Essex county councillor urges heads to think twice about schools closures (From Gazette)
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Essex county councillor urges heads to think twice about schools closures
8:58am Friday 8th January 2010 in News
Stephen Castle
A LEADING Essex county councillor has urged headteachers to think twice before shutting their schools in the bad weather.
Stephen Castle, cabinet member for education, has pledged to write to all heads in the county asking them to think twice before closing their school in the snowy weather.
Icy temperatures are set to continue for at least a week.
Mr Castle said: “I can sympathise with head teachers that often a few centimetres of snow can result in travel chaos, but I would like to urge schools to stay open where possible and give children the chance to come to school and participate in a full-day of learning, especially considering exams are fast approaching.
“This cold weather is due to continue for at least another week and parents should be able to make the decision as to whether they feel their child should attend school, as opposed to having this decision made for them.”
Comments(36)
SHV
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10:01am Fri 8 Jan 10
nutley1
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10:49am Fri 8 Jan 10
miguel huntos
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10:59am Fri 8 Jan 10
Say It As It Is OK?
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11:02am Fri 8 Jan 10
We would be in a sorry state if everyone quoted H&S....nothing would ever get done!
Unfortunately, its to easy for the jobsworths to quote Health and Safety every time and indoctrination has made Health and Safety nothing more than an excuse not to try.
Colchester'sadump
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11:05am Fri 8 Jan 10
Say It As It Is?, you have clearly not noticed that the news stories refer to schools being closed down by the heads, nothing to do with staff refusing to travel to work. By the way why aren't you at work? If you are why are you wasting your employers's time using the internet. Also if you believe saying 'it as it is', why do you put a question mark at the end? It implies you're not really sure if you are saying it as it is.
Say It As It Is OK?
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11:14am Fri 8 Jan 10
I am the employer?
Nebs
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11:22am Fri 8 Jan 10
If the weather is bad, give parents the discretion not to send in their child.
Add a few days on at the end of term, or on saturdays, for those who missed days due to being unable to attend because of the weather.
Use the school websites to set extra homework for those not attending.
Teachers should have a list of schools local to their home, and any that can't make it in to their regular school should attend for work at their local school.
Get a list of retired teachers who would be available to "babysit" classes close to their home in emergencies such as this.
RichH
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11:51am Fri 8 Jan 10
Voter99
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12:11pm Fri 8 Jan 10
leighmum
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12:12pm Fri 8 Jan 10
Sdapeze
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1:34pm Fri 8 Jan 10
evilc
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1:50pm Fri 8 Jan 10
Say It As It Is OK? wrote:Excellent comment!
The big difference is private businesses cannot just sit at home in the knowledge the tax payers will pick up the tab....they have to keep going, irrespective of weather conditions because their livelihood, and the livelihood of their employees relies on on it!
We would be in a sorry state if everyone quoted H&S....nothing would ever get done!
Unfortunately, its to easy for the jobsworths to quote Health and Safety every time and indoctrination has made Health and Safety nothing more than an excuse not to try.
New Labour has ruined this country.
evilc
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2:16pm Fri 8 Jan 10
New Labour introduced The Health and Safety and Human Rights problems to our country, the same problems Europe faces but they choose to ignore most of the advice.
We now have a society that is fearful of civil actions being taken so very few volunteer's sweep snow from footpaths, move an accident victim to a safe place to avoid allegations of assault, schools cannot make easy decisions they are dammed if they do and dammed if they do not,
teachers will no longer dispense a child's medication or put a plaster on a child if bleeding.
Do not blame schools the teachers or whoever blame the Government for introducing all the legislation that has destroyed us.
We live in a 'watch your back' society that is quickly going down hill.
miguel huntos
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3:11pm Fri 8 Jan 10
Goonerboy
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4:27pm Fri 8 Jan 10
Snow ..what snow? it all depends on how much you want to carry on as normal
emcee
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4:49pm Fri 8 Jan 10
miguel huntos wrote:Teachers should be made to report to their nearest school. Simple. They can then help out or supervise. Face it, teachers have become lazy over the years (and get paid a lot for it too) and will use any excuse for a day off. Teachers are held in such high regard by the government and local authorities that they can get away with nearly anything.
Decisions on school closure aren't taken lightly. Imagine returning to work to a tirade of angry complaints. My daughter's school closed in Rayleigh because only the head and the caretaker made it in. The roads and paths were untreated. Most of the staff live in Chelmsford, the Dengie or Colchester. The days of teachers living near their school are gone. Depending on the area, teachers simply cannot generally afford to live near their school.
Parents would try and get their kids to school by fair means or foul if the schools remained open but I doubt the teachers make such an effort.
SA
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4:50pm Fri 8 Jan 10
Headteachers and their staff are under huge pressure to reach educational targets; the school curriculum is carefully planned. If pupils miss days due to bad weather, teachers have to re-plan their lessons to cover the lost time. This is particularly serious for those in years 10 and above who are studying for qualifications.
If the school remains open but large numbers of pupils cannot get to school, lessons cannot proceed as usual because chunks of the curriculum will be missing for the pupils who do not attend. So the lessons must quickly be replanned for those who do attend. This is a lot of extra work for school staff.
Added to that, all the health and safety nonsense that is foisted on the schools by central government and the risk of litigation in the event of accidents and it's not hard to see that head teachers are damned if they close and damned if they don't. I'm quite sure they don't need some politician to tell them to 'think twice' about making their decision!
SA
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4:59pm Fri 8 Jan 10
However, how does a head teacher know that when a stranger turns up at their school and claims to be a maths teacher from another school, it is true or not?
School security is a massive issue now and it is not possible with the current arrangements to prove someone's identity, qualifications and criminal records bureau clearance at a moment's notice.
As I said in my previous post, and as evilc stated, they are damned if they open, damned if they don't.
southendreb
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5:11pm Fri 8 Jan 10
Dug
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5:44pm Fri 8 Jan 10
The weather brings about the collapse of the control freakery state. Bring it on!!
APR
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11:01pm Fri 8 Jan 10
purpose of "Teacher Training Days ?"
emcee
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11:15pm Fri 8 Jan 10
miguel huntos wrote:I do not know where you get your info from but according to the CRB website, an enhanced CRB check is £36 (a standard check is £26) and can take up 4 wks. However, schools will pay for this if you are in their employ.
Teachers cannot simply turn up at their local schools because they will not get through the door without CRB clearance. Currently, a CRB can take up to 6 months and costs the school £65.
That aside, those who are checked as OK should be on a national database. If not then it should not be too hard to find out who is CRB checked and create this database. Surely, then, it would be a simple matter for Local Education Authorities to organise all schools to have access to it.
Pause
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11:55pm Fri 8 Jan 10
We do not close!
I manage to get to work every day. The school bus managed to come and collect my daughter for school. But then the bus company said they were worried their driver wouldn't get back in time if they then didn't do the school run at lunchtime. (Poor lamb!)
On 18 Dec we drove our daughter to school in the snow as the bus hadn't turned up. But the school was closed anyway. Yet we made it there.
So I guess my point is that if I can drive 60 miles round trip daily in these conditions, so can teachers and parents and school buses if necessary and unless the heating has broken down the school should remain open. Kids falling over indeed!
Manchester Council leader Sir Richard Leese, criticised headteachers for a spate of "unnecessary" closures. He wrote: "School closures are causing concern as many...seem to be unnecessary. Apart from a few special cases there is no reason why schools shouldn't be open."
How will children learn of risk if headteachers and others collude to give the impression at the first sign of 'danger' we must stop living our daily lives.
Google the 1947 or the 1963 winter and you'll see what a hard long winter was like. But this week's cold snap?
PAH!
Boris
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2:01am Sat 9 Jan 10
Taj
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8:15am Sat 9 Jan 10
If you are self employed you need one everytime you change jobs if you work for ESSEX or with vulnerable people.
I think the reason for this is that you may have left the previous work to avoid being sacked and whilst under investigation
It would appear that despite a data base the CRB is not transferable,my latest one took 3 weeks and I was unable to take up work until it was processed
Personally I am not sure they are worth much anyway as they only show you the people that have been caught and most kids are abused by someone either in the family or very close to the family
Goonerboy
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10:20am Sat 9 Jan 10
APR wrote:Its a day when despite having just had 2 weks holiday at Christmas , 6 weeks in the summer and the odd half term week in between your employer could not ask you to come in during the time most other people are working to do essential training. If teachers worked through just one of these half term breaks all the training could be done at once
Could someone please explain the purpose of "Teacher Training Days ?"
notalazyteacher
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11:03am Sat 9 Jan 10
My school has been open for the entire cold snap and fully staffed. Yet, yesterday, only 20 of my 31 pupils who all live locally came to school.
I am CRB checked but there is no system of cross-checking. Teachers' fault? No. Government system? Yes. Would I report for duty at my closest school if that was the system? Yes, of course I would. I'm paid to teach, not sit at home.
If my school does close, do I consider it a day off? No, of course not. I have brought work home with me each night in case of closure, so I would spend my time writing reports, schemes of work and uploading resources to the website I run for my department, so that children who choose to do so can work from home via the internet. Do I think this should be made compulsory for pupils with an internet connection? Yes.
As to non-pupil days, it's part of the contract and my terms and conditions. Any person in this country can work for a degree and teaching qualification and switch to this rewarding profession. If they genuinely feel we get away with being lazy and work-shy, then they might choose to join us? Feel free.
Goonerboy
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11:51am Sat 9 Jan 10
notalazyteacher wrote:I know teachers work hard if you look above I prasied Hoem Farm for the efforts they make to keep open and I know that thye have stupid taregts and rules to work under but the mere fact that they quote 'terms and conditions' everytime they are challenged shows the gulf between the public and private sector. Most of us struggle to fit in our annual leave of 20 to 25 days if we are lucky to get that much and yes we too work evenings and weekends unpaid.
Once again, teachers are being accused of lazy. Not so. My school has been open for the entire cold snap and fully staffed. Yet, yesterday, only 20 of my 31 pupils who all live locally came to school. I am CRB checked but there is no system of cross-checking. Teachers' fault? No. Government system? Yes. Would I report for duty at my closest school if that was the system? Yes, of course I would. I'm paid to teach, not sit at home. If my school does close, do I consider it a day off? No, of course not. I have brought work home with me each night in case of closure, so I would spend my time writing reports, schemes of work and uploading resources to the website I run for my department, so that children who choose to do so can work from home via the internet. Do I think this should be made compulsory for pupils with an internet connection? Yes. As to non-pupil days, it's part of the contract and my terms and conditions. Any person in this country can work for a degree and teaching qualification and switch to this rewarding profession. If they genuinely feel we get away with being lazy and work-shy, then they might choose to join us? Feel free.
Ontheball
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2:41pm Sat 9 Jan 10
The first concern of headmasters should be the education of its pupils, not any old escuse to close up! Well done to those schools that have opened. To those that couldn't be bothered because they have found something to tick off in the excuse book, take a long hard look at yourselves. Seems that the spine is missing from a lot of people these days.
southendmechanic
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5:47pm Sat 9 Jan 10
the rock salt they ordered has not arrived and they have only 2 bags lefts which is not enough to even clear the main entrance area.
Grey hair of leigh
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9:49pm Sat 9 Jan 10
miguel huntos
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1:56am Sun 10 Jan 10
emcee wrote:You're right on the price. I was quoting the price of the new ISA check that's about to arrive. 4 weeks! Never. Try at least 3 months. The authorities are working on a database. It was supposed to be operational last October.
miguel huntos wrote:I do not know where you get your info from but according to the CRB website, an enhanced CRB check is £36 (a standard check is £26) and can take up 4 wks. However, schools will pay for this if you are in their employ.
Teachers cannot simply turn up at their local schools because they will not get through the door without CRB clearance. Currently, a CRB can take up to 6 months and costs the school £65.
That aside, those who are checked as OK should be on a national database. If not then it should not be too hard to find out who is CRB checked and create this database. Surely, then, it would be a simple matter for Local Education Authorities to organise all schools to have access to it.
Isaac Hunt
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8:39am Sun 10 Jan 10
Soozie
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7:57am Mon 11 Jan 10
southendmechanic wrote:Can't parents send their kids to school with a packed lunch? Or everyone bring something to share?
my childrens school closed and this was due to a logistics problem. They have run out of food and fresh supplies have not been delivered. the rock salt they ordered has not arrived and they have only 2 bags lefts which is not enough to even clear the main entrance area.
Or is that thinking outside the box?
No wonder kids are such pansies these days.
Metta
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1:40pm Tue 12 Jan 10
Isaac Hunt wrote:Thankfully not everyone shares your narrow view.
Why anybody with a good degree would choose to be a teacher and try to teach our half wit yobs is beyond me. Put the yoofs in the zoo with the other baboons where they belong.
First of all, not all young people are half-wits or yobs.
Secondly, they will one day be the people running our country when we have finally retired (if such a thing continues)
Anyone with a bit of foresight and concern about our collective futures would want to nurture and encourage the next generation to do a better, not worse, job than we have done.
I applaude teachers for having to compensate for, and suffer the consequences of, some of the awful parenting that turns out the so-called 'half-wit yobs' you refer to
Southendian says...
9:25am Fri 8 Jan 10