School closures in Leicester and Leicestershire because of snow - tell us your views

“Yes the schools didn't close in the 60's but that was when the staff and pupils pretty much all lived within a short distance of the school. These days you have kids coming from all over the place because schools accept children from outside of their catchment area and kids who live within catchment who can't get into their local schools because of current policies. How many of you all live within a short distance of your workplace? Not many I bet. The roads are overloaded, and then you have people who insist on driving at 5mph on a clear and gritted road forming a rolling roadblock, and the wonderful city council causing chaos with their so called "traffic flow improvements". And then we find out that the council only has 17 gritters to service the entire county. You couldn't make most of this up. No wonder the Canadians think that we are barking!”

“An interesting debate here.
Can I remind everyone that it is the decision of the Head/Chair of Governors to close a school and that schools have a responsibility for the safety of children and staff.
It is so easy to label teachers as lazy. No one on here is commenting on the staff at my school who could not leave at their contracted time on Friday as they were waiting with children whose parents were stuck on the roads.
None of those staff even considered leaving "on time" in that situation, nor did they imagine extra pay.
Teachers that I know are committed to their children and the families they serve, they are not clock watchers and they are not lazy.
Because we have all been to school it is very easy to imagine we know how to do it, it takes a special person to be a good teacher. I cherish them, so should we all.”

“to p2010- if you can find a teacher who doesn't already work at least one day every half term you'll be doing well. And please get over this idea that we haven't been working today, we can plan lessons and mark books at home, that's what most of us will have used the day for. It means I can actually put my feet up at the same time as the rest of the working population, instead of getting home and starting all over again. One more thing, it isn't teachers who decide to close a school, it's the Head.”

“Absolutely agree with recent comments. Realise that the poor hard done by teachers are not entirely to blame here. I just read that one of them has worked ALL DAY!
It is the system that is at fault. How about all schools have to open and teachers have to turn up, unless conditions are truly awful (ie us self employed can't work) Get parents to sign a disclaimer that if little Johnny falls over they will not hold the School or local authority responsible. The little blighter was hurtling down Gumly hill yesterday without a care in the World! The Vegan Cakery and MrP are correct. We are becoming the joke nation of Europe.”

“School closures today are a scandal. I appreciate there are issues with potential legal claims for children slipping over etc but how on earth will this country ever regain anything like its past glories when half the nation is either not at work or school? The conditions aren't that bad at all, a little care and caution and today shouldn't have been anything like any other. What does this teach the future generations? What has amazed me is the number of people who are standing on hillsides near where we live with hoards of children and their sleds. Can't be at school because of the potential dangers but can hurtle down a snow-covered hill without concern! Unbelievable...”

“@GNinja

I just wish that you lot would realise the actual cost to the local economy of schools being closed, local business suffers through lack of staff or reduced custom or people have to pay extra for childcare.... Everyone is out of pocket, apart from those being paid not to go to work of course!”

“I'm sure the only people "Working from home" will be those forced to because their kids couldn't go to school.... The others will have either had to have a day off with NO PAY or give up 1/25th of their holiday entitlement.
There really is no need for ANY of the city schools to be closed today, the main roads are open & flowing freely. When I was at School i was woken up extra early if it was snowing so I could walk the 3 miles & still get there on time, the 80's was not that long ago!!

Try watching How Britain Worked on channel 4, it might give you an idea where this country has gone wrong, we've gone from leading the world to a laughing stock in a very short time. Even the Canadian press are taking the mickey about our "Big Freeze”

“I wonder how often you work for hours over your weekend?? And for your information I have been working for the majority of the day so far and wont be finished for sometime yet...

It's not just about teachers not making it to work, although this is clearly an issue with school closures. It's also about the current climate of insurance claims for silly accidents. If a child falls over in the snow and injures themselves, then there is a good chance the school will get sued these days. (Not the case in 1962/3). Also, back in those days, teachers lived closer to their schools as there wasnt such a developed transport infrastructure.

People are so quick to jump on teachers. We work hard and we don't take the preverbial. We are not lazy but conditions where I live in leicestershire are pretty horrendous. Yes, people have braved the conditions today (in fact, many teachers have) but please don't tell me that there are A LOT of people in the private sector who are 'working from home' today... Yeah right.”

“I don't know if any of you saw the programme about the winter of 1962/63 on TV recenttly. Smowfall measured in feet, and snow lying from Boxing Day until the second week of March. I was at school when that happened, and my school did not close even for a single day. Somehow we struggled through and most people managed to get to school every day. That is without the benefit of modern road and vehicle technology. So how come we can't do it now?? Is that what is called "progress"?”

“Wonder if the teachers will give up one days holiday during the next half-term break and go in to make up for not working today?”