I am very childish when it comes to snow – I just love it! I do get very excited, and so I was last night when I looked up from writing and found the world outside was covered with a white blanket. This morning getting ready to go out early we heard that the local junior school was closed because of the snow… which was a few inches thick in our little village, no more than that. I couldn’t believe it, it seemed ludicrous! Shut for a few soggy inches – no driving blizzard, and as I looked I noticed the trees were already dripping somewhat as it began to melt. Our little village is not out in the middle of nowhere; it’s just south of Weston-super-Mare, separated from the town by a golf course, school playing fields, actual fields and the hill The main road going south used to wind through the coastal village, but now it is bypassed; the village is small so it’s easy to get in (and apart from people parking carelessly) easy to exit.
So why was the school closed and all the schools in the town apparently? Do the children flood in from the countryside and might have difficulty coming in, or later on, going home? No. Some may do, but usually with junior schools in particular, the catchment area is quite small and local. Many children walk to school… so why close them?
I don’t know if this is true but this is what a serving teacher told me… Schools are under such pressure to perform well in every area, targets are set for everything imaginable, including attendance. If schools stay open when it’s snowy some children might be kept at home – this means attendance figures go down, this affects other performance targets. So if schools are closed then there are no attendance figures to be affected by inclement weather. I don’t know if this is true… It seems ridiculous, doesn’t it?
I’m glad I’m no longer a teacher, having a broad and balanced curriculum seems to have gone right out of the window… now it’s all about targets and testing… A farmer I once knew made a wise comment:”You don’t fatten a pig by keep weighing it!”
Lois Elsden 
Sound thinking Lo
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‘Schools are under such pressure…..’absolutely correct statement as I am realizing it every moment
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I feel so sorry for all the committed teachers who are working so hard and put in such long days who are forever chasing unrealistic aims… SMART targets… so often they’re not
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So kind of you.
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I find it amazing that the schools are closed – they are closed around here too. There is about 1 cm of snow and in places nothing
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Isn’t it crazy! Just think of the difficulties for parents!
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Is poor attendance supposed to reflect on a teachers ability to engage and stimulate the kids? I used to walk 4 miles to school in -30C weather after shoveling the driveway. Didn’t know any different I guess.Met a cute girl on the way tho!
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Poor attendance reflects on the school (apparently) and the school’s position in the “league tables” will drop and it may well get less funding and be subject to more inspections… yes, crazy crazy… thank goodness I escaped when the going was good! A friend near Manchester had to walk miles to school – the lanes were dull of snow so she and her friends walked on top of walls and hedges to get there!
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My school was never closed for bad weather, kids just took a shovel with them to dig heir way in!
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Exactly!
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Was in Berlin a few years ago, minus 20C, 2 feet of snow, kindergarten children dressed for the cold were out in the playground with their teacher making tiny igloos.
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If only we had snow more regularly… Maybe I would gt over being so excited about it… actually, I don’t think I would! I want to be a Berlin school-child making a tiny igloo!!
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