Page 2 | School closure due to rail strikes

jane135 · 2022-06-10T13:14:30+00:00

We've just had an email from the Headmaster of our children's central London school saying that they are closing and moving to online learning for four days (Tuesday 21st- Friday 24th June) due to the rail strikes. It is a specialist school, and online learning does not deliver the same results as face-to-face. Are other London schools doing the same? Has anyone else had this?

Clymene · 10/06/2022 17:26

LOL at the idea they can just hop in a taxi

dreamingbohemian · 10/06/2022 18:09

It is going to be impossible to get taxis and traffic will be terrible, and buses and tube will be rammed. Yes staff will be able to get in at some point but it could take several hours (seriously) and it will not be at all predictable that they can arrive in time, and then you run the risk of having students unsupervised.

I would understand a bit more if your concern was that you had to take the week off work, but if your only concern is that online learning is not quite as good then I think you're being a bit entitled really. It's only one week.

Original poster

jane135 · 10/06/2022 18:16

One of the mothers is a teacher at another central London school. Her school have booked taxis for every member of staff affected.

I posted because there were a lot of differing views amongst the parents. I was interested to see what other schools were doing. Thanks to everyone who replied.

It is a fair point that every school will have a different set of circumstances, and I would say that this school in particular probably has a higher percentage of staff living further away, which does make it harder for them to open.

From my point of view, it is fair enough to close on the days of the actual strikes, but I feel something could be done on the other days (Wednesday and Friday), especially as the tube will be running on those days and the trains will be running from 8am onwards. Parents would almost certainly prefer to look after their children until 10:30am than do home-learning with them all day. The point here is that these children don’t learn online. There isn’t an equity issue amongst the children, because a bus service is provided for anyone who can’t take their child in, and this is unaffected by the strikes.

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AutieAdult · 10/06/2022 18:24

There is a current Arriva bus strike in West Yorkshire and some students are finding it hard to get to exams

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/mums-fury-arriva-bus-strike-24170754.amp

12Thorns · 10/06/2022 18:57

jane135 · 10/06/2022 18:16

One of the mothers is a teacher at another central London school. Her school have booked taxis for every member of staff affected.

I posted because there were a lot of differing views amongst the parents. I was interested to see what other schools were doing. Thanks to everyone who replied.

It is a fair point that every school will have a different set of circumstances, and I would say that this school in particular probably has a higher percentage of staff living further away, which does make it harder for them to open.

From my point of view, it is fair enough to close on the days of the actual strikes, but I feel something could be done on the other days (Wednesday and Friday), especially as the tube will be running on those days and the trains will be running from 8am onwards. Parents would almost certainly prefer to look after their children until 10:30am than do home-learning with them all day. The point here is that these children don’t learn online. There isn’t an equity issue amongst the children, because a bus service is provided for anyone who can’t take their child in, and this is unaffected by the strikes.

Booking taxis for staff is ridiculous. The school is signing a blank cheque. And still will have no way of knowing when it if staff will arrive until the actual day. The state of the roads depends entirely on how many shift to home working rather than commuting. And personally I wouldn’t be putting any ‘special’ children in minibuses on that day either. You have no way of guessing if the journey will be faster than normal or 20x longer

Clymene · 10/06/2022 18:58

But I'm guessing if you say it's a specialist school and children arrive by minibus, there are children who require much higher staff to student ratios than mainstream schools?

I don't think you can really compare. A mainstream school might be able to cope with a skeleton staff - a school where there is 2-1 or 1-1 for multiple pupils won't be able to.

Original poster

jane135 · 10/06/2022 19:06

They have dyslexia and dyspraxia. There isn’t a higher staff:student ratio for safety purposes, and they’re fine sitting on a bus. I’m not sure why the bus would necessarily take that much longer on a day when there wasn’t a strike, coming in at a later time.

We are all just hoping the issues are resolved and the strike action is cancelled.

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Jott · 10/06/2022 19:17

The bus will take longer because traffic will be exponentially heavier. Everyone who would usually use a train is instead going to be om a bus, in a taxi, is going to take their own car or home a car, or is going to take their bike.

National Rail carries approx 500,000+ passengers every day. The tube handles around five million journeys every day. All those passengers have to go somewhere and you'll be looking at hours long traffic jams.

MrsHamlet · 10/06/2022 19:17

Moving to online learning for a defined time is less disruptive than the day that a group of us were 3 hours late to lessons because our train was horribly delayed on the 45 minute journey...

Jott · 10/06/2022 19:19

Would you want your child sitting on a minibus for hours? No toilet, potentially a warm day, not able to get up and move around, no entertainment. Its not fair on them and while remote learning isn't ideal, it's the sensible choice in the circumstances.

I imagine more schools will make decisions about whether to close some time next week if it becomes clear that the strikes won't be averted. They'll be balancing giving parents enough notice and saving themselves a few days of complaints when deciding when to announce it.

AnnaKar · 10/06/2022 19:30

There’s a ‘no win’ in this for school leaders making decisions.

Plan ahead, give parents ample time to make other arrangements and parents are not happy.
Leave it all to the last minute, risk chaos and put parents under stress at the last minute…and parents are not happy.

Age old adage ( use it often in my headship) - you can’t please everyone all of the time - all you can do is make professional decisions based on your experience and aim to please as many parents as you can.

Original poster

jane135 · 10/06/2022 19:31

Jott · 10/06/2022 19:19

Would you want your child sitting on a minibus for hours? No toilet, potentially a warm day, not able to get up and move around, no entertainment. Its not fair on them and while remote learning isn't ideal, it's the sensible choice in the circumstances.

I imagine more schools will make decisions about whether to close some time next week if it becomes clear that the strikes won't be averted. They'll be balancing giving parents enough notice and saving themselves a few days of complaints when deciding when to announce it.

To get into school well beyond rush hour, on a day when there isn’t even a strike?

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Original poster

jane135 · 10/06/2022 19:34

AnnaKar · 10/06/2022 19:30

There’s a ‘no win’ in this for school leaders making decisions.

Plan ahead, give parents ample time to make other arrangements and parents are not happy.
Leave it all to the last minute, risk chaos and put parents under stress at the last minute…and parents are not happy.

Age old adage ( use it often in my headship) - you can’t please everyone all of the time - all you can do is make professional decisions based on your experience and aim to please as many parents as you can.

Yes, AnnaKar, one thing I do agree with is that it was brave of the Head to make the decision now. The easier thing would have been to watch and wait and to hope that the need didn’t arise. He did at least put us all on notice in good time, and I think he is keen to listen to alternative solutions, hence my post here and interest in what other schools might be doing

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Greenandcabbagelooking · 10/06/2022 19:40

I'm not sure how I'm going to get to work on the Tuesday. And we're going on a trip that day, so it's even more important.

I can't stay the night before due to childcare, can't drive in, school won't pay for a taxi upfront. I'll try the buses, but even on a normal day it would take 2 hours.

I really hope they call it off, or I can get out of going on my trip.

MrsHamlet · 10/06/2022 19:44

I don't think they should close on non strike days but I can see why they are on strike days.
I commute by train. I'll have to drive which is logistically difficult for a number of reasons. I'm lucky that I can.

Original poster

jane135 · 10/06/2022 19:46

Greenandcabbagelooking · 10/06/2022 19:40

I'm not sure how I'm going to get to work on the Tuesday. And we're going on a trip that day, so it's even more important.

I can't stay the night before due to childcare, can't drive in, school won't pay for a taxi upfront. I'll try the buses, but even on a normal day it would take 2 hours.

I really hope they call it off, or I can get out of going on my trip.

Yup, opening on the Tuesday in London will clearly be a nightmare. I’m sure more schools will make the decision to close nearer to the time of nothing is sorted out by then. Hope so for you 🤞

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InChocolateWeTrust · 10/06/2022 20:00

Even after the strike there will be a huge backlog of people who haven't been able to travel piling onto trains.

When that strike ends at 8am, every single employer will be saying the same as you, that they want staff in even if later than usual, so you'll suddenly have all the people who usually travel between 6am and 8am, trying to get in at the same time as people who usually travel later.

There will be lots of delays, cancellations.

InChocolateWeTrust · 10/06/2022 20:02

The school who have paid for taxis, for how many have they paid? I'm frankly astonished that any establishment in education has the cash to do that at the moment if I'm honest. Is it a prestigious private school?

Original poster

jane135 · 10/06/2022 20:29

InChocolateWeTrust · 10/06/2022 20:02

The school who have paid for taxis, for how many have they paid? I'm frankly astonished that any establishment in education has the cash to do that at the moment if I'm honest. Is it a prestigious private school?

Not sure - I didn’t ask

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rnsaslkih · 10/06/2022 20:31

It seems sensible. The roads will be chaotic.

PatriciaHolm · 10/06/2022 20:37

The problem with the "in-between" non strike days is that the disruption continues on those days because of the knock-on effect of the rolling stock being in the wrong places thanks to the previous day. It's partly why the strikes are organised this way - you get a week of disruption for the price of 2 actaul strike days...