Head talking about moving to homeschooling as staff are running out of fuel

[Lemons1571]

This is one of our local secondary schools. South England. No fuel in our town, within 30 miles, or maybe more. DH is a teacher and he has about 2-3 days worth of petrol left. The Head of his school is putting in plans to close year groups and move to homeschooling again. Is anyone else in these dire straits? AIBU to be a bit scared? We didn’t panic buy because the government said not to, and now we’re completely stuck.

Not all parts of Surrey are doing fine. My part is dry as a bone for fuel. Surrey is a large area with vastly different densities throughout. Some areas bordering London, some very rural. Honestly. Use your brain.

I'm a p/t teacher and fed up of the bashing on here. I worked in school every single week during lockdown 1 and every day in the subsequent ones doing full online lessons. I didn't just set 2 worksheets per week but spent hours creating bespoke resources so that the kids could access as much of the curriculum as possible.

I had just under half a tank of diesel so heeded the messages not to fill up. Today is a day off. I went to do my weekly shop and my local supermarket had no fuel. In the nearest small town to my house, the overpriced garage there had no fuel. Now I have enough to get me to the weekend, but no more. I live in a rural area. There are NO BUSES here. The nearest train station is more than 5 miles away. From there, I would need a train to the city (2 x per hour) then one on the mainline (1 x per hour) then a 6 mile walk on national speed limit roads to school. It's not happening. My normal commute is 16 miles each way and takes around 30 minutes by car. There is simply no viable alternative.

Instead of moaning about teachers trying to do their job after the most horrific 18 months, why not turn your ire on the dire situation of public transport outside large cities? I can travel for a whole day round Manchester on the tram for less than £10. Here, it costs £9 to get 8 miles into Exeter one way by bus. How is that fair? For me to get the whole way from my house to Exeter by bus would involve a 2 mile walk on single-track roads with no pavements (and a 60mph limit). Then a bus that goes once each hour and costs £5 to get to the main road. Then it's the £9 bus into the city. I can drive it normally in 20 minutes. This pathetic excuse of a government had better have a plan.

All stations near me are getting deliveries. They're running out because of the panic buying so will close once empty but maybe get a delivery later in the day. My closest was shut at lunchtime but open again late afternoon. It's a bit pot luck and not great if you've a fair distance between fuel stations, but there is fuel

@Djifunrsn

Mowing the lawn is actually a priority - because our garden waste service is managing one collection in two months and that is tomorrow. Our tip is gridlocked permanently (90 min queue). So yes I filled a can for my mower.

what!?

For goodness sake, get a grip!

How can you possibly take petrol out of the supply to get shorter grass!

Actually - this can't be real, I dont believe anyone would actually do this in the current circumstances!

@ScatteredMama82

Good grief, we do love a crisis in this country. Our bins were emptied today, the school bus came and no mention of any teachers not turning up. I got a delivery if heating oil yesterday as planned. I also went to do my food shop at Morrison’s, shelves were full and although there was a queue at the petrol station, there was fuel available. It’s hardly the apocalypse.

Its like that where you are today. Its nothing like that in other places. And it might be that next week you have no fuel, bread or milk, and it could be your school bus that is off the road

[quote Mondaynightnamechange]@motherrunner I think that was the intention of the post, some people like to goad.[/quote]
yes, I thought that post about taking petrol for lawn mowing was serious when I first read it, but obviously it isn't.

@BentBastard

Not all parts of Surrey are doing fine. My part is dry as a bone for fuel. Surrey is a large area with vastly different densities throughout. Some areas bordering London, some very rural. Honestly. Use your brain.

I am using my brain, to think rationally and avoid flapping and panic buying. More of you should do the same then this self-perpetuating 'crisis' will be resolved much more quickly.

Well you're not using your brain to realise that not all parts of the country are the same as the others, even within a county.

@BentBastard

Well you're not using your brain to realise that not all parts of the country are the same as the others, even within a county.

Hardly. Look, these threads need a modicum of common sense. Like I said, threads like this make the problem worse so an inject of some calm, rational 'it's not the apocalypse, calm down' can't do any harm can it? I mean really, there are posts on here where people are thinking the end is nigh due to having to drink black tea as there was no milk in the shop, or having to feed the cat dog food for a day or two. It's a blip, not the downfall of civilization.

I was responding specifically to your claim that people were exaggerating which was based solely on your and a couple of relatives experience. Do you retract or do you still claim people are exaggerating when they say there is no fuel to buy anywhere around them (well when they said it yesterday? No idea of the situation today yet).

I have just about enough to get me to nearest petrol station, which has had to close. If I have to wait/queue I may run out whilst waiting.

I drove around looking for petrol and wish I hadn't bothered as couldn't find any and have just run it down even further.

If I were still teaching there is no way I could get to school without a car as there's no public transport options and I am disabled.

Luckily in my new job I don't have to go anywhere until Monday by which time I am hoping I will be able to get petrol. Otherwise I will have to cancel as meeting is absolutely in the middle of nowhere!

@BentBastard

I was responding specifically to your claim that people were exaggerating which was based solely on your and a couple of relatives experience. Do you retract or do you still claim people are exaggerating when they say there is no fuel to buy anywhere around them (well when they said it yesterday? No idea of the situation today yet).

Do you admit that flapping over black tea and dog food is exaggerating the crisis somewhat? Yes, there are pockets of fuel supply issues (not shortages, supply issues caused by irregular filling patterns of panic-buyers). If people stop that, the issue will resolve itself pretty darn quickly.

@IWantT0BreakFree

I think it will be over and done with by the end of the week. It’s not like (most) people can stockpile fuel. Once everyone has finished panic buying and filled their tanks, they will have to wait until they’ve actually used the fuel to buy more. Or they will be topping up tiny amounts which may cause annoying queues at the pumps but isn’t going to have the same catastrophic effect on supply.

Agree with this

@ScatteredMama82 people are not making this stuff up. Problems are often very localised. There is no chance of me getting petrol here. My daughter, 40 minutes away only had to queue for five minutes to get some.

I drove for 90 minutes on the M1 on Sunday, past six service stations. But not one of them had any fuel (two said they only had fuel for hgvs)

You're basically claiming that people like me are lying. We're not. I'm lucky, it's not a crisis for me as I'm retired (though I am concerned about getting to my 93 year old aunt who might need caring for on her release from hospital soon,100 miles away). But I can see with my own eyes what the situation is where I live.

[quote saraclara]@ScatteredMama82 people are not making this stuff up. Problems are often very localised. There is no chance of me getting petrol here. My daughter, 40 minutes away only had to queue for five minutes to get some.

I drove for 90 minutes on the M1 on Sunday, past six service stations. But not one of them had any fuel (two said they only had fuel for hgvs)

You're basically claiming that people like me are lying. We're not. I'm lucky, it's not a crisis for me as I'm retired (though I am concerned about getting to my 93 year old aunt who might need caring for on her release from hospital soon,100 miles away). But I can see with my own eyes what the situation is where I live.[/quote]
I said no such thing. If you all want to carry on perpetuating the crisis by telling all and sundry how awful it is, then carry on. I will not stop presenting the other side of the coin in a bid to encourage people NOT to go out and drive round 14 petrol stations looking for fuel, thus worsening the situation.
You crack on, I'm sorry it's bad where you are but it isn't bad everywhere and there is nothing wrong in me publicizing that fact too.

You weren’t just “presenting the other side of the coin”. You were directly asked if you thought posters were exaggerating the situation in their local area and you said yes.

@whinge unions are calling for special treatment here:

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/teachers-should-prioritised-fuel-say-21696552

100% attendance at my work again today..

I don't understand this panic… there is plenty of petrol where I live in the midlands.

Why is it so different in different areas?

@Itsnotallaboutyoubaby

Why is it so different in different areas?

Delivery schedules, population density, availability of public transport, socio-economic make up, transitional population (do people travel in our out for work), location and prevalence of petrol stations.

@Itsnotallaboutyoubaby

I don't understand this panic… there is plenty of petrol where I live in the midlands.

Oh the irony of your username 😂

Though hopefully that was the point!

YANBU

It's highly unlikely that a government that won't allow schools to close because of a pandemic will allow schools to close because teachers have run out of petrol.

If it's a real possibility just make sure your local MP knows that schools may close and I'm sure they'll ensure deliveries are made ASAP.

@MakingM

YANBU

It's highly unlikely that a government that won't allow schools to close because of a pandemic will allow schools to close because teachers have run out of petrol.

If it's a real possibility just make sure your local MP knows that schools may close and I'm sure they'll ensure deliveries are made ASAP.

Ha ha ha! You have to be joking with that last sentence!

My husband 's colleague had to go home early yesterday to pick up his kids as the school buses had no diesel. It was only a matter of time before the teachers started dropping off. Just what we need on top of covid!

This is so strange. People aren't behaving like this where I live. I drive 80 miles per day past a dozen petrol stations, all of which are operating normally without abnormal queues. Nevertheless it's all I heard about yesterday in my commute so of course, I'm on edge myself about fuel.

The flames are well and truly being fanned.