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.

It's a massive PITA if your child's school is closed but you have to go to work and have no childcare. What do you do? Not all workplaces let you bring your kids with you.

I live in London and both my kids schools are open but a few other local schools were closed which I do think it's a bit pathetic to be honest as it was a bit of slush this morning but roads were clear and all public transport was running perfectly! busses, tube and train! no excuse really

I think the LAs are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

This video did make me laugh though!

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1825878114189270&id=512423982152360

My brother's school notoriously refused to close for snow. Until one year when the school bus company insisted on leaving no later than 1pm to get the kids home. It was too late by then - the bus got stuck and DBro had to walk 2 miles in a swirling snowstorm. He had fun, but for those who had to walk much further or didn't have appropriate shoes on it wasn't okay.

Can you not remember the thrill of waking up to strange sunlight in the morning, going to the window and see all the snow. Rushing downstairs to turn on the radio and hope with everything crossed that your school is on the list of those closed?

I get that it's a pain for parents, but it won't kill you and snow days are some of my happiest childhood memories!

I vote to keep them even if you could set off 3 hours earlier on foot and make it in.

Life needs a bit of random fun.

I'm an NHS worker and had a snow day lasy year as my car slid on my road into a wall and buses were cancelled. I don't live right next to the hospital you see

Oh bloody hell, last year in the terrible weather our local school kept the school open when he could. He opened and then the school got a tonne of complaints on the public Facebook page, “how dare you open when the pavements are like ice and my kids have to walk in” and “I’m not sending my son in! Can’t believe you are open!”

So, to be honest, you can bugger off with your complaints because CLEARLY you can’t please everyone.

Agree.

I went to school in the 70's and 80's, and I don't remember a single occasion, ONCE, in 11 years of school, that they closed for the day because of snow. And winters were more severe then!

Pathetic. And we have the nerve to call the younger generation 'snowflakes' ... if they are it's no wonder! We made them that way!!!

There wasn’t as many cars on the roads in the 70’s and 80’s.

I went to school in the 70's and 80's, and I don't remember a single occasion, ONCE, in 11 years of school, that they closed for the day because of snow. And winters were more severe then!

I was at school in the 80s and our school was frequently closed or finished early because of snow and ice.

i went to school in the 70s/80s my memories are of being wet and cold walking to school in the snow the girls were not allowed to wear trousers untill i was in 3rd year of high school it was bloody freezing even in tights

Bit of a nightmare here in Cornwall and yep schools closed

I used to love school in the late 70's early 80's. We had loads of snow days. Especially after school holidays when the pipes got frozen. Or it would close because the main route people would walk in would be unsafe - ice, snow and high winds.

But it was also easier to find girls shoes suitable for the weather, unlike these flimsy shoes they wear now. They might as well be slippers. I don't remember as many of us slipping and sliding like now,

Our school bus slid down our road an hour late a few days ago. The driver got off, said it was too dangerous and he was taking home the children he had on board.

School was open - we just couldn't get there.

Depends. I went to school a fair drive from my home and my dad rang in to say I wouldn't be in because of the snow. Very bewildered person on the phone said there was no school at snow. We had drifts of 6ft and the roads were blocked! I remember dad saying he would take a photo for me to take to school it seemed to have its own micro climate

Same where I am now, we have nothing yet the stables where my horse is, I can't get to as it's impassable

@tillytrotter1 And where do you saintly people live? You do realise that stupid Monty Pythionesque comments are irrelevant don't you?

It's not Monty Pythioneseque, it's how a lot of people actually live.

Snow is becoming more common in the UK. And it's well forecasted. It's not saintly to deal with weather you're given if it costs millions in snow days.

And I'm British and lived there most of my life before you come up with any wisecracks about foreigners not understanding.

My local schools are open and all the parents are moaning that their kids are upset because they wanted a snow day! Just can’t win!

We're not massive rural, but all our local school have been closed. Why, because teachers salaries are so low they can't afford to live in the area, so they have to live further out and therefore risk a dangerous drive in when the roads are slippery (have seen a number of accidents locally).

So yes it may be frustrating, I'm having to wfh with 2 kids who'd rather be out in the snow, but I've got deadlines to meet.

But maybe instead of moaning about soft teachers, we should be looking at why we as a country think it's ok to pay the people who work extremely hard to educate our children so little.

Snowday for the snowflakes

A few areas seem to have been hit hard but we've escaped the worst of it (rural Gloucestershire but low lying).

I do think the media need to be a bit more responsible in their weather reporting tbh. We run a retail showroom and have had no customers for 2 days due to panic about non existent snow............

Its irrelevant to compare to countries where very low temperatures and regular snow is the norm.

Here it isn't the norm. We don't get enough snow and ice to justify thee infrastructure expense as a country.

Hence the country doesn't deal as well as countries who get a lot of snow and ice all the time.

That's obvious!

In my teaching career of 22.5 years I think I've lost less than a week in snow days.

I've been in school when it's heavy snow and most staff are there and most children haven't turned up despite them living much closer.

I don’t think snow is becoming more common. We had blizzards most years growing up. I can’t remember the last time we had more than 5cm of snow here.

The DC's school has quite a high threshold for staying open. It's one building, so even if ice is an issue they can keep the children in and function normally. Most staff are local enough and don't tend to be from some of the hillier snow spots in surrounding times. The building is modern and warm. The catchment is small so within walking distance.

School busses/ transport, staff location and nature of site are all factors in ensuring everyone can have a safe day at school and they will vary from school to school even if they are geographically close.

About a decade ago, I got up bright and early to a light coating of snow and set off on my commute to the far side of the next city. The snow gathered momentum, but it was fine on the dual carriageways. Entering the ungritted roads surrounding the school was getting problematic. The staff further affield that left around 7 did make it in. The more local staff who left at 8 were encountering problems. The school buses were assessing the situation and concluded that they couldn't guarentee they could get hundreds of teenagers home safely later on in the day. So with late notice, school was cancelled.

British snow is so fickle and localised and it's not worth investing in the infrastructure to manage it more effectively.
We had snow forcast a few days ago, but nothing significant has materialised and fortunately the roads have frozen dry. Spending time and money on sorting things like studded tyres is a waste when you can't make reliable predictions about when they would be useful.

We get feet of snow and nobody has studded snow tyres. 🙄

I thought the LA decided which schools closed and which opened.
Seems like another excuse to teacher bash.
School isn't childcare while you go to work, and your dc safety is more important than any job.