Why Do We Close Schools When It Snows These Days?

[ToraToraTora]

https://news.sky.com/story/temperatures-to-plummet-bringing-snow-to-parts-of-uk-11149445
I lived through some of the harshest winters in living memory and I cannot remember a single day when my school was closed. Even when the heating broke we did lessons in our coats. What has happened? Why are we such a nation of softies now? Gawd I can remember doing games in the snow, football rugby etc now when a snowflake falls the little darlings are tucked up in front of Xbox!

[ToraToraTora]

anyone remember the epic snowball fights? We couldn't wait for break time!

[Flonska]

The key issue is the safety of students and staff. This includes a multitude of considerations, but mainly can people get to and from school safely, is the site safe and are there enough staff to supervise youngsters.

Health and Safety rules are also a factor which the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) says schools are legally obliged to follow.

Such regulations range from icy playgrounds and if a school is warm enough, to whether water is available and the toilets are working properly. Schools also have to balance opening against the risk of legal action from parents and staff if accidents happen.

[derekpara]

It's usually because enough staff can't get to school due to driving conditions.
Parents continued to send the kids and I remember once supervising 200 secondary boys in the school hall on my own until reinforcements arrived !

Health & Safety may have something to do with it now, though !

[anthro-nerd]

I went to a village primary school and that was always open regardless of the weather! We would all walk in, just wrapped up warm with wellies!

Secondary school was a little different, if the bus didn't turn up then that would be a day off school! More often than not, if it was snowing the buses apparently weren't safe to drive.

[hc4361]

Parents are much more likely to sue these days if a child slips on an icy playground or gets hit with a stony snowball

[ludwig]

It is strange considering the cries of horror and threats of prosecution etc that are issued should some hapless parent dare to book a day's holiday in term time. They're not slow to tell us how damaging every day missed is to a child's education when that happens.

It's probably because staff get to have the day off too when it snows, so everyone's a winner.

[ToraToraTora]

so what's different now to the past? Various non excuses above but no actual explanation. Can't get in? perlease!

[anthro-nerd]

Tora, maybe its just because we all want to play in the snow, so it's a brilliant excuse!

[Mamyalynne]

As a teenager my School closed a couple of times due to snow which was very annoying as we'd walked a long way.

It was almost on the Moors - most of the staff lived a good drive out.

Ours here rarely close.

[dannyk13]

Maybe one reason is that in the past local authorities cleared the snow from the roads and the footpaths so it was easier to travel in those days,

[Barmaid]

I lived in rural Lincolnshire as a child. Our village was in a slightly odd position and the only road in would get snow bound. Hence our village school was often closed in the snow because the teachers couldnt get in. I only ever remember having 2 days off from senior school though. Not sure whether that was because the school was closed or my father hadnt got round to driving his tractor up and down the main road to clear it.

[douglas9401]

The answer may involve talentless drones in positions that influence behaviour of society, turning it into nothing more than a collection of entitled gobshites with access to the whole world from their ever present smartphone.

But I could be wrong.

[Buenchico]

One big difference between now and in the past is the distances which many teachers travel to school. When I was at primary school probably all of the teachers lived within a mile or two of the school. It was much the same at secondary school, with the English teacher who lived in a village just a few miles out of town being regarded as a little 'odd' for travelling so far. The only decent quality car on the staff car park belonged to the caretaker. Many of the teachers walked to school.

Yet, by the time I was teaching in the 70s and 80s, it was quite unusual for staff to live close to the school. (I was probably considered 'odd' by choosing to live only about a mile away). Large numbers of staff commuted from villages in the Peak District, typically travelling 30 or 40 miles to get to work. As anyone who's driven in Derbyshire in the winter can tell you, Peak District roads aren't the most forgiving when it snows!

Even so, we still managed to keep the school open most of the time. I remember refereeing an Under-13 football match on a Saturday morning (when the visiting team had arrived over an hour late, due to the poor condition of the roads), on a pitch which had been protected from the frost by a thick covering of snow, with the temperature at -8C.

[andy-hughes]

In these days of better travel, a lot of teachers do travel greater distances than they used to, so getting to school in bad weather is more of an issue than in years gone by.

That coupled with the advised increases in health and safety rules does mean that schools close now for reasons that were not in place 'when we were young'.

[Barmaid]

To be fair, there are also probably far more rules and regulations now as to how many staff you can have in charge of x children, min temps etc.

It must be really annoying if you are a working parent though and all of a sudden you have to either take the day off or arrange child care.

[bhg481]

Isn't a school just another workplace? How many workplaces are closed when it snows?

[Prudie]

It's absolutely because of what hc said.

[gness]

I could get into my school in bad weather but it was a very long and uphill walk....most colleagues lived much too far away to get to their school so the rule was......get to your nearest school and work there.....which many did.....
Our school was in an area where no teachers lived so two of us and the caretaker held the fort for the pupils who did arrive...

All my childhood schools were within walking distance for pupils and for many of the staff......very few staff had cars......so it wasn't a problem getting to school...other than being late because we were testing and improving the slides we made as we went....

And yes......as the years went by parents became more inclined to......in fact quite enthusiastic about....suing for an accident which meant we kept children inside all day......when they should have been at home enjoying the rare snow......

Luckily my daughter went to a school where staff and pupils travelled for miles to attend so it did close down completely at times.....and I loved it....tobogganing in the rugby field....building snowmen.....turning the garden path into a slide......bliss...... :-)

[douglas9401]

The re-defining of 'bad weather' also has a lot to do with it.

The Met Office lot cuddled themselves until bruising occurred the day amber, yellow and red warnings came to the fore and they ain't shy about throwing them around willy-nilly, devaluing their currency in the process.

[Barmaid]

But if people are successfully sued, it means there was negligence of some sort. If there is no negligence there is no cause of action.