Charlottechicken Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Lol i remember when our primary school playground was icy we all made a giant slippery slide down the playground! them were the days, noone got hurt either We did that at my school, we'd all dash back after school had finished for the day because we knew the caretaker locked the gates at 6pm, and he would have the grit with him too. The playground is on a fabulous slope, the top used to be very steep (but has since been levelled in terraces) and we would slide down it until the caretaker shooed us all away. Only in the cold light of the following day could we see the pink blood marks in the snow and ice where children's faces had hit the ground Happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Don't get me started on this. I can't help but express my exasperation at the continuing closure of schools. My son is in year 12, with AS modules in Physics Chemistry and Maths next week and no opportunity to go over with teachers any problems he has encountered in revision....the rest of us have to get on and get in to work..and the whole thing about the sites not being safe is ridiculous...the hospitals don't close and shops still open in spite of treacherous pavements and roads etc etc etc..there is simply no excuse for the continuing closures... I think they are setting a very bad example for the children too.. If whoever is responsible for closing the schools went into their local tescos waitrose or whatever and couldn't buy food I think they may be slightly annoyed...but of course to get food to shops and for the shops to open requires someone going and doing their job in adverse conditions....just as well we're not all teachers. ok..I'll stop now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 With exams I've now learnt college will be open and we have to try hard to get there, even if there aren't anymore lessons for the rest of the day. Basically any exams scheduled have to go on at exactly the same time across the country and cannot be delayed due to the risk of cheating. If they're not taken in the January session then they are to be taken in the summer session with different papers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 However, I found this and thought it was funny; Washwood Heath Technology College, Birmingham - Closed to all pupils EXCEPT for Mr Mohammed's Year 11 Maths group who are due in at 10.00 am. How gutted would you be if you were in Mr Mohammed's maths group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 They were talking about this on the tv yesterday and a headteacher admitted that they closed the school because they didn't want a poor attendance record. When it snowed before Christmas we sent our YS into school and he was one of only 9 in the class that had bothered to turn up. His school has remained open the whole time whilst the adjacent grammar school that shares the same field has closed part the way through the day or not opened at all. YS has been having classes with different teachers and often just watching dvds. They have an incredibly small catchment area (1.5 miles) so say that all pupils should be able to get into school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Even if our school & college were open,we couldn't get it,as the coach simply can't make it through to the village I am driving the eldest in on Wednesday whatever happens,as she has her Psychology AS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 My elder son has retakes starting Monday but we are braced for another big dump of snow. Goodness knows what he is going to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Even if our school & college were open,we couldn't get it,as the coach simply can't make it through to the village Is the village on a main road or just off it? If the village is off a main road is it not possible for the coach to stop at the bottom of a road to the village, this is what they used to do in my mother's village in N Yorks. The village was cut off in bad weather due to a steep hill at either end so the buses used to pick up on the main road at the bottom of the hill, it was a quarter of a mile walk though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoriabunny Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 sadietoo, if your son went to my school and had an accident this week, an ambulance would not have been able to get onto the site to get to him. Likewise a fire engine could not have accessed the site either. In the event of a fire, we would not have been able to evacuate the pupils safely and quickly, and the assembly point they meet at is an ice rink right now. I take your point that supermarkets and hospitals etc are still open, but generally their sites are flatter (certainly where supermarkets are concerned) and have several points of access, and there aren't the same safety concerns. In addition, councils prioritise hospitals in terms of the grit they allocate so most are in better condition than school are right now. Plus, businesses are adult environments, and adults can be held responsible for their own safety. Children can't be. If the head of a school says the school is open, he or she has a responsibility to make sure that school is safe for the pupils. Opening an unsafe site and saying you expect pupils to attend is ethically dubious to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 My neice and nephews secondary school was open until a pupil fell over in the playground and cut their brow. Its been closed since. They are at the top of a very steep hill too which doesn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlo Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Our school has a huge catchment area and about 80% of the students are bussed in to it. If it does open on Monday (and I expect that will depend on the rest of the weekend) I will try and get my two in myself. We went for a walk around the lanes where their bus would go today and they are lethal. I don't like the bus driver at the best of times but would not trust him in these conditions. I can see why the schools close. I was at school in Sheffield during the seventies and eighties and I don't remember the school ever closing - and we had some pretty bad weather. We did have short days one winter when the fuel was low and that was great as we all left at 1 0'clcok and went sledging all afternoon. Happy Days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I will try and get my two in myself. We went for a walk around the lanes where their bus would go today and they are lethal. I don't like the bus driver at the best of times but would not trust him in these conditions. I took ES in to school myself on Friday for the same reason I really hope they all get back to school on Monday as they are eating me out of house and home and the kitchen aka 'The All Day Cafe' needs a break The novelty of the snow has worn off too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicky Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I am 13 and my secondary school has been closed all this past week due to the snow. Inset day monday not in. Got to school tuesday and had double art than at 11 o'clock we closed. Then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we were closed the whole day and more snow is forcast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 sadietoo, if your son went to my school and had an accident this week, an ambulance would not have been able to get onto the site to get to him. Likewise a fire engine could not have accessed the site either. In the event of a fire, we would not have been able to evacuate the pupils safely and quickly, and the assembly point they meet at is an ice rink right now. I take your point that supermarkets and hospitals etc are still open, but generally their sites are flatter (certainly where supermarkets are concerned) and have several points of access, and there aren't the same safety concerns. In addition, councils prioritise hospitals in terms of the grit they allocate so most are in better condition than school are right now. Plus, businesses are adult environments, and adults can be held responsible for their own safety. Children can't be. If the head of a school says the school is open, he or she has a responsibility to make sure that school is safe for the pupils. Opening an unsafe site and saying you expect pupils to attend is ethically dubious to say the least. I absolutely take your point. but in the event of needing an ambulance presumably any road would be difficult to access??? likewise for a fire engine. In fact my son's school is in a perfectly flat site right next to the Police Station (which I hope has not closed)... Sorry victoriabunny, I do understand the difficulties in the current climate of Health and Safety above everything else but the point is that some schools like yours obviously do need to be closed..and some like ours don't...We live in West Sussex, on the plain between the downs and the sea...and had at most two inches of snow...The snowfall on Wednesday was bound to cause disruption and lead to closures, but the buses were running right up to the school on Thursday...I know I sound 105 years old when I say "in the good old days before Health and Safety"..but in the good old days before Health and Safety schools here would have been closed for one day, and if paths or an assembly point needed to be cleared then heaven forbid the staff went out and did it if no one else was available to do it.....the expectation was that after that people would get to work and that children would attend school... risk assessments rule the UK now...and I think it is a sadder place for it.. Sorry, I'll really shut up now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 IMHO no head will close their school without good reason, & that may well be something that we,as parents,have not even considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 If people weren't so ready to sue all and sundry we would be in such a pickle. If one of my children hurts themselves while they are out in the snow as a result of their school being closed can I sue the school for closing? Where is it all going to end I really hate this compensation culture but I can understand why schools close. Our school is currently being sued for £million + for an injury sustained by a pupil in an pre arranged fight after the school day as it happened on school grounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 DD school closed early Tuesday - we await to see if it reopens tomorrow. The bus normally takes 40 mins - they shut early on Tuesday and called the buses in to get them - they took 2 hours to do the 40mins journey. We have 9in in the garden and even today the road is completely white snow - no thaw and no de-icing within 1 mile of our house. The school opened 2 hrs on Friday for those doing GSCEs to collect revision material and exams will go ahead next week and staff have been told to be in - we still await to hear if pupils are to go in. In these circumstances they couldn't have opened - in the past when they have managed to be open during snow less than 50% get in and they do no work anyway. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Even if our school & college were open,we couldn't get it,as the coach simply can't make it through to the village Is the village on a main road or just off it? If the village is off a main road is it not possible for the coach to stop at the bottom of a road to the village, this is what they used to do in my mother's village in N Yorks. The village was cut off in bad weather due to a steep hill at either end so the buses used to pick up on the main road at the bottom of the hill, it was a quarter of a mile walk though! It's 2 miles,unlit & its dark when the coach comes,no footpaths,plus the snow, so it wouldn't happen School is now opening at midday, so we all have to drive them in & pick them up at 3.30. There is no parking,as the carpark hasn't been cleared, & tbh they won't do any work anyhow, so mine will be off again tomorrow. Actually, it has just started to snow again. .......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 My school, is opening again tomorrow. The problem is not getting to and from school in a major city, it is the state of the grounds. We have chikldren in three different blocks, the smallest of which has no toilet facilities and kids usually pop across the playground to the main building. The playground is a mess. We had no grit as the grit we ordered before christmas was never delivered, and due to the ice we had weeks ago, under all the snow is another two inches of ice that never melted over Christmas. Thats why we decided not to open. How can it be safe to send kids across that? If we were a single site school it would have been a different story but we are not so H and S of the kids and staff has to come first, despite what parents would have liked. We have had lots of stick for it and even had reporters hanging around on Friday afternoon whilst we sorted out timing arrangements for Monday. Edited to add: We have 720 children and only two small entrances able to be used first thing Monday morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I totally agree with you Bellekatz, schools should not open until it is safe for them to do so. There are other considerations too, like cleaners, caterers & food supplies not getting to the school, as well as coaches & staff who may have to travel several miles. As I said before, no Head wants to close,but they have to do what is best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 There are other considerations too, like cleaners, caterers & food supplies not getting to the school, as well as coaches & staff who may have to travel several miles.quote] Good point. Our school set work for each year group on the school website to be completed on they days that they were closed. YS set out a work plan and every time I looked in on him he said that he was working well and all was fine. At 4pm we checked his work to find that he had done a page and a half of IT and visited 34 different websites - car racing mainly Needless to say that I now know how to block access to certain websites on a laptop (youtube etc) and he spend all day Saturday working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlo Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Subject to any further snowfaill tonight, our school is opening in the morning for Years 10 and 11 only. DS is gutted. DD is ecstatic!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Good point. Our school set work for each year group on the school website to be completed on they days that they were closed. YS set out a work plan and every time I looked in on him he said that he was working well and all was fine. At 4pm we checked his work to find that he had done a page and a half of IT and visited 34 different websites - car racing mainly Needless to say that I now know how to block access to certain websites on a laptop (youtube etc) and he spend all day Saturday working. That would be my DS too! Luckily the school has been open on all but one day. They set work on their website for those who were snowed in and when DS suggested we were probably snowed in and shouldn't bother trying to get him to school, I said he would have to do the work on the website then...he went into school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poachedegg Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 DS's high school is back today - but lessons don't start until 10, to give everyone a chance to get in safely and no uniform to enable everyone to wear sensible clothing and shoes. DD's primary sre staggering their starting and finishing times per year group to give everyone a chance of getting there safely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 DS's high school is back today - but lessons don't start until 10, to give everyone a chance to get in safely and no uniform to enable everyone to wear sensible clothing and shoes. No such sense here DD is back (years 10-13 only, and limited hot food) - it is an all girls school with no trouser option in the uniform - they have been told school uniform only, but they can wear wellies/boots to get to school, but must change into school shoes on arrival. Classes are in many buildings - so there will be a lot of outside walking about during the day. Allowing trousers and walking boots would seem better - considering it is still snowing here and the school bus journey is rather long. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
