School Teachers at Carrow Road Today

[Crafty Canary 495]

[quote user="Shack Attack"][quote user="crafty canary"]I''d also like to thank all the dustmen who have not been near since before Christmas. [/quote]

Where the hell do you live then? My bins have been collected on time every week and our binmen actually knocked on the door of a couple of our neighbours when they hadn''t put their bins out on the rescheduled collection days over Christmas. Lovely chaps.......if a little smelly [;)]
[/quote]

Warrington. Last collection was 23rd December with the next scheduled as 6th January. Due to snow no collection and none planned for forseeable future. Despite this the lids mustn''t be open even slightly and no bags will be collected if left by full bins. The local waste collection site doesn''t take household waste such as food scraps and packaging so it''s stored in the garage to go in the bin when the full one has finally been emptied, whenever that is.   

[CCEK 0]

We don''t use TV''s in schools in schools anymore (unless you mean the 50" flat screen TV interactive display screens) It''s all interactive whiteboards which can stream TV from the internet.

Our school shut Tuesday and Wednesday but managed to open for the oldest students only on Thursday and Friday. (only half of those turned up) Next week we will rotate the year groups as we can safely only open for 2 year groups until conditions improve.

WHY DO WE CLOSE?

The council does not prioritize gritting routes near to school. - Having seen several parents smash into the curbs and narrowly missing each other or pedestrians, is it really safe ?

People don''t walk anymore. Parents drive students even if they live within a mile of the school. Normal school runs are dangerous let alone when the roads are barely passable.

School has no grit - we have used 2 years supply in four weeks and are not a priority delivery. This means the whole site is under 5 inches of snow. There is not enough space available for staff to park their cars without spinning or getting stuck. The pathways around the building are hazardous and students have been requested to stay indoors at all times incase they fall over. (Then we would get shouted at by parents)

Buses - Many students live up to 9 miles from school. The bus companies will not operate to any of our villages as the roads are not passable.

Staffing. We did manage to get most staff into work but the journeys were difficult as roads are not gritted till later. Even my 10 minute drive to work at 7am took over an hour. Some staff live over 50 miles from school and are currently snowed in (North Yorkshire Moors). Schools need a certain number of staff to be able to safely look teach 1000''s of children.

Behaviour and parents. When I was at school we were capable of looking after ourselves, if we fell over we fell over. We could build snowmen or have snowball fights. Sadly a minority of students now ruin things for the rest (behaviour learnt from their parents) Even snow ball fights involve students putting stones in the middle in an attempt to injure other students. This results in students being restricted to being indoors all day.

Boilers and School buildings. Yes they are crap especially if they were build in the 60''s or 70''s. But money talks and there is no money to fix that. One of our boilers broke before Christmas closing the school (inside temp 6 degrees) fixing was difficult due to asbestos. Our gas boiler broke after Christmas. We don''t break them on purpose, it is just an old building. We also have a few leaking roof issues thanks to the people who stole the lead off of the roof.

I would also happily go support my local Primary school for the day if my school is shut due to severe weather, as I could walk there. This is not possible these days due to security and CRB checks.

Councils should be doing a lot more to support schools in remaining open.

Perhaps businesses should be providing better childcare facilities to enable their staff to continue in situation like this? People manage on take your child to work day.

As a parent do you really need to stay home and look after your 13 year old or are you just enjoying the excuse. When I was at high school I was quite capable of looking after myself for the day if school was closed.

I didn''t make it to the game to day. The trains were not running and the roads were too bad to drive locally let alone 180 miles to Norwich.

I am not a teacher but do work in a school (and evenings and weekends) I do enjoy the holidays but work through half of them. I am also not a BABYSITTER.

Why do I not see the opening post as funny? (and I do have a sense of humour- I support Norwich don''t I!) Because I think it is totally false and most people will get their backs up when they feel their integrity is mocked.

And if their r ne spellin mistaks or gramatical errors, I blame the wine.

[Sjb 11]

Chicken I still have to cover the time it takes me at the wholesaler, petrol to and from there, filling out test sheets, and the such like, and days when there is no work, and i get no holiday. Thats why theres a cost i understand alot of people don''t see all this, but what gets me is people are allways willing to pay plasterers redicolous amounts of money when youll never see a good one work beyound 3.  I have to agree chefs money is poor 11k a year for most. In a hot kitchen i wouldn''t like to do there work.

[Brendo 0]

I really dont get this, I mean they dont ask to have the day off, the school call''s the day off, and they dont turn up. Alot of them live far away and cant get in anyway.

[hogesar 9,615]

It''s like on the radio this morning where some woman claimed "We can''t let the kids have any more days off because of the weather, they''ve had too many already".One of the most ridiculous statements in the world. They don''t close the school for the fun of it, it''s for the safety of everyone travelling, the safety inside schools etc etc. If its MORE unsafe than it was last week then of course they should close again !

[Old Boy 0]

A very significant thing is that it''s only local authority schools that are closing. My daughter teaches in a private school, and that never closes due to the weather. That''s because they know that the parents would not be happy about it and would be able to move their kids to another school. And where''s the concern about the safety of the kids on school premises? The claim that that''s the reason why LA schools close as soon as it the first snowflakes are spotted is bunk - it''s for the benefit of the teachers. Very few employees in the private sector are in such a privileged position. I drove 250 miles on business on Friday - it was tedious, but I felt obliged to do it. Teachers don''t feel that anymore about their job.

[The Fish Seller 0]

[quote user="Evil Monkey"]Its the no-heating days that wind me up... this week my kids were off school Tuesday and Wednesday, which was to be expected given the conditions up here... but they returned back on Thursday, all good... until we find after school that was going to be closed again on Friday for a ''burst pipe''... are our school buildings so poorly built that at the first sign of bad weather, the pipes and heating all burst, freeze or completely stop working?  Meanwhile, most other public and larger private buildings carry on as normal.  What''s so special about schools that their plumbing can never cope?  Its things like this that make parents like me think that its just done for the sake of an extra day''s holiday... (and yes, I know how hard teachers work, an ex of mine is training to be one and she works harder than anyone I know).[/quote]We had little or no heating at my school for the entire 5 years, didn''t stop us...........

shivering our nuts off.

[jammis 0]

If any of the teachers that have posted on this board end up teaching my children I''m going to be very worried.

None of them seem to be able to spell or form grammatically correct sentences.*

 

 

*If there are any mistakes in the above, I''m a journalist who replies heavily on good sub-editors!

[Mello Yello 2,277]

If it wasn''t for the teachers, we wouldn''t have all these thick adolescents.....

 

[whoareyou? 0]

This has turned into a bit of a free for all.

I appreciate that teachers don''t close the schools, heads and council staff do.

It does make me laugh when they say they close the schools for safety reasons as all the kids then do is go sledging or go and spend the day in town wandering about doing nothing.

Health and Safety will be the death of this country if attitudes aren''t changed.

[Old Shuck 183]

"Behaviour and parents. When I was at school we were capable of looking after ourselves, if we fell over we fell over. We could build snowmen or have snowball fights. Sadly a minority of students now ruin things for the rest (behaviour learnt from their parents) Even snow ball fights involve students putting stones in the middle in an attempt to injure other students. This results in students being restricted to being indoors all day."

Abso-bloody-lutely. I remember, in the dark days of winter 1978-heavy snow, some schools closed, though mine, at the time, Smithdon High in Hubnstanton stayed open for 5th years only, reason being we were near to exams, so, off we all tripped-an entire Birds coach die the Brancaster Staithe-Hunstanton run to pick up, I think, about fiuve people, and off we went...

...and yes, snowball fights at breaktimes, teachers included, people falling over and cracking their heads open on the slippery playground, led away, bandaged up, returned bloodied and battered...and that was the end of it!

Its easy to blame the teachers for getting stick-remember how they are also, or have been, getting same, for school trips being cancelled and school sports no longer being competitive or even being held-they and the schools are having to protect their own hides, as has been said, from the society that wants something for nothing, and people who will use their child as a tool to the old "com-pen-say-shunnnn" payout.

This is happening in the domestic workplace now, you can''t give anyone who has a headache a paracetamol if they ask for one, as, if they then suffer from internal bleeding or their headache doesn''t go away-its "your fault", and you can be liable!

I don''t blame the schools for this reason-although, I am sure that, someday, someone will sue one for not educating their child when they (the schools)

are closed because they are frightened of being sued should an accident happen at the school-how long before "Injury4You" or whoever they are representatives are hovering about the school gates?

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

My daughter is a teacher up North and twice this week she has spent over 2 hours in the car just to get a couple of miles and then had to turn back. It is a difficult situation mainly because society has changed. As a kid schools hardly ever shut but then most people walked to work/school and pupils and most teachers lived close to the schools. What is better though now is that Heads do make their minds up there can be nothing worse than parents going off to work then being told to collect their kids part way through the day.

[McCanary 0]

[quote user="Old Boy"]A very significant thing is that it''s only local authority schools that are closing. My daughter teaches in a private school, and that never closes due to the weather. That''s because they know that the parents would not be happy about it and would be able to move their kids to another school. And where''s the concern about the safety of the kids on school premises? The claim that that''s the reason why LA schools close as soon as it the first snowflakes are spotted is bunk - it''s for the benefit of the teachers. Very few employees in the private sector are in such a privileged position. I drove 250 miles on business on Friday - it was tedious, but I felt obliged to do it. Teachers don''t feel that anymore about their job.[/quote]

Which would entail them losing large swathes of cash!!! The guidelines are laid down by County and the interpretation of them is down to local heads.

Some  bus companies also refuse to do the school run.

 

As for driving 250 miles on Friday, you are a very clever boy and well done to you for risking yourself.

but generally .....I think you may be confusing some of us with someone who gives a toss [:P]

[Buffman 0]

My school has been open all week and we have received a number of complaints from parents for being open. It is a no win situation I''m afraid. It is a village school and half of my class did not show up, even though it is walking distance, being kept off by parents who considered the weather to be too dangerous.

All staff made it in, some travelling over 40 miles to staff a half full school. I feel that the dedication of the staff is certainly not in question in our case.

[Tickers 0]

[quote user="Old Boy"]A very significant thing is that it''s only local

authority schools that are closing. My daughter teaches in a private

school, and that never closes due to the weather. That''s because they

know that the parents would not be happy about it and would be able to

move their kids to another school. And where''s the concern about the

safety of the kids on school premises? The claim that that''s the reason

why LA schools close as soon as it the first snowflakes are spotted is

bunk - it''s for the benefit of the teachers. Very few employees in the

private sector are in such a privileged position. I drove 250 miles on

business on Friday - it was tedious, but I felt obliged to do it.

Teachers don''t feel that anymore about their job.[/quote]

This simply isn''t true. Culford shut for day pupils on the 9th, Langley

and Thorpe House were both closed on the 8th - the reasons for these

closures are exactly the same as in the state sector - a lack of decent

transportation and a concern for the health and safety of the pupils.

Other schools ran limited timetables and placed up messages informing

parents not to take any risks and that normal timetables were unlikely.

Even more private schools aren''t even back yet - The Norwich School,

Gresham''s, the High School and others don''t start until Monday or

Tuesday.

There are some aspects of private schools that may enable them to open

more easily - any school with boarding students will naturally be able

to open as they have staff and students on site, they have a larger

teacher:student ratio, allowing them to cope with higher absentee rates

among staff should they collapse the timetable or need cover and also

many of them have facilities and resources that allow them to run

activities that other schools cannot do if the attendance rate is poor

enough to effectively cancel ''proper'' lessons.

Regardless of whether a teacher or a headmaster is employed in the

state or the private sector, the first priority (not just in extreme

situations) is the safety of the pupils - perhaps this arises in part

because of the litigation culture that exists, but also because nobody

wants to see a bus full of kids get into an accident. Perhaps you

disagree with that, or believe them over-cautious, but taking a moral

high ground on the basis of false accusations simply doesn''t take the

debate anywhere - much like a car stuck in the snow.

[. 0]

[quote user="Sir Ecat"]A well deserved mention to all the Norfolk school teachers who so bravely ventured out today to watch the match at Carrow Road. It can''t have been easy having to dig yourselves out of your snow bound houses and we salute your sterling efforts. Have a safe journey home and look after yourselves next week. We all appreciate how hard it is travelling in this weather especially when there are so few options beyond car, bus, train, walk. If any readers on this forum live near any teachers then do knock on their door to make sure they are coping OK and see if there is any shopping or essentials they need. God bless em![/quote]

Poetry...... 10/10 [*]

What a bunch of ***** they are......

 

 

[Houston Canary 0]

  This seems to have started as a misdirected dig at teachers.  While I appreciate sarcasm, it is really only effective and funny if it can be taken the right way, especially if there are some who miss it.  It seems obvious teachers have little or no say in whether schools close for weather considerations, so attacking teachers for schools closing only makes sense in a sarcastic sense.  A couple of years ago when we got a direct hit from a hurricane, my fellow teachers blamed one of our own because she kept hoping for school closing and was keeping close track of the hurricane.  It was as if she made it happen. So now when we''re feeling a bit run down, we ask her to pray for (fill in the blank with something silly). 

  As for schools turning out morons and thugs, we can only work with the hand we''re dealt and as far as the administration allows (or knows about).   They all think they are going to become doctors, pro athletes and entrepreneurs, but many of them have no work ethic and see nothing wrong in copying someone else''s work rather than trying to figure it out themselves.  They shamelessly write answers that make no sense (even to them when I ask, "what does this mean?" and they shrug) and complain if they don''t get a good grade.  They wonder why this person got a better grade than that person if they had the exact same answer, to which I tell them over and over and over that which ever paper I grade 1st gets the credit, and the copies get nothing.  The one who allows the copying whines that he did the work and I tell them that is the price they pay for letting others copy.  You''d think that would stop them, but it keeps happening.

  Anyways, teachers don''t shut down the campuses.  We do have kids at other schools so that does become a concern when schools close because we have to have our own taken care of until we get home, but that is our own concern, not the admin''s. If nothing else (and we''re having unusually cold days here too this winter) my students will leave my class knowing man made global warming is junk science, and in this immediate gratification world we live in, this year''s crop will use this winter to reconfirm what I will be showing them about it in class.  How is this even an issue with oceans rising, glaciers melting, Bono annoying, and conferences of morons prancing?

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Kids or no kids there is nothing to stop teachers taking themselves to their work places and finding things to do.

[Woman in the Stands (WITS) 0]

At youngster''s school, the teachers living within walking distance did go in.

 

[mnc 0]

[quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]Kids or no kids there is nothing to stop teachers taking themselves to their work places and finding things to do.[/quote]Teachers will have had plenty of school work to be getting on with at home as the majority take home a whole boot full of stuff every night anyway.

[CCEK 0]

Schools also have VLE''s now. (Virtual Learning Environment)

This means that work can be posted on these by staff to ensure that students can continue to study. We have even been marking work submitted electronically by Year 11''s that have not been to get to school, and staff that have not made it in have been having live conversations through the VLE with their classes while they work from home.

If there are no students in school it is more productive to spend the day working from home than waste hours traveling to and from the work place.

[whoareyou? 0]

I can''t believe that something that started as a joke has been taken so seriously by the people who the joke was about?

Have government policies infected their employess staff so much that they have become a completely humourless breed?

[Daphne 0]

Agree Buffman,

My hubby''s school was open all week - and we were at the game yesterday.

I thought the OP was very humorous - but that the snow seems to have removed our sense of fun.

As an ex-teacher who now works with the families of children that schools don''t want to darken their doors - I have come to the conclusion that some of us work a lot harder than others regardless. It was ever thus.

I am very cynical as to the reason why so many Premier League games were off this weekend. Snow? Or having some of their best players in Africa?

[Dean Coneys boots 1,398]

the real reason is that hadteachrs are scared of litigation

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Dean Coneys boots"]the real reason is that hadteachrs are scared of litigation[/quote]Which is surely the fault of the legal system, particularly leech companies like "Injury Lawyers 4 U", and not the fault of the education system?There''s something wrong with the world if a kid can slip over on ice on the way to school, and then sue the school.

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

[quote user="Sir Ecat"]A well deserved mention to all the Norfolk school teachers who so bravely ventured out today to watch the match at Carrow Road. It can''t have been easy having to dig yourselves out of your snow bound houses and we salute your sterling efforts.

Have a safe journey home and look after yourselves next week. We all appreciate how hard it is travelling in this weather especially when there are so few options beyond car, bus, train, walk. If any readers on this forum live near any teachers then do knock on their door to make sure they are coping OK and see if there is any shopping or essentials they need. God bless em![/quote]I am a teacher you spineless half wit.You come back to me with this urine when little Jimmy breaks his leg on the ice cos you didnt bring him up well enough to understand skidding on ice is Fu**ing dumb.

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

[quote user="paul moy"]The laziest workers on the planet ....[/quote]You try doing my job for a day.I work with refusers and kids who cant function in the main stream school system due to a myriad of issues including bad lives - plain delinquence.You sir would not last 5 seconds in my job, you worthless spineless waste of sperm.

People who slag off teaching have no right to do so until you have done or tried it.

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

[quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]Kids or no kids there is nothing to stop teachers taking themselves to their work places and finding things to do.[/quote]Your just a dumb ass mate.

[Paul Lamberts Disciple 0]

[quote user="Nexus_Canary"]Your just a dumb ass mate.[/quote]Snow or no snow, I''d consider heading back to school this week, if I were you.As a pupil, obviously.

[kentcanary 0]

This is a bit pathetic There are good and bad teachers plumbers ,doctors even bankers.Over the last few weeks loads of workers have not gone in, and often been recommended not to travel.With teachers you have to have enough in to look after the children otherwise its a safety issue, its not like not getting to a plumbing job.Parents will soon blame headteachers if things go wrong.

People seem to get chips on their shoulders about the jobs of others,it usually means they need to get ilife.