I have noticed over the years that the number of school closures due to snow increases year on year. I tried my best to find an official statistic on this but unfortunately could not find one. I can remember that in my whole time as a student at school, we must have had two days of closures due to bad weather and I remember walking to school when the snow was up to my knees. So I really wanted to find out a little more on this and why so many schools close with just a little snow. So I decided to ask my students, a local assistant headteacher and just do some general research, here's what I found.
Why do schools close in the snow - Student version
I first asked all the students I taught yesterday if they had school on Friday, only one student who lives in the North of England went to school, and I'm pretty sure the snow is usually worse in Northern England compared to the Midlands where a majority of our students are from. I asked the students why they thought schools closed with snow, here are some responses:
- It snowed so its a holiday
- Severe weather conditions
- Health and Safety
- Teachers wouldn't be able to control snow fights
- Nowadays with the technology, students can learn from home.
Some interesting responses especially that last one. This led me to ask a follow up question. My question was how many hours of school work were you set by the school to complete on Friday. The students I asked were from Year 8 to Year 11, about 50% of students said they were not set any work and about 30% of students were set 30 to 60 minutes worth of work to complete. Only one school impressed me because they set their students 4 hours of work to complete on Friday, while I wont mention the school name, I will say that it begins with an "R", you know who you are!
The funny thing about Friday was that it stopped snowing about 10:30am and by 12pm most of the snow had melted.
Why do schools close in the snow - Staff Version
I next spoke to a local Assistant Headteacher about why schools close when it snows. He said his school was closed due to a school entrance being partially blocked, so his headteacher made the decision to close the school. But in general some staff live in remote areas and have difficulties getting into school. And not having enough staff could mean the student:staff ratio is too high.
Why do schools close in the snow - Government Version
I then decided to do some research into the subject. The decision to close schools is done at a local authority and school level. The official wording from the government, "schools should make every effort to stay open but it's not uncommon for schools to close or operate at a reduced level"
The main reasons to close are:
- Not enough staff due to transport issues
- Health and Safety around the school
- And if the school heating system can not maintain a minimum temperature of 15 degrees
What about the Parents
I do feel for the parents who are forced to take a day off from work because their child's school was closed, I know with some jobs people are able to work from home but not all. With most employers taking this day off will be unpaid leave.
