Just got the message that, after one day back after the Christmas hols, my school has had to close tomorrow due to the snow. Now, where did I put that map...and my boots...and that new saw I got for Chrimbo...
School's Out!
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SimonM
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feels good doesn't it!
Got the magic message myself at 0730 this morning & spent the afternoon in the woods with the kids...
The walk in...well, I walked - the kids took the path of least resistance!
A winter wonderland...
Brew time... I took my trusty Primus, some rat pack hot chocolate for the kids and coffee for me.
Little angels...well, snow angels
Looking back at where we had been...
Even better, just had the call from the Dep Head...school closed again tomorrow!!!
Simon
Got the magic message myself at 0730 this morning & spent the afternoon in the woods with the kids...
The walk in...well, I walked - the kids took the path of least resistance!
A winter wonderland...
Brew time... I took my trusty Primus, some rat pack hot chocolate for the kids and coffee for me.
Little angels...well, snow angels
Looking back at where we had been...
Even better, just had the call from the Dep Head...school closed again tomorrow!!!
Simon
Nice one Simon!
I did something very similar, but no kids and a Honey stove!
Hoping tomorrow's going to be the same.
Claudiasboris
Claudiasboris
I did something very similar, but no kids and a Honey stove!
Hoping tomorrow's going to be the same.
Claudiasboris
Claudiasboris
Don’t wish to get too 'heavy' but doesn’t our delight in snow, and the consequences thereof for everyday life here in the UK, say so much about what oh so clever Man has made of our short time in this world?
I’ve said it before but surely this only serves to further demonstrate what fools we are for having progressed no further in the 21st century than working 5 days and resting but for two??
I’ll get my snow shoes!
Cheers
I’ve said it before but surely this only serves to further demonstrate what fools we are for having progressed no further in the 21st century than working 5 days and resting but for two??
I’ll get my snow shoes!
Cheers
#1 Son was supposed to start back at school today.
Went off with a face like thunder (bloomin' school)
Came back 20 minutes later looking like he's just won the lottery - and 10 minutes later the postman delivered Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii!!!!
Could it get much better for a little boy?
Went off with a face like thunder (bloomin' school)
Came back 20 minutes later looking like he's just won the lottery - and 10 minutes later the postman delivered Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii!!!!
Could it get much better for a little boy?
Oh somebody please, please send the snow this way we've barely got 2".
But the kids won't be starting at their new school til Thursday at the earliest, as the pipes have burst and the ceiling collapsed!
But the kids won't be starting at their new school til Thursday at the earliest, as the pipes have burst and the ceiling collapsed!
Merest touch of white stuff and the schools close. What is that about? Its not snowing in the school, thats what the tax we pay is for!
Kids need education and teachers themselves argue about time in school, activities in school, cirriculum in school and conditions in school. Point being its in school.
Get on with it. Police dont close stations, or nurses close wards or ambulance service not bother or fire service stay at home cos nought burns in the snow.
Rant over, sorry.
Kids need education and teachers themselves argue about time in school, activities in school, cirriculum in school and conditions in school. Point being its in school.
Get on with it. Police dont close stations, or nurses close wards or ambulance service not bother or fire service stay at home cos nought burns in the snow.
Rant over, sorry.
SimonM
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
In reply,
- The advice of Police it is not safe to drive in our region.
- My school has 700 pupils and about 50 staff (some of which travel some considerable distance). If we ignored the advice of Police and your child was injured / killed in a RTA how would you feel?
- Couple that with the fact that our school yards have not been gritted, therefore our yards are an accident waiting to happen. Again, how would you feel if it was your child injured / killed?
- Some hospitals in our region have been providing staff with beds for the night, so that they can stay safe...
- The Ambulance Service are being driven around in Mountain Rescue Land Rovers as it id unsafe for them to drive their ambulances...
- The Police & Fire Service are being kept busy dealing with RTA's involving drivers who ignore their advice, why add to their workload?
Furthermore, in my opinion, playing in the snow should be major part of every childs education:
- Snow ball fight = eye / hand co ordination
- Running around avoiding snow balls = all body work out
- Learning to play = major social skills development
- Playing with your kids = priceless!!!
Just to add, some teachers (my SWMBO included) will have spent yesterday marking and preparing for their return to school by planning more lessons...
Simon
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Hear! Hear!
It should be compulsory for kids to play in the snow - they may not get another chance.
On the other hand, I have to confess to have done no marking or preparation today - instead, I walked through some Cotswold escarpment woodlands; brewed hot chocolate on the bushbuddy; took loads of snowy pictures. Don't tell my Head Teacher...
as long as teachers remember that when i apply to take my kids out of school for 2 days to attend the worlds largest festival of contemporary performing arts and huge alternative lifestyles and energy fair.... the reply i get when requesting that is that it isnt in the child educational interest..... really? you saying that in the 15 hrs of schooling they miss you are going to teach them and expose them to the same level of experiential learning that they will be getting in the 48 hrs (that they are awake) of their attendance at said festival
as for the time to mark and prepare., schools are open for kids for 6 hours per day, yet the working day is 7.5 hrs for most, the eu regs are for 4 weeks holiday per year.. not 14 like teachers get...
i am a nurse with 20 years nhs service, top of my grade, equiv responsibilities to a deputy head, yet im paid 10k less and 7 weeks holiday per year
PLUS have a professional responsibility to keep myself educated in my own time rather than take the 14 wweeks leave and then take inset days to learn on
purlease dont try to tell me teachers are hard down by in anyway, they are the best off of all the public sector employees, other than MPs of course
oh and i wlaked several miles into work this morning..... the schools are shut, the nurses are not
of course kids should have the time off to play, but the teachers cant then claim to be hard done by with yet another paid leave day
/rant
Add to that the minimum ratios required of staff to pupils and if just 10% of the staff in my wife's school are unable to make it in through the snow ( we have 11" of the stuff here at the moment) there are not enough staff to legally run the school.
My wife has just spent today catching up with the marking that she should have been able to do in December. She lost all her PPA time then covering other staff that couldn't get in back then.
Teachers do a tough job as it is, often teaching children the sort of stuff their parents should be teaching them but can't be bothered to. It's typical of our society today that instead of getting some support from people the best some can do is write "that's what the tax we pay is for!"
Took the kids out last night in the snow, my youngest was knee deep and kept diving face first into the stuff, my eldest was some sort of yeti like creature flinging snow in all directions whilst rolling into any untouched patches screaming like a maniac.
they had muchos fun, even managed to pelt SWMBO with a giant snowball.
In my parents street a group of enterprising kids got together and started using buckets and similar, filling them up and packing then upturning them to use them as building blocks.
they have the BEST snow fort for miles around.
they had muchos fun, even managed to pelt SWMBO with a giant snowball.
In my parents street a group of enterprising kids got together and started using buckets and similar, filling them up and packing then upturning them to use them as building blocks.
they have the BEST snow fort for miles around.
SimonM
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
In reply:
The Government sets attendance targets for pupils, not the schools. On a personal level, I would allow you to take your child out for the reason you gave (dependant on a few factors like current attendance levels, exam /coursework stautus etc)...maybe you could talk to the Pastoral Manager / Head of Year to discuss the benefits?
Working hours: - Speaking for myself, I am in work at the latest by 0800, and regularly leave after 1700hrs. In fact on two days each week, I have meetings with parents at 0745hrs - this so that I don't ask them to take time off work. In addition, I also work a half hour "duty" every day at lunch - leaving me 15minutes to eat ... 6 hour day? I wish!
Teachers also have the professional duty to stay current - again speaking personally I am about to undertake 2 extra courses in my own time (this is in no means uncommon). INSET days are a requirement put in place by the Government - at my school we use them to satisfy legal requirements like Child Protection training etc.
On the pay front - I fully sympathise...but don't begrudge me my salary!
On the holiday front - that is one of the reasons why I went into teaching and not stay in industry! No guilt here, as I and many other teachers spend a large part of our "holiday" marking, prepping and planning!
On the subject of being "hard done by" - no one here has ever suggested that we are, so why imply we had?
Simon
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Thank you sir, but: Oh dear, I didn't mean this to be a teacher-bashing thread. On the other hand:
In the thirty years I have been a teacher I have been personally responsible (according to the "Daily Mail" and others) for: binge drinking youths, drug taking teenagers, England's inability to win the World Cup, fomenting socialism, the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, England's inability to win the Ashes (funny, no-one came to congratulate me when we finally did win them...);hoodies, ASBOs, dumbing down...the list goes on. Somehow, however, I still manage to sleep soundly in my bed.
I have a brother who is a nurse and he gets paid about £8,000 more than I do. I "only" get 12 weeks holiday a year but work more hours in the other 40 weeks than the vast majority of my friends do in 45 or 46. We should all get more time off work - don't blame me: agitate! Time off is worth far more than money! Get your union onto it.
And another thing - I've just had a phone call to say the school will be shut again tomorrow. And I was almost beginning to feel guilty...
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