Schools across north Essex close on Monday due to snow (From Gazette)

Here we go again, shutting the Schools at the first sign of snow!

I cannot remember a day I missed school through bad weather, we were all just expected to attend.

Its the easy option these days to have another day off with the parents who lose out, once again, by having to take time off, often without pay. But why should that matter to teachers, they get paid whether they attend or not!

Low betide any parent who takes their children out of school without permission, a dim view is taken of such irresponsible acts!

Say It As It Is OK? wrote:
Here we go again, shutting the Schools at the first sign of snow!

I cannot remember a day I missed school through bad weather, we were all just expected to attend.

Its the easy option these days to have another day off with the parents who lose out, once again, by having to take time off, often without pay. But why should that matter to teachers, they get paid whether they attend or not!

Low betide any parent who takes their children out of school without permission, a dim view is taken of such irresponsible acts!

Although I agree about school closures 'in my day' - it only happened once in my recollection and that was because the road into Brightlingsea was blocked - please note that the teachers do NOT have a say in the matter.
Whenever something like this happens it seems to be a time to knock the teachers. They aren't responsible for the snow OR the school closures.
WOE betide the poor teacher who gets blamed for no reason!

Well setbuilder who is it that makes the decision to close the schools if it isn't the Head Teacher? Although the mamby pamby H&S brigade, who the head teachers are indoctrined into, should also be responsible.

Surely it would be better if the schools stayed open and everyone tried, if they could, to get there. Must be better than just giving up the day before!

Say It As It Is OK? wrote:
Well setbuilder who is it that makes the decision to close the schools if it isn't the Head Teacher? Although the mamby pamby H&S brigade, who the head teachers are indoctrined into, should also be responsible.

Surely it would be better if the schools stayed open and everyone tried, if they could, to get there. Must be better than just giving up the day before!

Your use of the word 'teachers' is too general. It is, indeed THE Head teacher (or manager in many cases now) who makes the decision and NOT the teachers.
Incidentally, I see very few schools in the Colchester area appear to have closed.
My son is making his way, on foot, to school as we speak.
Maybe not all Head teachers are 'Namby pambys'!

setbuilder wrote:

Say It As It Is OK? wrote: Well setbuilder who is it that makes the decision to close the schools if it isn't the Head Teacher? Although the mamby pamby H&S brigade, who the head teachers are indoctrined into, should also be responsible. Surely it would be better if the schools stayed open and everyone tried, if they could, to get there. Must be better than just giving up the day before!

Your use of the word 'teachers' is too general. It is, indeed THE Head teacher (or manager in many cases now) who makes the decision and NOT the teachers. Incidentally, I see very few schools in the Colchester area appear to have closed. My son is making his way, on foot, to school as we speak. Maybe not all Head teachers are 'Namby pambys'!

ok to walk if your school is local but would you want your kids to walk 3.5 miles on mostly untreated footpaths?
Last night colchester institute was closed yet st helena school remains open,it did not help that the school website was down,we took the decision to keep our kids off school,i would hate them to get to school and for the weather to get worse making the return trip perilous.

co2 wrote:

setbuilder wrote:

Say It As It Is OK? wrote: Well setbuilder who is it that makes the decision to close the schools if it isn't the Head Teacher? Although the mamby pamby H&S brigade, who the head teachers are indoctrined into, should also be responsible. Surely it would be better if the schools stayed open and everyone tried, if they could, to get there. Must be better than just giving up the day before!

Your use of the word 'teachers' is too general. It is, indeed THE Head teacher (or manager in many cases now) who makes the decision and NOT the teachers. Incidentally, I see very few schools in the Colchester area appear to have closed. My son is making his way, on foot, to school as we speak. Maybe not all Head teachers are 'Namby pambys'!

ok to walk if your school is local but would you want your kids to walk 3.5 miles on mostly untreated footpaths?
Last night colchester institute was closed yet st helena school remains open,it did not help that the school website was down,we took the decision to keep our kids off school,i would hate them to get to school and for the weather to get worse making the return trip perilous.

There are no blizzards outside, indeed no snow is falling, and the snow has been fairly light overnight compared to some we've had in the past (which may well have warranted school closures). My son has walked from the CO2 area to St Helena School this morning. He'll get back after school finishes as well. If the weather gets worse (which is NOT forecast) I will walk there myself and walk back with him.
Obviously you have made a personal decision by not sending your children to school. No problem with that.

Schools do seem to shut too easily. Yes, there was some snow yesterday, but it is not that treacherous out there. Main roads seem to be flowing freely (maybe because they were free of parents driving their kids to school?). I was a child of the 70s, and don´t remember ever getting a day off due to snow, but then if we slipped over, it would never have crossed our parents´minds that they would therefore sue the school. We´d picked ourselves up and it would be forgotten in a minute.

The issue seems to be that if a child is injured on school premises then the school gets blamed for making the children come to school and then the school also gets blamed for keeping the children off school. I have a friend that is the headteacher of a school in Suffolk and she goes through this "should I/shouldn't I" approach every evening when there is bad weather forecast.

All the nostalgic ones should remember that 60 years ago not many families had cars, also most teachers lived within walking distance of their schools. That is why schools stayed open.
Also, the roads were much safer then for pedestrians and cyclists.