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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

That schools should close tomorrow where it is snowyy...

442 replies

SunshineAndSummer · 11/12/2022 20:37

I feel like we should be prepared for days where it'll be difficult for teachers and some children to get into school due to bad weather, so online learning can take place instead!

OP posts:
JRHartley72 · 11/12/2022 22:38

SpicyFoodRocks · 11/12/2022 22:32

Can you imagine a doctor or nurse suggesting the hospital closes tomorrow?

I used to think education was important and valued. Especially by those in charge of imparting knowledge to kids. The pandemic showed me I was wrong.

Anyway, my thoughts are with the working parents whose schools will shut tomorrow when there is hardly any snow. It’s so damn hard. My kids are older so it no longer affects our work when schools decide to shut.

But it's not a safeguarding issue for hospitals like it is for schools. Teachers often don't live within walking distance and I know from my OH that it's informally encouraged they don't – you don't want to spend your weekends bumping into the parents of kids you teach, let alone the kids themselves. That why my OH works at a school in a different borough and needs to drive there. If teachers can't get in because the roads are bad, the staff-pupil ratio can't be fulfilled and that's why the school has to close.

FrippEnos · 11/12/2022 22:38

I wonder how many years it will be before the martyrs stop going on and trying to brow beat teachers about the pandemic.

Benjispruce4 · 11/12/2022 22:38

Schools are ready for online. Well mine is. It’s all in place since Covid.

JRHartley72 · 11/12/2022 22:39

FrippEnos · 11/12/2022 22:38

I wonder how many years it will be before the martyrs stop going on and trying to brow beat teachers about the pandemic.

Imagine what will happen when they strike – MN will combust!

DubLynn · 11/12/2022 22:39

I'm a teacher and it took me 90 minutes to get to work on Friday! Normally it takes 15. I'm going to leave an hour earlier tomorrow morning but this in itself has created logistical problems for getting my own children to school. I was hoping they'd all close tbh

Genevieva · 11/12/2022 22:39

@HintofVintagePink The majority of parents always did. The point is that schools should stay open for those who can get there and those who can't get there safely shouldn't go in. All this attendance record c**p should be thrown out the window for the same reason. It can cause parents to make unsafe decisions that override their gut instinct. The vast majority of parents want their kids in school if it is at all practical to get them there and if their kids can't get to school there is a good chance hat they can't get to work either.

thelobsterquadrille · 11/12/2022 22:40

@JudgeJ I'm at the opposite end of the country and I haven't seen a gritter since last winter!

I'm in rural, coastal Cumbria and our roads are always neglected at the expense of the more touristy areas of the Lakes. It's currently -6 and there are still no signs of gritters - my town is in a valley surrounded by hills so as soon as it freezes, we're stuck Grin

The forecast temperature when I'm due to leave for work is -3 and that's at 8.30am or so.

Baublesandtinsel · 11/12/2022 22:40

I guess you don't have a job togo to yourself!

racingcar · 11/12/2022 22:40

Bpdqueen · 11/12/2022 22:37

She's a teacher. It was pretty obvious to be fair 🤷‍♀️

Show quote history

Clearly I was wrong but I'm baffled. How on earth could any teacher possibly be ignorant enough to not realise how much time it takes to set up online learning? You need to set up dozens of classes and put hundreds of students into the correct ones, you need to ensure every student has access to a laptop/microphone/headphones, you need to remake all your resources and upload them... Either OP has just joined teaching and so never actually taught online or they have amnesia - I have no other theories.

JRHartley72 · 11/12/2022 22:41

Genevieva · 11/12/2022 22:39

@HintofVintagePink The majority of parents always did. The point is that schools should stay open for those who can get there and those who can't get there safely shouldn't go in. All this attendance record c**p should be thrown out the window for the same reason. It can cause parents to make unsafe decisions that override their gut instinct. The vast majority of parents want their kids in school if it is at all practical to get them there and if their kids can't get to school there is a good chance hat they can't get to work either.

But what if the staff can't get in? Who supervises those kids all day?

HintofVintagePink · 11/12/2022 22:41

Genevieva · 11/12/2022 22:39

@HintofVintagePink The majority of parents always did. The point is that schools should stay open for those who can get there and those who can't get there safely shouldn't go in. All this attendance record c**p should be thrown out the window for the same reason. It can cause parents to make unsafe decisions that override their gut instinct. The vast majority of parents want their kids in school if it is at all practical to get them there and if their kids can't get to school there is a good chance hat they can't get to work either.

Oh ok that’s fine then. I’m sure employers will be happy to let us have a fully paid snow day.

memoriesofamiga · 11/12/2022 22:42

My daughter's secondary school has announced not only is it closed but that they aren't setting any work tomorrow. We're not even badly hit by snow. It's a total joke. I'm expected at work tomorrow and won't be able to. Did Covid teach us nothing.

thelobsterquadrille · 11/12/2022 22:43

memoriesofamiga · 11/12/2022 22:42

My daughter's secondary school has announced not only is it closed but that they aren't setting any work tomorrow. We're not even badly hit by snow. It's a total joke. I'm expected at work tomorrow and won't be able to. Did Covid teach us nothing.

Surely a secondary aged child can be left home alone while you work,

guineapugs · 11/12/2022 22:43

Muddywaters1 · 11/12/2022 20:39

Where exactly is it going to be so snowy that transport isn't possible?

Many roads in east Kent are impassable.

NippyWoowoo · 11/12/2022 22:43

Purplemagnolias · 11/12/2022 20:40

Having grown up in a country with lots of snow I find it so strange that society should 'close down' due to a few snowflakes..Confused

You answered your own question. You grew up on a country with lots of it. The UK isn't and as such isn't as adapted to it.

TheHateIsNotGood · 11/12/2022 22:43

Sorry, not sorry OP but before I even opened your thread I thought to myself, 'i bet OP is a teacher', then read your OP and your eventual confirmation of this.

An old question OP, of course many teachers live 'out of area' to the schools they work in, moreso for the rural schools. So some schools may not be able to fully open due to snow preventing the Teachers from getting in, but can open partially with some local support staff.

You're quite right of course - the use of online teaching does have a role in such circumstances and is an improvement on the 'snow days' that schools have always experienced before.

SpicyFoodRocks · 11/12/2022 22:44

JudgeJ · 11/12/2022 22:37

The pandemic showed me I was wrong.

What garbage, the teachers I know were working longer hours all through covid when they were delivering on-line learning which they had a matter of days to set up when the closures came.

My polite response to this is, ‘I will agree to disagree’.

guineapugs · 11/12/2022 22:44

Purplemagnolias · 11/12/2022 20:40

Having grown up in a country with lots of snow I find it so strange that society should 'close down' due to a few snowflakes..Confused

Society is t closing down... I physically can't drive down my road because it's not gritted and car not suitable.

superdupernova · 11/12/2022 22:45

I live in Bedfordshire and don't see snow often (still don't have it yet). I work in the countryside and last time we had proper snow, 5 years ago, snowdrifts were a big problem. I'm not sure how people are supposed to drive through a 5ft wall of snow on the road, big coat or not.

RoseMartha · 11/12/2022 22:46

I am hoping dc's will be shut the whole town came to a standstill tonight because the gritters had not been out and there was a massive snowfall in a very short space of time. One minute there was a minimal covering half an hour later there was 4 plus inches. Now everything is like an ice rink. I couldnt even get my car out the car park and ended up walking a necessary round trip of 3.5 miles instead while the snow was still falling heavily.

lipstickwoman · 11/12/2022 22:48

So if no GPs, no police, no ambulance or fire , no hospital staff, no bus or train staff bother their arses to get to work we're all fine are we?

ConnieTucker · 11/12/2022 22:48

racingcar · 11/12/2022 22:40

Clearly I was wrong but I'm baffled. How on earth could any teacher possibly be ignorant enough to not realise how much time it takes to set up online learning? You need to set up dozens of classes and put hundreds of students into the correct ones, you need to ensure every student has access to a laptop/microphone/headphones, you need to remake all your resources and upload them... Either OP has just joined teaching and so never actually taught online or they have amnesia - I have no other theories.

Show quote history

Or they work in a school where online learning resources have been made standard. I could teach online with no notice as i have access to the drive. Everything is on the drive.

children not having access to the internet is a different issue, and down to parents situation or attitude.

memoriesofamiga · 11/12/2022 22:49

She's 11, @thelobsterquadrille and a young 11 at that. I cant leave her home alone for a working day and I'm a single parent so no dad to rely on for care

HeBeaverandSheBeaver · 11/12/2022 22:50

Praying for a snow day

I have teens and they really want one. They love snow.

A day of play and taking the dog out and then film with blankets is right up my alley.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

lipstickwoman · 11/12/2022 22:51

HeBeaverandSheBeaver · 11/12/2022 22:50

Praying for a snow day

I have teens and they really want one. They love snow.

A day of play and taking the dog out and then film with blankets is right up my alley.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Not so long ago folk were whinging about the 'devastating' effect of schools being closed