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.

Often light snow that freezes to ice is more dangerous than just snow. The wind chill factor is also important. Our water pipes are frozen so no drinking water or supply to heating.

Yeas I've done the through the snow thing to work.... and even at 5am to do swim training before school... but that was 40 years ago in Scotland lol

I have to get to my work in the country otherwise animals are left without water and food. It's getting out of my driveway at home in town and onto the main road that's the problem. A slippery steep drive that even my 4x4 struggles with from a standstill and other steep hill down onto the main road that gives me the willies in case I slide down into main road busy traffic.

Some people do take the muck for sure but not all. I really do prefer deep snow to icy conditions.

We struggle more these days because it happens so rarely. It used to be usual to have snow in winter and we were prepared. More people are unprepared these days, especially the younger generation, as well as mentioned above 're suing.

We just accepted it was icy and if we slipped and fell we were responsible for it. These days so many individuals slip and fall then want compensation from whoever they think owns the road or path cos "they" should have prevented or cleared it.

The head makes the decision about our school as well. Most of the children come in by taxi or mini bus so it’s decided quite early. I had a text at 6.45 to say it was shut. But I have work to do at home and also have to be in on Monday as running an exam which is nationwide.

My children’s school and college sent messages at 7am. The college is a very rural as it’s an agricultural college and so most come jn from outside except a few boarders and my daughters school I’m assuming had closed due to staff not being able to get in safely.

There would be less pressure on emergency services if people didn't make non-essential journeys in bad weather.

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

That’s not true. Some of them do take days off. Local social media has been full of requests asking people who have 4x4s etc to voluntarily sign up to drive NHS staff to and from work to help out because many others otherwise wouldn’t get to work either. Routine appointments are also cancelled at my local hospitals because both staff and patients can’t get in.

You just can’t compare your situation with everyone else’s and find them lacking unless you consider all the variables. I don’t think you have done this OP.

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.

I understood it

I went to the local shop after taking the DC to school this morning and it started snowing while I was in there. Everyone, including the staff, went over to the big windows and just stood there watching it like they'd never seen it before.

Why do schools close so easily? I feel like they just can't be arsed.

Lol. Can't be arsed with what?

It depends on the location and where staff and pupils all live too.

Our school rarely closes but sometimes they close on the advice of the local police. The late starts are often on this basis - to ease traffic congestion on main routes partly.

We have staff who travel a long distance to work. Sometimes we've opened late due to the need to have enough staff here before they arrive. We do have contingency plans and a list of staff who can collect others in their way - based on their cars mainly. The 4x4s come into their own!

Some local schools bus in a lot of children. If bus routes are stopped they can't get in. Or they get sent home early if school buses and local buses are going to stop.

And what do you mean by 'schools can't be arsed'? Who is 'schools'?

Scared of litigious parents?

Most people who have to take a snow day do it because the kids schools have shut an there is no one to look after the kids - you can’t leave them home alone and most places won’t let you take them to work with you!!
In my company of 7
Boss 1 - lives in the town our office is and her son goes to the private school which is a boarding school so has the staff and facilities to remain open if day pupils can get there. So she has gone into work

Boss 2 lives in the village near the big city about 45 minutes away. Her 6 year olds school has closed so she is working from home

Staff 1 - lives up the road from the office and her kids are grown up so she has been able to go in

Staff 2 - lives the next town over, small kids who’s school have closed. She’s had to take the day off as can’t work with the kids there

Staff 3 - lives over Bristol way so has been told to work from home

Staff 4 - lives up the valleys a bit more and snowed in so working from home

Me - I actually had today off as annual leave but if I hadn’t the kids schools are closed so I would have had to not go into work.

Why do schools close so easily? I feel like they just can't be arsed.

Local authority decides for them, teachers cannot get in (or else their child’s school/nursery is closed so they have to look after them), if teachers aren’t in they don’t have enough to look after all the children, health and safety, the union supports teachers in bad weather, some absences go down as unauthorised which impacts OFSTED so closing gets around that...

Many years ago I was taking a college course and my session was in the afternoon. It had snowed in the night but seemed to have stopped so I went in. I was in a room with no windows from 1-5. When I came out it was a full on blizzard! I had to get a bus first, which took well over an hour to come. Then a train, which was also severely delayed. Then I tried to get a taxi from the station but the few that were running were so busy it would have been another hours wait. So I walked the half hour back to my house with the snow blowing into my face. I could barely breathe by the time I got home. On that day I vowed I would never again go somewhere when it was snowing, that might be difficult to get home from.

Schools can't win. Our school makes the decision almost entirely based on whether teachers can get in. This makes sense as the catchment area for the school is less than 1km so none of the children have to come from very far, but of course the teachers are much more spread out.

However, last year, when another primary school near us had a snow day and we didn't, I was shocked at how many parents were annoyed that we weren't also closed. Quite frankly, given the choice, I'll always send the kids to school - better for them and me.

Why do schools close so easily? I feel like they just can't be arsed.

Our local authority closed all schools for 3 days during the beast from the east. My youngest was in his fifth year at primary and those were his first snow days! And we’ve definitely had snow in those years so the school doesn’t close easily

Also if the weather does get worse, the schools have a responsibility for the children and staff to get home safely so they might need to close early. Some parents then might take a long time getting to the school to pick them up and someone has to stay behind with them to look after them.

lots of teachers don't live locally to the school they work in, so just because the situation isn't too bad at the school doesn't mean the staff can get it - or, of course, their own children's school is closed.

I don't think schools and teachers are perfect but equally I don't think schools close just for a laugh.

NHS worker here who has had to tale the day off. I commute 40 miles each way into a remote practice. My colleagues who live locally have only managed to gey in because one has snow tyres.

The vast majority of kids who go to it arrive on foot, so why?
Heating not working? Lack of staff? It’s not as simple as there being no snow.

It’s simple. If the police advise against non essential travel then I don’t travel. My job is not essential.

One of the reasons for the police advice isn’t because it’s impossible to travel, it is because there is a high likelihood of accidents. Those accidents block roads which make it impossible for emergency workers and those with essential jobs like carers, NHS frontline, police officers etc to get to work.

One of the biggest problems up here last year when the snow was so bad that even in our suburban area we were literally snowed in for four days, was the number of non essential vehicles stuck on the road. Artic trucks delivering furniture, workers being told they had to try to come in because of attitudes like the OPs. This led to major issues for essential workers.

Schools here were blasted for not opening the day before the worst hit. Forecasts said it would hit at 2pm and when it didn’t they were accused of being too wary. By 5pm the entire Central belt was at a standstill.

I’ve been caught out with yellow / amber warnings before where I heeded them but my boss made it clear that having been off for two days I needed to come in on the third. I got to work, but couldn’t get home. DD was at a nursery close to my work and we ended up staying in a hotel that night. 10 people slept in the office that night. Since then if I need to work at home, I work at home.

If you want to risk your life and that of others so you can wear a big badge saying “I’m the best because I made it in” you go right ahead. The rest of us choose to be safe.

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

Some of them definitely do. I am on a doctors rota that was severely short staffed last year with some very odd excuses from some of my colleagues. We were provided with on site accommodation so we could work the night or next day shift and suddenly people without children were phoning in with last minute childcare commitments overnight!

And we’ve definitely had snow in those years so the school doesn’t close easily
@schmoobarb Did your whole community come together it a display of community spirit and clear the school playground on the Sunday to get the kids back to school? It’s amazing how many people were so keen to help out just to get the damned kids back to school and yet the same parents never seem to have time to volunteer for anything else.😂

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

Are NHS staff desperate for a bit of extra work? Because that probably would be the result of encouraging more driving in snow in a country where hardly anyone has winter tyres and very few people have proper training in driving under icy conditions.

My kids schools are closed due to teachers not being able to get to school. I’m sure some of it is guesswork just so the decision can be made as early as possible but when the police are advising against non urgent travel in our area, then what other choice do they have.

Yes nhs workers can’t stay off with the snow, so if everyone who has a none essential job stays at home the roads can stay clear for our emergency services and hospital staff.

Lol I don’t know Yabbers I certainly didn’t. I got paid for dependants leave anyway in my last job so it mattered not a jot to me whether the schools were open or closed!