Schools Close for 3/4 inches of Snow...

[trt]

When I was a kid in the mid fifties I use to walk about a mile + to school all year round and if it snowed we still got there, and in them days it could be a foot or more.

If the heating broke down we just put on our coats and carried on with the lessons, it never did us any harm.

The kids today don't know how lucky they are!!!!

[bednobs]

ah, i had to walk 25 miles to school in the snow with no shoes, after a breakfast of a piece of coal ....

[tenrec]

Sometimes it is because the staff can't get there as they may live a long way off.

[marval]

I agree, ours schools never closed. I don't see the need for them to close now.

[sherrardk]

When I was working (ex-secondary school teacher) most of the staff lived 20+ miles away from the school so it could be down to that. Where we live now, my son has to take the bus 8 miles to school (countrified roads) so if the bus doesn't turn up by 8.30 he doesn't have to go to school.

[ChuckFickens]

It was colder snow in those days too, bednobs.... water used to freeze at minus 40 back in the good old days, not like the softy water today.

[bednobs]

agreed cf

[Maydup]

And the teachers lived close by too and would walk in to open up the school.

Now both the children and teachers drive to school and the major risk in opening schools on snowy days is people being stranded and unable to drive home.

[sherrardk]

I remember getting days off school because there was no water (1976 maybe?) but never got a snow day.

[vulcan]

My grammar school was 15 miles away and the school bus always got through, I swear the drivers were sadists.

[EDDIE51]

Nothing to do with the teachers not getting in, it is because if a child slipped over in the playground the parents could sue the school. Another victim of the' compensation culture'

[trt]

My headmaster, Mr Walker (what a great bloke he was) lived 5 miles away but he was there everyday in the snow, he came by bus and took his job serious unlike the soft teachers of today!

[sherrardk]

In days gone by, if you couldn't get to your own school (that you taught in) you had to go and report at the nearest school to you. Now schools are more independent from the local authority, this doesn't seem to be the case.

[giveup]

A lot of it is down to "Elf and Safety". When I was at school we hoped the toilets would freeze. Thats the only way we got sent home.

[Buenchico]

Back in the 1950s most teachers didn't have cars. They lived close to the school and so they could still get there in severe weather.

These days nearly all teachers have cars and often live 50 miles or more from their workplace. If the teachers can't get in, there's not much point in the children being there!

[Ann]

We have been saying the same this week, I can't ever remember being sent home or allowed a day off. At our Grammar School, in the early 60s, the heating broke down in freezing temps and we all congregated in various halls for exercises to keep warm! and yes - we walked through snowdrifts to get there too...... but thought it was great!

[seadogg]

My (teacher) son walked 7 miles through snow to get in this morning as the car was a non starter. I suppose only someone insane enough to do the job would bother.

[Maydup]

I live near a village school and it hasn't closed in the 10 years I've lived here. Nothing to do with kids slipping over and all to do wth the staff managing to get in.

[DaisyNonna]

Teaching in Bradford in 1968 when the big freeze came the headmistress arranged to meet the staff so we could walk in together (including her 3 legged poodle). It was a Special school and if it did not open many of the pupils would not get their only hot meal of the day, school dinner.

[MartinBev58]

My mother was the headmistress at my junior school.
I can always remember answering the phone to a teacher asking if the school would be open that day because of the snow.
I thought she was going mad as there was no snow outside our door.
The teacher who lived about 10 miles away said the snow was about 15 inches deep by her.
When we got to the school there was a slight covering but nothing to cause problems.
The pupils who lived in the direction of the teacher said there was about 3 inches of snow but not enough to cause problems.
The maximum distance any pupil lived from the school was about 3 miles.
It appears the further away from the school you got in the one direction the deeper the snow got.

Martin

[paddywak]

Like Vulcan I traveled 10 miles each way to school and I can never remember missing school because the bus couldn't get through due to snow.