHereFromThere · 01/03/2018 18:14

I prefer it when they tell us early, so I have time to make plans.

I've had many snow days where there's been a blue sky and not a snowflake to be seen at 8am, and by 1pm we've got 6" of snow.

Also just because you're in Manchester doesn't mean the towns around you are fine. A friend just said that Stockport is fine but Macclesfield is snowed in. Teachers may well be unable to get to work.

grasspigeons · 01/03/2018 18:14

a few schools round my way have done this

they are basing it on the fact that a lot of staff travel from further afield and they are no more likely to get out of their bit of the world tomorrow than today

and they think its easier to let parents know in advance so they can organise childcare. The other option is to decide tomorrow at 7:30, but a lot of parents have already left by then.

I work at a school that has decided to wait and see tomorrow, but the school a lot of their older siblings go to has announced a closure. They had lots of calls saying 'why aren't you waiting until tomorrow' and we had lots of calls saying 'they have made a decision and given us notice, why can't you'

LondonHereICome · 01/03/2018 18:14

Doesn't take a genius to work out it will ice over tonight

How far do the teachers have to come from?

Spikeyball · 01/03/2018 18:15

It's not getting any warmer so the ice will still be there.

TheSnowFairy · 01/03/2018 18:18

As has been said on a million other threads, headteachers cannot win.

If they give you plenty of notice people like you think they are overreacting. If they leave it til the day, people can struggle to get childcare.

YABVU

spanieleyes · 01/03/2018 18:20

It's not so much the snow, it is now the blocked roads, black ice and howling winds. we have been advised by the police not to travel unless essential and by the Local authority to close if at all possible. so we have advised parents early so they can try to make alternative arrangements.
Of course, there is the risk that we will be hit by a sudden heatwave overnight, the snow and ice will miraculously vanish and the upturned lorries will right themselves. Or maybe not!

PhelanThePain · 01/03/2018 18:21

Schools really cannot bloody win, can they?

OP what is on the ground will still be frozen when everyone is trying to get to school in the morning. This includes all staff. Our principal and grounds staff were in school at 6am this morning to assess the risk of opening. The same would have to happen tomorrow morning so they have planned ahead and realised it will be too dangerous for people to make that journey. Would you prefer they all risked their lives to go into school tomorrow to tell you exactly the same thing?

Skarossinkplunger · 01/03/2018 18:21

I work in a school. We were shut yesterday and today. We received a text at 2pm to say we’d be shut tomorrow. We’ve had significant snowfall and even if not one single flake fell between now and tomorrow morning I still wouldn’t be able to get in.

bananasandwicheseveryday · 01/03/2018 18:24

School where I work decided this afternoon that unless there is a major improvement, we will remain closed tomorrow. HT took a lot of stick on social media for waiting until early this morning to decide to close today. As others have said, the ice and snow are not going to disappear overnight, so it makes sense to let parents and staff know asap.

YellowMakesMeSmile · 01/03/2018 18:27

Who'd want to be a head? Schools can't win can they. Close that morning and parents moan it's too late notice and close the day before and it's fortune telling Hmm

Helpmeltb · 01/03/2018 18:28

I have the opposite problem. School closed today so I had to take a day's leave. Most schools nearby have already announced they're closed tomorrow but I'm still waiting to hear so can't let work know. Hoping it's going to be this evening and not 8am tomorrow when I've already started to make the journey.

jubbablub · 01/03/2018 18:29

I work in a central Manchester school. We were advised to close because of an amber warning for ice and wind. Nothing to do with the snow. Have told families today at 12:30 to give them time to prepare.

Heads are damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

acquiesce · 01/03/2018 18:30

Manchester here too. All playgroups and soft plays where we are have shut. Stir crazy!

CigarsofthePharoahs · 01/03/2018 18:34

My son's school was open today, but has already announced closure tomorrow.
Given that my area had only had about 3cm of snow at that point, it did seem presumptive.
However, despite the reasonably clear roads and the light snow, only about 2/3rds of the children made it in! Since home time today, we've had a lot more snow and more is predicted overnight and tomorrow. I think my son's school have just assumed that even more parents won't bother, so why fight it?
At least there's a bit of time to plan if needed.

DetectiveDog · 01/03/2018 18:37

Manchester too but nothing closed near us and not much snow left really!

But it could be because the staff can’t travel in from places on the outskirts. If they don’t have enough staff they can’t open.

mirime · 01/03/2018 18:43

Had an email from the school yesterday that they were closing today and tomorrow. We had no snow at all yesterday, but it was forecast to be heavy today and tomorrow.

It's been snowing most of the day and I'm sure it will snow most of the night. Even our little Tesco closed early and isn't opening tomorrow - I'm rather relieved for the staff.

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 01/03/2018 18:43

Just got an email from our school

Down the bottom on the uk Grin but the school is closed tomorrow

Very happy children here

WhoWants2Know · 01/03/2018 18:46

The last two days our local primary has waited until after 8:30am to text that they are "provisionally open" subject to review based on staff/pupil ratios. Then at 9:30 on both days they asked us to come collect at lunchtime because there weren't enough staff for the pupils who turned up.

So we get all the excitement of two journeys in inclement weather (plus queuing at the office in freezing weather to collect) AND having to sort work/childcare. Such Fun.

fleshmarketclose · 01/03/2018 18:48

I prefer to be told the evening before so that I don't have to bother waking dd. We heard at 5pm today that school would remain closed so both dd and I are very happy.

LokiBear · 01/03/2018 18:58

It hasn't been too bad where we are but a heavy downpour on Wednesday saw us send pupils home early as they are buses in and the bus company advised it. Today, the roads were alright so we opened. Behaviour from the pupils has been horrendous. Our kids are usually good kids. The school is in a fairly affluent area and nothing like the tough, inner city school I trained in 10 years ago. However, today was the toughest day of my teaching career. The pupils pretty much revolted, demanding to be sent home and complaining about having to complete work. Refusing to go outside, then when we told them we didn't expect them to go outside (we'd opened up the school for them at break and lunch and distributed staff inside and out so they could stay in or go out as they pleased) they complained that they needed to be able to have fresh air! Hmm It's a difficult enough decision to know whether to close a school in these conditions. When you strive to keep it open and the pupils behave like this you wonder why you bother. Parents are now slagging us off on Facebook and, quite honestly, I just need to drink wine.

JustBeingJobless · 01/03/2018 19:09

Our school won’t announce until morning. There’s very little chance they will be open as weather isn’t getting any better around here and every other school in the area has announced closure already. I just wish they’d make a decision so as I don’t have to set my alarm for 6.30 just to read a text!

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