My School never closed....

[trt]

.....in the mid 50s and early 60s because of snow when I was a Kid.

We walked to school snow, hail, rain or sunshine and if the heating wasn't working, we were well wrapped up to carry on with our lessons.

[DTCwordfan]

and we had all our lessons outside as the school had no roof.

[Bobbisox]

did you have your mittens on elastic trt?
going through your coat..I did

[DEN53]

Same here, trt - back in the late 60's and 70's I also went to School in the snow - I remember queuing outside the dinner hall and getting pelted with snowballs by the boys - sitting eating my dinner soaking wet.

I think nowdays its all elf and safety issues.

[gina32]

trt, thats just what i said to my oh.

[cazzz1975]

no they still do that now den, today infact lol

[tiggerblue10]

Its all about Health & Safety now.

[yogi-bear]

Elf and safety is exactly the reason why it's considered more these days and not inthe days when we were nippers.........if you/or a child has an accident on school grounds, the insurance might not cover it, if it was proven that the school should have been shut, as others were in the area, but they decided to open.

Most, if not all schools and colleges here on the south coast shut today as we had over 8 inches of snowfall last night. Will see if same tommorrow, as the problem now is gonna be freezing slush/ice and snow.

[Count-A-Strong]

Health & Safety and the fact that there were a quarter of the cars on the road and people who only live 10mins walk away still drive their kids to school!

[cazzz1975]

most people went to their local schools, there were no ofsted reports to scare them a few miles away

[DTCwordfan]

my school was a boarding "prison" in the Yorkshire Dales and dormitory windows had to be open at night - some mornings there was snow on the floors.

[trt]

Bobbisox,

I didn't have mittens, we couldn't afford them, had to keep hands in pockets, :-)

[Bobbisox]

arhhh, sorry trt, bet you had wellie marks on ya legs then ;-0)

[paddywak]

Too true count. there's a family next door but one from us, and most mornings the mother loads her kids into a Mitsubishi Shogun and takes them to school, a distance all of 400yds.By the time she's got them in the car, reversed off the drive,driven to the school and found a parking place thats got to be within 20yds of the school gate she could have walked there and back and be having a cup of coffee and a biscuit

[trt]

I remember the welly marks on my legs so well Bobbisox, and the cardboard in the soles to stop the wet coming through the holes :- (

[Bobbisox]

now theres wellie liners and allsorts trt, spoilt they are..

[TTG]

I picked up my neice outside her school yesterday (she lives very far away from school so no choice). The biggest hazard was the mass of 4x4's and people carriers oblivious to the conditions.

[pusskin]

snap trt! sounds just like our large family. poor , but very happy and warm, and loved.
walked in rain, snow , freezing cold to get to school. I remember the days well, and wouldnt change them for anything. haha.

[ummmm]

I didn't go to a local school. Neither have my kids.

In the snow last year the school stayed open...they just let the parents decide if they wanted to take them in.

[cazzz1975]

why not go to a local school though? the kids make friends with local kids and you can walk there everyday without being a burden to the school run. not pointed at anyone just curious, my neighbours daughter goes to a school that is the other side of birmingham, she always looks completely miserable and non of her friends live nearby

[mike11111]

A simpler explanation might be that unlike when I was a pupil, teachers tend to live a good fair distance away from their schools (very wise, who wants their windows put in every night). Thus in bad weather teachers may physically not be able to get to work and therefore no one to look after the children. I remember the bad winter of 1986 when I struggled into school, only to be informed by the head that he was going to close the school after lunch (couldn't deprive them of free dinners) as only half the school (200 pupils) had turned up and only 3 teachers. All the children were in the hall and would we keep them occupied for the next three hours. Some fun that was!