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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think school have dealt with the snow really crappily??

71 replies

Disenchanted3 · 06/01/2010 10:27

Tuesday Morning we wake up to 6 inches of snow, phone school, cannot get through.

DH takes DS to school, dozens of kids being dragged through the snow, only to be told be returning parents half way there that school was closed.

So yesterday we are phoning chool to try and get info about today, cannot get through.

No word from them.

This morning am ringing and ringing, not wanting to take DS back out in the snow walking again. Cannot get through.

Finally at 8:30 it rings and rings and rings. No one answers.

I manage to get through again thinking they must have jjust missed my call, no answer again.

Now my sisters best friends mum is a teacher, so I call my sister who calls her friend.

School is closed.

The teachers KNEW this yesterday but made no effort to inform parents.

They have our numbers, they have mobile numbers (just a quick txt to a few numbers saying please inform any other parents etc was needed) they have a website no info on that at all

So basically they jut left the school today, with noone there to answer the phone to tell parents it was closed, and left parents to bring their kids there just to see if it was open.

AIBU to think this is pretty shitty?

OP posts:
islandofsodor · 06/01/2010 10:55

My children's school had to close before Christmas suddenly due to a power cut. Their phones were not working and they had to prioritise. Nursery & after school care children first, reception next. There is no way they could have phoned or texted everyone.

Rosieeo · 06/01/2010 10:56

YANBU. It's pretty rubbish.

Had they listed the info anywhere else - council websites or local radio?

stickylittlefingers · 06/01/2010 10:58

it probably would be wise to have a link on the school website to the local council's temporary closure page. You could ask them to do that, as I agree you are not born knowing this information!

When I was a kid Radio Devon used to list all the school closures every half hour. I remember my mum coming in at 6.30am to tell me "school's closed, love, you don't need to get up!" - having woken me up! Still, I had a lot of sledging to fit in

carocaro · 06/01/2010 10:58

Ours was open yesturday, only one in town, the head and teachers were out yesturday afternoon telling everyone it would be open today!

feralgirl · 06/01/2010 11:15

I can't remember a time when state schools didn't announce closure on the local radio, I don't know if it's a legal requirement but they certainly have to inform the local authority as soon as possible. I think the way it works is that SLT have a password for local radio.

OP says "The teachers KNEW this yesterday but made no effort to inform parents" but it's not the teacher's responsibility to do that and if no admin staff can travel to school to update the website or take calls then there's not much they can do is there?

It's your responsibility as a parent to know what to do in the event of something like snow; I'm pretty that you didn't know to listen to your local radio tbh.

islandofsodor · 06/01/2010 11:18

I remember many a time as a kid listening to local radio with my fingers crossed, hoping for a day off.

All of the local schools that were closed on Monday (most were on INSET) were closed due to heating problems not the snow itself.

l39 · 06/01/2010 11:19

Yesterday all pupils at my daughters' school came home with a letter telling us to check the school website for news on closures. From 7 to 9 am today their site wouldn't load, presumably too much traffic, and when it did load, there was nothing on there about it! There still isn't! The local government website says the school is closed but they haven't bothered to update their own website.

FatGirlThin · 06/01/2010 11:22

What Feralgirl said.

gagamama · 06/01/2010 11:34

YAB slightly U. One of the main reasons schools close in bad weather is because staff have difficulties getting in. It's unreasonable to suggest that there should be office staff available to field calls from every parent in the school. It's fair enough to say they should call you, but that would take absolutely ages, and people would be ringing in before they'd got to the end of the list, meaning both the school and parent's phones might be engaged. I've just Googled 'school closures [county]' for several schools and found several pages where these are listed, and had no problem finding out which are closed in my county and surrounding ones.

YANBU to think they should have pre-warned you of the protocol (to check with local radio or online at Xam), or that they should have let you know if they had decided yesterday that closure was likely.

StarExpat · 06/01/2010 11:35

YANBU. I'm a teacher. My school sent a text and email to every member of staff and parents this morning at 5am to say school is closed. Each class also has a phone tree. There are also departmental staff phone trees.
DH's school listed the info on their website by 6.30am. And on the Local Authority website.

islandofsodor · 06/01/2010 11:57

But these automated email/text services cost schools money and I assume that some schools have decided their money is better spent elsewhere.

We always managed via local radio in the days before email/text/internet so why put more burden onto the schools.

Lizzylou · 06/01/2010 12:06

Agree with Feralgirl.
We do get texts/emails as it goes but I have suffered a few mornings listening to Radio Lancashire to find out if the school is closed, which is what schools did when I was younger as well.

The BBC local radio pages have an updated list on their website as well.

RustyBear · 06/01/2010 12:09

Our local radio station still hasn't put our school closure on their website (I've given up listening to the radio) despite being informed at 6.30. We're a junior school & there's an infant school with a very similar name & I think they just assume it's the same one.

We also couldn't get on to our school website to update it till 8.00 (I started trying at just after 6.30) and I expect the ParentMail system had a few delays too due to the sheer volume of messages flying about.

We have tried phone trees in the past btw, but have found they break down too often to be reliable - also we have a lot of parents who don't seem to want to give their phone numbers to other parents.

Sam100 · 06/01/2010 12:10

YANBU - we have a pyramid phone system for each class. School calls or texts 5 group leaders who are then responsible for calling/texting the 5 other people in their group.

I am a grp leader for our class - I got a text at 7:30 am to say school was closed today and I called all the people on my list to let them know by 7:45.

Suggest to your head that they set something similar up going forward.

PiggyPenguin · 06/01/2010 12:10

we have a snow-phonw tree. teacher rings first person on list at 7.30. they ring next person on list, and so on until everyone contacted. Works really well and teachers can do it from the comfort of their own bed!

tiredemma · 06/01/2010 12:13

Agree with Feralgirl.

The world and his wife know that the local radio announce school closures. Even way back in the 80's this was the case.

madamearcati · 06/01/2010 12:13

The BBC radio website for us is updated less than once an hour and in any case didn't list half the closed schools.

Lizzylou · 06/01/2010 12:18

I was shocked as our local radio website was updated pretty much as soon as closures were announced this year, last time (last March, I think), it was very slow.

Even if the websites weren't updated, the radio station still announce it.

Original poster
Disenchanted3 · 06/01/2010 12:33

well way back in the 80s I wasn't even born yet, lol.

I just didn't know and NEVER ever listen to the radio so it didn't even come to mind as its some thing I never use, I don't have a radio or a cd player. I think you can get radio on your TV? but never tried, so shoot me for not knowing but I didn't!

And as for the web I went on the school website, didn't think of the council.

OP posts:
DaftApeth · 06/01/2010 12:42

I think you are being slightly unreasonable in blaming the school for you not knowing where school closures are published - it is pretty general knowledge.

That said, at least you now do know and will not be caught out next time

Lizzylou · 06/01/2010 12:44

Dis, you can listen to the radio via your laptop, that is what I had to do. Go to BBC and search for your local radio site.
Realised where Victoria Wood got all her material from as well

So, now you know!

Original poster
Disenchanted3 · 06/01/2010 12:45

Well obviously lots of people didn't jusding my the number of parents taking their kids to school this morning, we were watching them all go past!

OP posts:
lolster · 06/01/2010 12:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dopeydoot · 06/01/2010 13:12

Maybe when weather is generally so bad and advice for people in general is to stay in and not go out unless really important, they should change tactic and just list the schools in badly affected areas that are staying open, then you get to assume that you don't have to go in unless you hear otherwise.

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 06/01/2010 13:17

In our area and where we lived before it was never the school that informed us.
The council website lists school closures and in bot concil areas we had/have a designated number to call that all the schools in the LA call and the school gaive us all a few times a year a letter reminding of the pin number and we can call that, type in pin and there is a recorded message from the head saying school open/closed whatever.
And of course as others have said local radio announce very regularly chool closures.

YANBU you didn't know but it might be worth asking the school if they have a nuber like that to call that gives you answer instantly.