For anyone who works in a school re snow days.

[mumto2andnomore]

If you work in a school and it was closed this week due to snow did the people who could walk there have to go in ? What if they had young children who were off too ?

I dont feel that what happened at my school was very fair and really interested to see what happened elsewhere. Thanks.

Can I also add as a TA that we CAN'T take annual leave as we don't get any in term time. We have to work for all the time that school is open. And lots of TA's are only on a 39 week contract (ie term time only) so only get paid for 39 weeks of the year. Any time needed to take time out in term time (which isn't something any of us take lightly) is generally unpaid unless you have a VERY understanding head and are in a really dire situation. Sometimes it is possible to make the time up so you don't lose pay, but sometimes it isn't depending on the type of job you have and your other commitments.

My school was the only local one open one day last week. About 60 (out of 480) of the children turned up and 12 of the teachers. The head actively encouraged children to go home (we don't see snow that often) and sent all the TAs home at 9.30 as there were enough teachers!

Hi peachy,

are you near me in 'R' in middlesex? we had the same thing re 'optional' but DS1 didn't say anything about choc ices!

noonit - actually, I've NEVER taken ds out of school for a holiday.

I am highly pissed off that ds's headmistress shut the school all week bar half a day on Weds. Other local schools managed to open. Us bloody parents managed to open the school all by ourselves at the weekend for a fundraising event.

Still, at least Miss X had a nice relaxing break. Never mind the fact that I've probably lost two clients because of being buggered around. No doubt Miss X will be round to pay my mortgage next month. Some of us can't just skive when we feel like it.

Surely there must be lots of teachers who have entered the profession since Inset days were taken out of holidays?

I'm a TA, my school was closed for 2 days and I was told not to bother going in. I am assuming I will still get paid as I was following instructions from my line manager not to go in.

I think its mad that any member or staff, teaching or non teaching, should be expected to risk their life to get to work so they can find something to do there!

Much better idea to stay at home safe and sound or else make the most of the snow and make a snowman!

my friend's school in Birmingham opened last week despite blanket closure from Birmingham LEA - its a private boys school, The majority of staff made it in although quite a few children didnt.

I have to say Ive never worked in a place which didnt open because of snow. Hell, in 1992 i was working in Post & Mail House in Birmingham when there was an IRA bomb threat and we were expected to carry on working. In 1996 when Brum was put on high terrorist alert it was business as usual!

noonit - you can't expect much sympathy for working during your slightly longish holidays!

Most people on equivalent salaries get 4-5 weeks annual leave AND pay exhoribtant fees for summer play schmes for their children...

If you had to work unpaid for so many holiday weeks that you were left with less than 4-5 weeks "true" holiday then that's another matter.

But going back to the OP there does seem to be a discrepancy in the way the support staff have been trated as opposed to the way the teaching staff have been treated and IMO that seems like poor managment from the head.

Just to add a different perspective on things, when I was at school - a girl in my class was killed, because of the snow. She was walking to school on a narrow stretch of pavement, slipped on some ice, fell under a lorry and died. Makes you think twice about the safety of students - particularly round here where there are literally hundreds of teenagers walking to school on busy roads with very narrow pavements - they're on the road at the very best of times, but with all the added snow and ice around, its just a recipie for disaster in my book. And I bet parents would soon take a different view of things if another accident like this happened again (which, fingers crossed, I hope to God we never see anything like that again). In my view, schools are dammed if they do, dammed if they don't.

Wohmum no LOL_ South East Wales, but choc ices are a regular enforcer at the ds's school (best class of the week get one. makes it a bit difficult for ds1 on a GF / CF diet but heck, it's not as if her- erm- gets rewards regularly)

Oh and- all these people who think a few inches of snow isn't a risk- DS2 was almost killedFriday on the way into school when a car skidded at the crossing- driver swerved at the last minute, missed him b milimetres. It doesn't take much at all to massively boost risks to children from traffic incidents etc, once there I didn't see point of returning home but I wouldn't risk it again!

rumour has it our head pranged her car "due to the ice" on friday morning so the school had to be shut!!!!!!!! as the majority of staff i.e. her could not get in due to bad weather

the school is not in devon, scotland or the wilds of derbyshire but in an area served by london underground where no other school had shut and very little ice and snow left

I had to take day off to look after dd, boss not pleased I had to use a days annual leave I was saving for half term

Can i just say that i live in scotland and as a child in the 70s and 80s we generally had about two snow days a year. On the first of those days we would get the bus as usual, hte bus would then get stuck in traffic as cars skidded off hte road to right and left (and once the bus did), we'd crawl along as the police and highways agency tried their best to make all motorists go home and stop being so bloody stupid. we'd arrive at school around midday to find none of hte other buses had arrived and one poor teacher waiting for us just to tell us to turn round and go home. we'd arrive home about 3pm about an hour before when we would have anyway.

last monday i was on leave driving home to scotland up the a1. we were immediately behind a 12car pileup and saw two cars skid from teh fast lane into the ditch on the other side fo the hardshoulder (luckily nobody hurt).

I was pleased when i heard headteachers were taking early decisions to close schools. Nobody should put their children on roads that dangerous just for a day of school! It doesn't matter what kind of childcare issues you have, surely it's always better to know yoru children are at home safe rather than out on trecherous roads being dug out of snow drifts and ditches!!!

Actually, just read a note from DS's(secondary) school, saying Friday's INSET day has reverted to a normal school day, due to the fact they've just lost 4 days of teaching! I hadn't realised it was an INSET day, actually so makes no odds to me.

I have read with great interest a lot of the posts here, and have found the arguments back and forth to be very intriguing. Noonit..I agree with a lot of what you have written...good on you. And gagarin, if I was to add up the amount of hours I worked outside of the physical in classroom time I spent with the children, whether that be planning, preparing, assessing, parent evenings, meeting with parents outside of school hours to discuss a concern, marking, attending meetings etc...I am pretty sure I would easily be left with less than 4 weeks in total of annual leave, and you pay exhorbinant fees for summer playschemes, well I pay exhorbinant fees for taking a holiday as everything is twice the price it normally would be, but I get told when my holidays are, not when I neccesarily want to take them. If I have a wedding I have been invited to, can't take a half day on a Friday to get there earlier, like many others can do in their jobs.

In other matters, as a Canadian who has lived and taught in England for the past 5 years, I have never seen anything as pathetic as I have seen in the past week here. You would think that we were in the middle of the artic in an avalanche by the way the general public handled the snow. Obviously my being from Canada, I am used to the snow, but I was never "taught" how to drive in it, it is basic common sense. Driving 50mph in snow is probably NOT a good idea, but yet so many ppl do it. Not brushing the snow off your car is a safety hazard to those in front, to the side and behind your car, but it is amazing how many people are too lazy to brush off their car, not taking any consideration for the cars around them. And before I get the comment, well your used to the snow, it is time that Britain got over that excuse and started to get used to it, because it is what the world climate is becoming.

In response to the OP, I think that anyone not being paid for being off last week is disgusting. You had no choice not to go to work if your work was closed. We were told that we were to go to our local school to cover, which I did, but they were closed as well. My children attend the school I work at, so obviously they were off the same days as I was. But much to others dismay, I actually did work on the two days my school was closed and was able to prepare all that was needed for our upcoming open evening, which is usually about 8-9 hours of preparation. So for once, I was getting paid for doing that, instead of doing it in my own time!

Our senior school made me laugh they closed for 2 days becuase of snow opened on monday closed on Tuesday for an academic review day (for those who dont know what this is it is the same as a parents evening just during the day, so the pupils stay at home except for a 10 minute appointment with form tutor!)

To the pupils credit a load of pupils went in on the sunday to clear pathways, playground etc. (this was necessary because the pupils eat their packed lunches outside-thats another issue!)

Personnally I loced being off with my children in the snow becuase we were able to build snowmen, take photos and have a great time with the lovely white stuff.
Sadly when we got back into school I asked the children I work with if they had enjoyed the snow and half hadnt been out in it - no snowballs, no snowmen, no sledging but they enjoyed it as they played on the playstation or Wii all day )

"Sadly when we got back into school I asked the children I work with if they had enjoyed the snow and half hadnt been out in it - no snowballs, no snowmen, no sledging but they enjoyed it as they played on the playstation or Wii all day"
This is too true, it is so , I had the same, two of my kids were not even allowed to go in it because their parents said it was too cold I felt so bad for them, because even though now, with the climate change, you are likely to experience a lot of more snowfalls like this intensity in the years to come, it is once a season, if not less. Growing up in Canada, snow is such a fun thing for both children and adults alike...it is such a shame to miss out on it, or not want to go and play in it!

melissa - I sent ds (5) out to play but by Thursday he announced he was 'bored of the snow'. Ungrateful hound!

I think the idea of teachers/ support staff going to a local school to offer their services is totally and utterly barmy. It would be interesting to know if any teachers actually went to a local school that was open.

The logistics of CRB checks, proof of who someone is and proof of QTS just makes this totally and utterly impratical.

Just coming back to this, does anyone know if a school can add an extra day on at the end of the academic year for another INSET day? I am wondering if its the schools attempt to get back 1 day from all the staff!

Also, how many INSETS days should there be in a year?

5 days a year.

Don't know about whether they can add another in lieu of a snow day.

Ok thanks TFM.
So, if all 5 INSETS have been used up by the end of the year, then the school can't add an extra one on?
Staff have been doing twilight INSETS to make up one of the days. It would be bit pointless doing the twilight sessions if there are still 5 days INSETS.