To think 'snow days' are pathetic

[Toddlerteaplease]

I understand if you live very rurally and genuinely can't get out. But snow in cities is rarely that bad. NHS staff don't take days off for a bit of snow. Last time we had severe snow. Not one person on my entire unit missed work. Even though schools were closed.

ewlts we can't moan at them as they aren't there! I'll just moan on here anyway ...

If people whose journey is not essential stay at home then it makes it just a little bit safer for those – like NHS and emergency service workers – whose journey is essential. I say this as someone who works for an emergency service.

We have put in place various contingencies to help support our staff who work on the front line get to and from work. This isn't something we can do for everyone across the organisation.

I would normally be irritated by school closures in what isn't really a lot of snow.
However I've now been ill for a month with who knows what hideous bug this is.
It's a relief not to have to go out in it when my lungs are full of gunk.

It isn't up to the school in most cases, the LA makes th decision.

I'm in a southern city with about 2 inches snow, if that, traffic moving freely, and my workplace 10 miles away said people had travelled in ok from their villages/towns around, so I am not talking about rural areas with windy/steep roads etc obvs!

I think they only shut if there is reason to.

I do think it's excessive though when things totally shut down in the UK for a slight dusting

Our infrastructure isn't really set up for snow as our with terms are generally cold, wet, and windy with icy snaps here and there. Snow isn't a frequent enough occurrence for most of the country. All these posts about countries where it's -40 and six feet of snow but they all still went to work are a bit of a red herring as they are countries accustomed to winters like that, they have experience of driving in snow, they have proper outdoor clothing because they need it not because it's fashionable (e.g., Canada Goose), roads are ploughed, and so on.

NHS staff don't take days off for a bit of snow.

My DD has had surgery delayed - more than once - because there weren't enough PICU nurses when they couldn't get in because of snow.

At the time I just thought 'good call, heart surgeon', but thanks to this thread I now know I should have kicked up a fuss, insisted the surgery went ahead and got the porters to nurse her afterwards.

With primary schools they need to be risk averse.

If the weather gets worse than expected (or as expected), then they can't just close at 12 and send the kids home. Parents who have gone to work, can't get back etc and you can't send 5yos home alone.

Secondary schools can be more bullish. But in many parts of the country they take pupils from a wide area, including rural areas. teachers often also don't live close to enable them to have a life away from pupils. They have to consider how the pupils and teachers will get home safely at the end of the day, not just the conditions in the morning.

I don't think it's pathetic - other countries who get lots of snow are more set up for it (public transport and private cars with snow tyres etc). About 10cm of snow here, and although main roads are fairly clear, it's not currently possible to get vehicles TO the main road. As it's over 5 miles to school, I don't think mobility-impaired DD is going to get there - and as the school is sensible about its teachers who have long journeys, it's not open anyway.

It's probably not going to last long, 1 or 2 days of disrupted school or work is not the end of the world, and I'm happy to trust people to make common sense decisions about when to battle through and when to wait for it to pass.

That said, I'm feeling very pleased I got caught up in the MN "everyone should have a bit of a cupboard stockpile for emergencies" threads, because that may just come into its own today

Sometimes it is that bad though and it can vary from town to town and even street to street. I'm in Scotland and it's not bad in my area, there's no snow but last year when we had severe snowfall the council couldn't even get their snowploughs out to clear it. I live in a small cul de sac next to a main road and it was impossible to get out of the street onto the main road because the ice and snow were so severe. The other night there was fairly heavy snow a mile away but not a drop here.

People who travel when it's dangerous to do so and for whom it isn't absolutely essential to get to work often cause major problems on the roads.

we can't moan at them as they aren't there!

When my DC school shut for the snow last year there was a queue of parents at the office on the morning they reopened

I agree with you OP. We live in a small city near London. We had 3-4 inches of snow, all the roads are clear and our school is open, but the school next to us, which is on a main road, which has been clear since I got up at 6.15am, is shut! The vast majority of kids who go to it arrive on foot, so why? Pathetic, as you say.

Teachers do not make decisions about school closures. The Head does. It is usually dependent on bus companies running (as at my school where the majority of pupils are bussed in from surrounding villages) and health and safety requirements around the site. If the school is open, we are expected to be there. If it shuts, we have no say in changing the decision. This idea that all teachers wake up when it's a bit cold and decide they can't be bothered to go on in is utter bollocks. I'd say I've had perhaps 3 snow days (including today) in the 8 years I've been teaching so far. I disagree that schools simply close on a whim.

I live in a city however I live on a hill off of another steep hill that leads to the main road. Main road has been gritted and buses are running but getting down to main road is quite frankly a matter of how many times will I slip, how many times will I fall and what damage will I do if/when I fall. So even in a city its not as simple as cant be bothered

Well the nhs will be a lot busier when kids get injured messing around in the snow. I recall one snowy day when all the schools around were closed except the one I worked at. Three ambulances called out that day. One girl with serious head injury. One boy with broken knee that was in a wheel chair for months. Adults slow down in snow, kids speed up!

My local council have now suspended all rubbish and recycling collections too.
I guess it's worse out there than it looks.

DH is military and his site is closed so he gets a day off. Also, if you rely on public transport and it’s cancelled - what can do you? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Waiting for the “well I walked to work in 10 feet of snow with only a fleece on and then stayed there working for 48 hours.”

I once tried to go to work in the snow and slipped and fractured my elbow. I then got a month off work with paid sick leave.

I'm a TA and I lovvvvve a snow day!

Schools are closed becuz a lot of teachers live miles away and can't get in... unless u just wanna dump ure kids with no staff...ppl make me mad assuming teachers are having a jolly

I think for a few Cm it’s a bit lame but up here last year during the beast from the east it was really, really bad, everything ground to a halt and there were red weather warnings. But that was a one off.

We live opposite DS's primary school. It was closed on Wednesday but the teachers' cars were all parked up by our house, so they definitely weren't having a cosy day at home.

Given the amount of complaining on FB this morning, schools can’t win.

We had about a centimetre of snow last night. Mostly gone by this morning.

The roads are clear, pavements are fine. School buses are running.

School posted on FB this morning they were open as usual.

Several parents have posted on the school’s post that they won’t be sending their children in as it’s not safe. A parent (who lives on my road - a 5 minute walk from school) has posted they won’t be sending their child to school because, I shit you not, he might have to spend the day with freezing feet.

The snow was a lot worse further away, of course some won’t make it in but some of the stuff posted this morning was ridiculous

Our infrastructure isn't really set up for snow as our with terms are generally cold, wet, and windy with icy snaps here and there. Snow isn't a frequent enough occurrence for most of the country. All these posts about countries where it's -40 and six feet of snow but they all still went to work are a bit of a red herring as they are countries accustomed to winters like that, they have experience of driving in snow, they have proper outdoor clothing because they need it not because it's fashionable (e.g., Canada Goose), roads are ploughed, and so on

Oh no I absolutely agree, when we had all the snow last year things were chaos. I walked home after nightshift, took me over an hour when it was normally a 4 minute drive and the roads were an absolute state, it wouldn't have been safe for people to go out. Same with the ice when it's really bad I get why things stop.

But I've seen snow start here, literally just start to land and everything just stops, buses are off but cars, taxis and lorries are still going about their business etc. Sometimes I think people will stop things expecting the snow to get really bad only for it to stop and they have to restart everything again.

If I'm making any sense at all.

My local council have now suspended all rubbish and recycling collections too.
I guess it's worse out there than it looks.

And it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to work out the carnage that could happen if a bin lorry skidded and lost control on ice :(