Schools stay shut on Monday because of snow (From Daily Echo)

What amazes me is, that, if my daughters college closes due to the bad weather and the college bus does not run and the police are advising people not to travel because its dangerous, if she is sitting an exam that day she still has to go in. They exam boards say that bad weather and closed colleges and dangerous roads are not a good enough excuse. Below is the notice on the colleges web site.

EXAMINATIONS AND
ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
You should assume that the College will be open for
exams – even if it is closed for normal teaching
Please allow extra time for your journey into College
Please telephone the College at the
earliest opportunity to let us know if you are going to
be late for an exam
If you arrive late you may still be able to sit your exam,
depending on how late you are.
If you are late please do not go to your Exam Room as
you will not be allowed in and may disturb others who are
already sitting their exam – please make your way to the
Exams Office in Student Services.
The Exams Team will do their best to arrange to start the
exam later or make other appropriate arrangements as far
as they are allowed according to exam regulations.
Please try not to get flustered or stressed if you are
late as that will not help you when you finally sit your
exam – remain calm and try to get to the Exams Office
as soon as possible on entering the College campus.

My daughter lives 15 miles from the college is she expected to get a passing dog sled?

Walk/train/walk?

does anybody know whether ludlow junior school is open/shut tomorrow?

can i have a refund on my council tax please?

One of my children will be in school, the other not.
BUT
The one who is not has been set four pieces of work (out of five lessons, the other being PE) to do at home and submit online.
Remote working makes more sense than traffic chaos. And as remote working will be the way it is when they leave university, I see no harm in starting now.
The teachers set clear work and expect it to be submitted by the restart of school. No great shakes.

Kids have non uniform day because of the snow (pathetic) and schools closed due to snow ,How on earth did kids and parents cope in the 70s and 80s ,We wore Wellies took a bag with shoes in for the school hours,
Just another Health and safety gone mad

Lord Ikea wrote:
What amazes me is, that, if my daughters college closes due to the bad weather and the college bus does not run and the police are advising people not to travel because its dangerous, if she is sitting an exam that day she still has to go in. They exam boards say that bad weather and closed colleges and dangerous roads are not a good enough excuse. Below is the notice on the colleges web site.

EXAMINATIONS AND
ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
You should assume that the College will be open for
exams – even if it is closed for normal teaching
Please allow extra time for your journey into College
Please telephone the College at the
earliest opportunity to let us know if you are going to
be late for an exam
If you arrive late you may still be able to sit your exam,
depending on how late you are.
If you are late please do not go to your Exam Room as
you will not be allowed in and may disturb others who are
already sitting their exam – please make your way to the
Exams Office in Student Services.
The Exams Team will do their best to arrange to start the
exam later or make other appropriate arrangements as far
as they are allowed according to exam regulations.
Please try not to get flustered or stressed if you are
late as that will not help you when you finally sit your
exam – remain calm and try to get to the Exams Office
as soon as possible on entering the College campus.

My daughter lives 15 miles from the college is she expected to get a passing dog sled?

This is the problem of having winter and summer exams as part of the same course, and national exam boards that are uncompromising in their practices (and inaccurate in their markings!).

Exams are stressful enough without adding adverse weather to the equation. Exam papers are opened on the day of the exam, so why don't the boards just postpone all exams nationally rather than penalise hard work and revision?

No surprise that Ofqual is remaining very quiet on this subject.

What snow? It's all gone

Hightown Primary are open from 10am. Just received a text from the school

bigfella777 wrote:
What snow? It's all gone

Lucky you in Marbella! The pavements (you know, the things kids walk along to get to school) here in Eastleigh are treacherous (and that's before tonights -5c temperatures). Also, you may not realise it (I'm not sure why) but a lot of school staff may live a long way from the school and have difficulty getting in.

Does anybody no if Fryern infant school is open please?

bighit2011 wrote:
Does anybody no if Fryern infant school is open please?

check on school website or on hants.gov.uk

People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather.

A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law.

When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open.

These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away.

As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover.

Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

Yes, Fryern is open.

Also pupils are not always able to attend their local school due to it being over subscribed.My sons school is over 2 miles away.Tomorrow we will be crossing a graveyard, a field and a river just to get to the bus stop.Whilst pushing a buggy,Im dreading it.!

S Pance wrote:
People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather.

A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law.

When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open.

These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away.

As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover.

Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

Are you serious? On Friday I drove Totton-Bursledon, Bursledon-Bitterne & Bitterne-Totton for work without a problem. Teachers, lazy bone idle overpaid underworked so & so's!!

S Pance wrote:
People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather.

A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law.

When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open.

These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away.

As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover.

Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

It doesn't explain why you can't spell "accommodate"...

GoonerEIE wrote:

S Pance wrote: People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather. A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law. When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open. These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away. As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover. Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

Are you serious? On Friday I drove Totton-Bursledon, Bursledon-Bitterne & Bitterne-Totton for work without a problem. Teachers, lazy bone idle overpaid underworked so & so's!!

Ha you say teachers are lazy, bone idle, overpaid, underworked so-and-so's - well 1. whilst you were typing that comment I was marking (spent all day marking 30 writing assessments!) 2. many (if not all) staff I know are included in the comment 'most schools are making the site safe' - yes highly qualified teacher's shovelling snow!! 3. teacher's are the people who enabled you to do the job you do 4. how many people do you know work from 7:30 am until 11 pm on a regular basis and spend many hours over the weekend? For every 1 hour in the classroom good teachers will have spent another 1 hour (or more) in preparation and then another 1 hour (or more) on marking, assessment, tracking, report writing etc - at least. Until you have worked in a classroom spare the arrogant assumptions. Just because your experience of school is only based on what you saw not on the hours worked that you didn't see don't think you know 1 bean of what you are talking about!!

sandjd wrote:

GoonerEIE wrote:

S Pance wrote: People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather. A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law. When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open. These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away. As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover. Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

Are you serious? On Friday I drove Totton-Bursledon, Bursledon-Bitterne & Bitterne-Totton for work without a problem. Teachers, lazy bone idle overpaid underworked so & so's!!

Ha you say teachers are lazy, bone idle, overpaid, underworked so-and-so's - well 1. whilst you were typing that comment I was marking (spent all day marking 30 writing assessments!) 2. many (if not all) staff I know are included in the comment 'most schools are making the site safe' - yes highly qualified teacher's shovelling snow!! 3. teacher's are the people who enabled you to do the job you do 4. how many people do you know work from 7:30 am until 11 pm on a regular basis and spend many hours over the weekend? For every 1 hour in the classroom good teachers will have spent another 1 hour (or more) in preparation and then another 1 hour (or more) on marking, assessment, tracking, report writing etc - at least. Until you have worked in a classroom spare the arrogant assumptions. Just because your experience of school is only based on what you saw not on the hours worked that you didn't see don't think you know 1 bean of what you are talking about!!

oops just spotted my grammatical errors due to the late hour and rushing of typing!! Should be teachers not teacher's!!

Stupid predictive texting!!

totally pathetic. ALL main roads open so ALL schools should be.

GoonerEIE wrote:

S Pance wrote:
People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather.

A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law.

When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open.

These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away.

As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover.

Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

Are you serious? On Friday I drove Totton-Bursledon, Bursledon-Bitterne & Bitterne-Totton for work without a problem. Teachers, lazy bone idle overpaid underworked so & so's!!

Bit harsh. Amazes me when teachers get called lazy and overpaid. They're on a fairly average wage for trying to educate what are sometimes rude and obnoxious kids. When their parents are then told of the child's behaviour they too become rude, aggressive and threatening because "my child wouldn't do that!"
When kids get taken home from school at 3.15 teachers job isn't over. They have lessons to prepare, work to mark, reports to compose and classrooms to organise.
Maybe, you could offer to help out in class from time to time. Most schools welcome parental interaction and assistance. Or is that too much hard work?

And no before you ask, I'm not a teacher or involved in any way with a school. I'm a parent, one that has taught both of my children to respect others including teachers, and regularly point out the benefit of working hard at school. And I work full time, but try to offer help whenever I can at the school.

When I went to school and it was snowing mum walked me to school in my wellies and i changed into my shoes, she'd take my wellies back home and do the same again at the end of school

for gods sake we get a little bit of snow and it's chaos, I feel sorry for parents who have to mess about taking time off work etc because schools close.
We get this every year you'd think we could work around it by now, how do you think they cope in countries like Russia or Canada where they get a hell of alot more snow. Id hate to think what would happen if we get a decent amount of snow

MGRA wrote:
totally pathetic. ALL main roads open so ALL schools should be.

MGRA are the words of God, so it must be right.

I agree ToastyTea i commented theother day that norway and sweden get far more snow than we do and their countries dont come to a standstill, they are probably better prepared for it i suppose, we get a bit here. I remember when i was little and lived in Devon we used to get really biting winters and snow, i mean deep snow you didnt know if you were walking on the road or hedgetops, somehow everybody coped, the snow we have had is nothing compared to russia canada norway sweden etc

Comments regarding school attendance years ago being unaffected by snow - I also remember walking to school in willies and then changing for lessons. As we lived in the country it was almost 2 miles by road or just over a mile across the fields. I don't recall any time being lost because of snow. The difference between then and now is litigation. If a child fell over because of ice or snow they were told to stop whingeing and be more careful. Now the parents would sue anyone and everyone.

Exactly huckit P It was about 2 miles from my infant school and mum and I would walk through the fields, it may well have been what helped me to keep well and free from colds, mum and I were well wrapped up, i loved it

huckit P wrote:
Comments regarding school attendance years ago being unaffected by snow - I also remember walking to school in willies and then changing for lessons. As we lived in the country it was almost 2 miles by road or just over a mile across the fields. I don't recall any time being lost because of snow. The difference between then and now is litigation. If a child fell over because of ice or snow they were told to stop whingeing and be more careful. Now the parents would sue anyone and everyone.

tee hee - you made me laugh at the image - walking to school in willies!! And I agree re. your comment on litigation - thatis one of the major factors that headteachers and governors are considering under these circumstances. In the 70's i fell over in the school playground in the snow and the thought of suing just wasn't even in parents vocabulary!!

sandjd wrote:

GoonerEIE wrote:

S Pance wrote: People fail to realise why schools don't open during snowy weather. A school has a certain pupil to teacher ratio; if there are too few teachers then the school can't legally accomodate all the pupils. This is a simple matter of law. When I was little most teachers lived within walking distance of the school; thus schools would tend to be open. These days it's not uncommon for a teacher to live 20, sometimes 30 miles away. As such, the conditions around the school might not be too bad, but the school is unable to open as they legally don't have the staff cover. Hope this makes sense and explains why schools have to close?

Are you serious? On Friday I drove Totton-Bursledon, Bursledon-Bitterne & Bitterne-Totton for work without a problem. Teachers, lazy bone idle overpaid underworked so & so's!!

Ha you say teachers are lazy, bone idle, overpaid, underworked so-and-so's - well 1. whilst you were typing that comment I was marking (spent all day marking 30 writing assessments!) 2. many (if not all) staff I know are included in the comment 'most schools are making the site safe' - yes highly qualified teacher's shovelling snow!! 3. teacher's are the people who enabled you to do the job you do 4. how many people do you know work from 7:30 am until 11 pm on a regular basis and spend many hours over the weekend? For every 1 hour in the classroom good teachers will have spent another 1 hour (or more) in preparation and then another 1 hour (or more) on marking, assessment, tracking, report writing etc - at least. Until you have worked in a classroom spare the arrogant assumptions. Just because your experience of school is only based on what you saw not on the hours worked that you didn't see don't think you know 1 bean of what you are talking about!!

the other thing to note is that most of the schools are actually opening but just a later start - to enable staff to make the site safe. Sensible idea as that also then staggers the traffic and prevents everyone being on the roads at the same time. Teachers can arrive at normal time of 7:30, office workers between 8 and 9 and then the parents taking their kids. Should help ease the rush hour!!

Yes exactly, i had to smile when i thought of HuckitP going to school wearing willies, brightened up an otherwide dull monday. Good point re abobe ie teachers getting in at 7-30 and office workers at 8, good thinking