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Snow closes county schools
Monday 2nd February 2009, 10:30AM GMT.
A number of county schools were closed today as Shropshire was braced for up to 10cm of snow, with temperatures not expected to rise above 1C.
Check out our online seven-day weather forecast here
The following schools were closed, according to Shropshire County Council.
Newcastle CE Primary School, Craven Arms
Kinlet CE Primary School
Farlow CE Primary School, Cleobury Mortimer
Barrow CE Primary School
Brown Clee CE Primary School, Ditton Priors
Stottesdon CE Primary School, Cleobury Mortimer
Hopton Wafers CE (Controlled) Primary School, Cleobury Mortimer
Clee Hill Community Primary School, Ludlow
Lacon Childe School, Cleobury Mortimer
Brockton CE Primary School, Much Wenlock
Wistanstow CE Primary School, Craven Arms
Rushbury CE Primary School, Craven Arms
St George’s CE School, Clun
Clunbury CE Primary School, Craven Arms
Norbury Primary School, Bishop’s Castle
Cleobury Mortimer Primary School
Church Preen Primary School, Church Stretton
See also: Snow sends shivers across the UK
Share your snow pictures with our army of readers. E-mail your best photos, with name address and captions, to andrewowen@shropshirestar.co.uk and we’ll put the best online.
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Any excuse for the teachers to have a day off! The roads here are clear but the school is closed. Pathetic!
Perhaps any days lost in the winter should be made up by reducing the summer holidays.
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I think the idea is more “the safety of children & staff” rather than a nice lay in for the teachers…
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Snowman, you’ll actually find that schools are not closed due to the teachers wanting a day off but health and safety risks to the children. call that health and safety gone mad or whatever but it has nothing to do with teachers wanting a day off! I travelled 30 miles in treachorous conditions to get into school this morning to find it was closed so no I dont think its an excuse for teachers. And why shouldnt the kids have a day off? they wont see weather like this again till they’re adults, let them enjoy it!
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i can see why kid’s are thick now,H&S before education
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Here here, let the kids stay home. If it keeps a few parents and teachers off the roads during rush-hour, that can only help surely.
The sensible thing to do would be to close the schools every time there is a risk of adverse weather, then make up for the lost days by reducing the over-long summer holidays.
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i think that all the schools in shropshire today should be closed because its not fair that some children will turn up and others wont and so the head will probably close the school mid day causing difficulties for parents i think kids should enjoy the snow like Lianne has said!Does anone know if Ludlow C of E school, is closed today?
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If you take a child out of school in term time so they can go on holiday with their family you will be classed as the devil incarnate and may well be fined for your heinous crime.
If a little bit of snow falls the headteacher closes the school citing Health & Safety, transport problems, not being able to get children home etc. etc. etc.
Were the hospitals shut, were the shops shut, did the whole world cease to function – NO IT DID NOT – so why in the name of sanity were the schools closed?
The heads should be forced to pay the fines – £80 per child per day the school is shut – from their own pockets so that the parents can pay for childcare or recoup some of the pay/holiday they have lost due to the irresponsible action of the heads.
We hear so much about terrorism and how prepared we are – think about this – close the schools and watch a large percentage of your businesses grind to a halt as parents have to abandon work to look after children.
The imaginary terrorists don’t need bombs just a bit of snow and the over reaction of the gold salaried, platinum pensioned teaching “profession” to bring the country to a halt.
Shame on you teachers – just what are you teaching our children – in the face of adversity stay at home.
Where would we be now if you had been around in 1914??
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Teachers in this country are really not up to the job.
How many Scandinavian schools close for snow?
Do Swiss schools close? or Canadian?
They have snow for months at a time, yet the schools remain open.
Teachers work an 8:30 to 3:30 day, 5 days a week with massive holidays, and constantly whinge about how hard it is, suggest they try working in the private sector for a while.
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Everybody here fails to why they are shut…and that is if there is a chance that the weather may worsen during the course of the day and therefore make it difficult/dangerous to return home again. Isnt that obvious?
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I find it offensive that you allow someone who’s username is Public Sector Enemy to post comments on your website.
In addition, one of the main reasons we should be thankful that schools close when there is bad weather has to be the reduction in traffic on already congested and difficult roads. It is a safety issue for the general public, not specifically the children. And it should also be noted that teachers are still obliged to catch up on the curriculum missed on these days, so these days off school actually increase rather than decrease workload.
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Thank you L Birch for finding my user name offensive.
Do you also find it offensive that every one of our publicly funded services regularly fails us in a variety of ways – recycling services actually mean landfill in india, courts let dangerous crimimnal have another chance – to committ crime that is, hospitals perpetuate MRSA and the answer is of course give us more money, councils waste millions on retro grade projects, the government lets us fall into recession whilst supporting the greedy banks who took us there.
Do think carefully before you respond and perhaps you will see why my user name is as it is.
To address your point – if schools are closed business struggles to function – are you going to accept not getting food because of a school closed? Should we all stay at home when it snows – and when it doesn’t – moving carries a risk so don’t do it or it will be a safety issue.
Wake up and smell the coffee L Birch!
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as the work is crammed into less days it,s fairly obvious it will be rushed with slower pupils not fully understanding.typically the comment above only covers the teachers side.teachers should be made to actually teach a minumum amount of days.failing that ,lose days pay,like most people would if no attendance,or flexible days attached at the end of term times.i think teachers forget that without children they,d be out of a job. the rules are too one sided
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I think the schools should be closed. Most of the kids who attend these schools live up small lanes that don’t get treated. Stop moaning everyone. We’re told how every other country copes but my family in the usa and the kids are always off during bad weather and the roads are a nightmare.
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Years ago the schools did not shut, so what if the playground is slippery – they are children not elderly people! Perhaps we should go a step further and close all the pavements in town too – somebody might fall after all! I know the teachers have to travel to school but I work for a large organisation and everybody managed to travel to work from various parts of Shropshire – some were later than usual but that is fine! Children will think that when they are employed in later life that it will be okay to stay at home when it snows! It does seem that everyone manages to get to work – apart from teachers, who apparently are not expected to even try and get there!
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As usual, we have people commenting on running a school.
Please remember that you may have gone to school (a long time ago for some of you!) but that you know very little about running a school in 2009.
Headteachers make decisions based upon advice from local authorities and H and S is a complex issue especially where children are concerned.
I think you will find that teachers spend their snow days catching up on work anyway – for those who are ignorant please understand that school work never finishes at 3 30.
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hey, all you people moaning, do me a favour
…
go away!
Children know (or most of them)that the only reason they get the day off, is because it is a breach of health and safety!
do you really care that little about your children that you want them to be hurt, just so you can get away from them?
That attitude disgusts me ‘Public Sector Enemy’
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Rpt Barrington-Black said:”Teachers work an 8:30 to 3:30 day, 5 days a week with massive holidays”
Hmmmm, I know the teachers where I work are in 7.30 ish and never leave before 5.30 sometimes later; I also know a lot of their ” home ” time is spent on school work. Don’t knock the teachers ( in my schol they do a fantastic job )they don’t decide to close their school; it’s the Education Authority i.e. Telford and Wrekin; and its based on health and safety.
Anyway my school is shut so I’m off to build a snowman!
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A Child,
When I was a child, we went to school in the snow. It was much heavier snow than we get these days, but we turned up, no-one got hurt, and (whisper it carefully in these risk-averse days…) we had fun!
I really can’t see that anything fundamental about the degree of risk has changed since those days.
As for the worry being the ubiquitous ‘Health and Safety’ I think you’ll find that a paranoid and unjustified fear of litigation is the real problem…
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Well what a load of rubbish! Its a couple of days off…what is the harm! Schools are shut for a purpose! People cant get there! The majority of the named schools are down back lanes and up hills.
There are alot of kids who live over the long mynd, up the stiper stones ECT and you expect a bus to get up there! Not a chance. I wouldnt put a child on it for their own saftey! Like i said its a couple of days off! Not going to halm anyone!!!
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Perhaps people wouldn’t be so angry about the situation if the teachers still attended the schools and parents were advised they could choose whether to ‘risk’ taking their children in for the day.
After all, why shouldn’t teachers go to work just because of an inch of snow? Everyone else has to.
I personally cannot believe the attitude of teachers that I know – they are literally hopping up and down hoping for snow when its forecast, and sitting next to the radio when it does come, praying that their school will be closed so they can have the day at home. What kind of attitude is that???
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My Word
“Not going to HALM anyone”?
What about the lessons the children miss while the schools are closed? They may miss out on important areas of the curriculum such as spelling “ECT” !
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in powys it was decided on wednesday that the schools were closing. I woke up to no snow and yes the kids health and safety comes first but i think it was a bit of a silly thing to do.
when i want to take my children out of school to go on hoilday the teachers better not say anything to me cause i will throw this back in their faces.
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I am not going to comment on the rights and wrongs or the H&S aspects of schools being shut.
However, I would just like to say that the children at the school, where I live, have spent their breaks and lunch time out in the snow enjoying themselves and seeing who can make the bigest snowball :)
So, for those saying that the children can only enjoy themselves only if they have a day off, think again. As far as I am concerned these children spent an appropriate amount of time playing in the snow. If children are off for the whole day, I am sure they are not out in it all day!!!
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wouldn,t be so badif it was just a couple of days.a bit of a cold requires at least 3 days off[stop infections spreading]teacher training etc.when terms start theres settling in,winding down when terms are finishing,just when are they learning anything.
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David
Children get homework! There is no reason that they cant slowly catch up that way!
I would not like to risk taking my child to school with the roads the way they are!!! Yes, some roads arent as bad as others, and not all schools should be closed, but it all depends on where the teachers live.
Accidents happen!
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Sorry My Word, clearly my sarcastic wit went miles over your head. Let me clarify for you: In a discussion on education, an opinion is hardly going to be taken seriously if the spelling is so bad it gives the impression of a total lack of basic education on the behalf of the contributor.
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I just had to respond why a school might close;
• Unlike a shop if only half of the teaching staff get to school then you still have to manage with a full school of students. H & S pupil teacher ration issue.
• We have a ‘where there is blame there is a claim’ society; H & S for the children and the LEA have to be taken seriously.
• Many staff now travel much further than they have done in the past to get to school.
• If local students arrive on time but staff arrive much later due to roads what happens to the students? When do you send them home.
• Would parents wish to be left to last minute or told part way through the day to come and collect son/daughter due to snow fall.
• Should a school open even if hot food cannot be served? How when do you tell parents to send in children with a packed lunch?
• Many students will arrive by school coach or bus. Many of the coaches will not operate in poor weather due to risk of accident.
This is not a simple issue and although people have an opinion please let be an informed one. If teaching was such an easy job with short hours, long holidays and good pay then why do we have a shortage of teachers? As far as docking pay, do those teachers who come in each weekend to help with the school play get extra money? What about the sports trips or the early morning breakfast clubs, or the calls to parents from the home phone, the internet access they pay for from their own home to support students. As you guess I could go on, but won’t
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Parents seem to think school’s are week long baby sitting services.
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DISCO
I’m not sure what gives you that impression. I think the general outrage expressed by the majority of hard working parents (who continue to work hard despite an inch of snow) shows that they are taking their children’s education far more seriously than you imply, and perhaps more seriously than a number of teachers who made absolutely no effort to go to work.
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