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

[SunshineAndSummer]

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!

Yep totally. We attend a school that can only be driven to. We live on a road that has not been gritted and is dangerous to drive on when snowy. I cannot get there, even if it was open, which it isn’t.

No one walks to work anymore since Thatcher told eveyone ‘get on your bike’

Then if we did that everyone would moan about term time family holiday and kids being in school in a bit of heat ( like this year)

January 2021 I set off with DD on the morning school run and the snow had just begun. It never snows more than a few mins where we are in the UK (at least it hadn't in many years) so didn't think anything of it.

I swear on my life & soul, I didn't get back from that MORNING school run until 10pm that evening after having to abandon the car a mile away. We'd been stuck in several feet of snow multiple times in my automatic rear wheel drive car. It's a 6 mile journey to school that takes 15 mins and in that time, we got more snow than we've had since 2010.

I have fond memories of various days teaching in school in the snow. You'd have a class of 30 but made up of children from different year groups and two teachers for all of them. Another one down the corridor. We'd co-ordinate so each group could do some PE in the hall, we'd write winter poems and get the charcoal out for snow pictures.

I haven't had one for ages. The last one was a few years ago but the school was closed. I actually love teaching when it's snowy. If schools have local staff they should open. You can get a lot of learning out of the situation!

I live in rural Scotland. We get a lot of ice and snow, for months on end. Life has to continue because there really isn't an option for it not too. Tonight, at least, the snow has stopped and despite it being -10 this evening, schools will open tomorrow

8th January 2021! We’ve not had any snow at since this was taken and hadn’t had any for 11 years previously.

“And my necessity is not getting paid if I stay home. We all cut our cloth as we live but telling people to leave their kids home alone because schools would rather not be open is pretty poor. So much for progress.”

Using language like ‘schools would rather not be open’ is a bit misleading though. You make it sound like it’s a choice made because teachers can’t be bothered. Which isn’t true. We’ve closed. The ice round here is horrendous- asking people to drive in is asking for accidents. We’ve had accidents on two of the three roads leading to our village today and both roads are blocked. A tractor got stuck in the next village over. Tried to go up a hill and slid from half way up back down to the bottom. So it’s not “we would rather not open.” It’s “let’s not ask people to risk their safety and possibly cause more accidents for emergency services to have to deal with.”

“I live in rural Scotland. We get a lot of ice and snow, for months on end. Life has to continue because there really isn't an option for it not too. Tonight, at least, the snow has stopped and despite it being -10 this evening, schools will open tomorrow”

This is the thing isn’t it? I’m rural Cornwall. We just don’t get issues like this so we don’t spend money on grit etc because it’s never needed. Once in a blue moon it does happen and we get caught out. If it happens frequently you prepare for it. If it doesn’t happen much at all then you take the risk that you’ll be caught out rather than spend money preparing for something that doesn’t happen.

Used to wake up to snow & still went to school with mates we just walked. Who did we cope without the net

It is extremely icy and frosty here, live on rural secondary road. Bit dangerous for the smaller kids with slippy paths.

We are in SE London too I'm shocked at how quickly roads became so unbelievably treacherous....

I'd agree most schools will have to close as there have been numerous crashes close to us. My immediate neighbour abandoned her car in blackheath as she and other cats were just sliding about all over the place. She's a super confident driver ..... don't think any gritting was done in time which I guess won't help....
I didn't know about the bus hope nobody was hurt!
Really dicey out there tonight!

Just thinking about the villages near me, at least 3 of them have school buildings converted into residential buildings, so those who walked to school in 1962 in the snow may have slightly further to walk nowadays. DS has 40 minute bus ride to his college, not sure he (or I) would be keen for him to walk to college if the buses aren’t running

I'm a teacher. Had to go out earlier this evening to pick my DC up and it was absolutely treacherous. I saw two accidents, cars skidding everywhere. No roads gritted, even the A roads. It was the worst conditions I've ever had the misfortune to drive in. A friend had to abandon their car nearby and walk home as the cars were stuck trying to go up a hill. It has continued to snow heavily since then and we have around 5 inches of snow. No word from my school yet about opening but it was terrifying driving tonight.

I have loads to do with my class before the end of term and could really do without a closure but I don't want to drive if it's dangerous. Surely it's better for healthcare workers etc if there are fewer other drivers skidding about on the roads.

This!! Thankfully there isn't any snow where I am but even if there was I couldn't not go into work. Even if there was no possible way I could drive I would have no choice but to walk to every one of my house calls in it. Even as a kid we walked to school in deep snow. Pair of wellies, a hat scarf and gloves and a thick coat and we were fine. Secondary school was slightly different because the piping for the heating was underground so would freeze so we'd either be sent home or told not to come in.

Maybe you didn’t live in the arse end of nowhere! We do. I also just walked to school in the snow when I was growing up. But I lived in a town and school was 20 minutes away.
Now I live rurally. The school I work in serves a massively spread out community - loads of people live down small single tracks, and it’s hilly (and currently very icy). We don’t get gritters. It’s not to do with being more precious- it’s to do with entirely different circumstances. A tractor got stuck on ice near me this morning. When tractors can’t go then things are bad. What you did is not relevant unless it’s identical circumstances and it probably isn’t.

A few snowflakes...hehe...I see what you did there! It's a double meaning!

@DoubleShotEspresso I'm picturing all the cats sliding about on the ice 🤣

On the other hand, people around us did try to go out last night and this morning. We have three access roads to our village. Two are now blocked with cars that have skidded and can’t be moved because it’s too icy for recovery vehicles to get a grip. If people block the third road trying to travel when they don’t have to we will be completely cut off and inaccessible to emergency services etc. Surely far better to not travel if you don’t absolutely have to?

Sounds amazing!!!

Why can't they get in? Remarkable that 'essential jobs,' such as doctors, nurses, fire fighters etc- Always make it to work, but other professions just can't seem to get in!!

@Moon22 when we’ve had snow issues in the past there have been call outs for people with 4x4s, tractors etc to help essential workers get to work. I think I would prefer a doctor, nurse etc to get to work rather than a teacher if transport is limited

They do though don’t they. They announce school closures on local radio in the mornings.

100% agree

In our area today/tomorrow the issue is ice not snow. The roads/pavements are lethal as no gritting. More likely to be breaking bones than tobogganing

So presumably you have appropriate transport eg 4x4?