Snow: More than 100 schools shut, roads becoming a problem (From The Oxford Times)

In all my years at school, college and university I think the primary school closed twice when it was physically impossible to get to the school because the village was cut off and my high school was closed twice and that was only because the heating failed.

Why when we get a minr smattering of snow do we close schools which forces parent to have to take the day off work? The cost to the economy is huge!

Get over it people, it's snow. It happens.

snert wrote:
In all my years at school, college and university I think the primary school closed twice when it was physically impossible to get to the school because the village was cut off and my high school was closed twice and that was only because the heating failed.

Why when we get a minr smattering of snow do we close schools which forces parent to have to take the day off work? The cost to the economy is huge!

Get over it people, it's snow. It happens.

Do teachers get paid when they close the school? lots of parents I know have had to lose a days pay in order to stay home with their children. It seems that the concern was whether teachers could get home safely as all the children live within walking distance.

JanetJ wrote:

snert wrote:
In all my years at school, college and university I think the primary school closed twice when it was physically impossible to get to the school because the village was cut off and my high school was closed twice and that was only because the heating failed.

Why when we get a minr smattering of snow do we close schools which forces parent to have to take the day off work? The cost to the economy is huge!

Get over it people, it's snow. It happens.

Do teachers get paid when they close the school? lots of parents I know have had to lose a days pay in order to stay home with their children. It seems that the concern was whether teachers could get home safely as all the children live within walking distance.

Of course they don't lose a days pay, why should they? If you choose to take a day off to mind your kids instead of getting a friend or relative to do it, then you use your holiday or lose a days pay. Much the same if your employer has to close for the day you still get paid. Think about it, the teachers do not close the school, the authority does. By the way, what is it that you have against teachers, they do a great job, with little protection from the thugs that they have to try to educate.

when i went to school in the 1950s if we tried to use snow or cold weather as an excuse for arriving late then we were straight off to the headmasters study .

half a dozen strokes of the cane soon warmed us up

snert wrote:
In all my years at school, college and university I think the primary school closed twice when it was physically impossible to get to the school because the village was cut off and my high school was closed twice and that was only because the heating failed.

Why when we get a minr smattering of snow do we close schools which forces parent to have to take the day off work? The cost to the economy is huge!

Get over it people, it's snow. It happens.

Things were a lot different a few years ago. No 'elf and safety' to contend with, no minimum staff to pupil ratios, no minimum temperature legislation etc etc. We have grown soft over the years and this is one of the problems with this country.

For those wondering why the whole country is shutting down over a fairly normal for this time of year amount of snow, simple; A gradual move towards a repressive dystopian state, where common sense and personal responsibility are replaced by total reliance on state. And the irony is, Oxford is where all this starts, thanks to it's ultra left wing core. You reap what you sow. For an idea as to where this is all headed, read both 1984 and The Time Machine. Your local McDonald's & shopping mall is full of the Eloi, whilst the rugby pitches are where the Merlocks play. I'd be the latter if I was you, more connection with nature - and increased longevity due to a much stronger heart.

Grunden makes sense and Sandy sums it up.

The rest of you are talking nonsense.

Particularly with reference to the "in my day it was different" brigade. It's changed. Not necessarily for the better but there are things you can and cannot do.
And oflife, there hasn't been a left wing government in power since Callaghan, surely 33 years of right wing politics could have corrected this ( and don't dare state that Labour are anything other than centre right at very best)

Grunden Skip wrote:

JanetJ wrote:

snert wrote:
In all my years at school, college and university I think the primary school closed twice when it was physically impossible to get to the school because the village was cut off and my high school was closed twice and that was only because the heating failed.

Why when we get a minr smattering of snow do we close schools which forces parent to have to take the day off work? The cost to the economy is huge!

Get over it people, it's snow. It happens.

Do teachers get paid when they close the school? lots of parents I know have had to lose a days pay in order to stay home with their children. It seems that the concern was whether teachers could get home safely as all the children live within walking distance.

Of course they don't lose a days pay, why should they? If you choose to take a day off to mind your kids instead of getting a friend or relative to do it, then you use your holiday or lose a days pay. Much the same if your employer has to close for the day you still get paid. Think about it, the teachers do not close the school, the authority does. By the way, what is it that you have against teachers, they do a great job, with little protection from the thugs that they have to try to educate.

The authority doesn't decide whether or not to close the school - the Head does. Lots of schools were open all day. It isn't always possible to get emergency chilldcare at 8am in the morning. I have nothing against teachers but am aware they often compare their jobs to those of nurses, firemen, police officers etc when discussing pay. Friends in the Health service, Police etc turned up as usual - had to leave home a bit earlier and probably got home much later but surely it is your responsibility to get into work and if you choose to live a long way from your place of employment that is down to you.

I live miles away from my school Janet. I'd love to be able to live near there but rent and mortgages are too high for the £1100 I take home every month (payments are taken out for the £30k it has cost me to gain the necessary 4 years education to do my job, it would be a touch higher if it weren't for this.) It's bad enough that £300 of this goes towards petrol. All of this on top of an average 70 hours worked per week (not including weekends, I try to take Saturday off but have to work all day Sundays). But hey, i do get the school holidays off, which is nice because at least I know that during this time I will not have children swear at me and parents verbally and (I will admit this is infrequent) threaten physical assault.
So sorry, I will try harder in future.

Actually, it's often the school buses that dictate whether a school closes - well over half the students at my school travel by dedicated transport and many others use normal buses. If the bus companies say they need to take students now or they won't be able to get them home, schools have no choice. FYI I left Wantage at 6.45am for my 50 min journey to my school in Thame as the snow was starting and as the local Wantage schools declared they were closed - so despite that, as my school was open I went; we closed at lunchtime on advice from the bus companies - I then had a very long and hairy journey home to Wantage with other staff travelling to Bicester, Banbury, Wycombe and the like but not until students were safely on their way home. The decision certainly wasn't taken lightly or before the travel situation had deteriorated to the point where there was a real risk that students would not be able to get home to their rural villages.