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School Closures

From Julie C

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

Do other people remember Calder High’s "Snow Categories" 30 years ago, do they still exist? If you lived on the Tops your Category meant you got sent home first when it snowed, mostly, however the schools were open. Teachers were supposed to report to their nearest school if they couldn’t get to the one where they actually worked.

From Danny Thompson

Thursday, 7 January 2010

I was telling my kids about these categories today as I picked them up from school today having received emails and texts from the school office that they were closing early due to snow.

Here by the Dorset coast settled snow is comparatively rare, and very unpredictable when it does arrive.

The rationale for the Calder High categories was that snow would arrive first, and worst, on the tops - and kids were sent home earlier the higher up and the further away they lived. Has this been the experience with the current weather? And have they stopped the category system?

From John Rhodes

Thursday, 7 January 2010

I understand that the reason that Calder High is closed is largely down to the Council’s stance that they are not responsible for gritting schools. However, Calder High is seeking support from students to dig the school out on Friday. They say on the web-site that, "We are hoping that as many staff and senior students as possible will join a working party at 12 noon tomorrow [Friday] with their shovels to help in clearing Brier Hey Lane". Presumably adults with shovels won’t be turned away. I’ll be there if Northern Rail fail to deliver me to work again.

From Chris Reason

Saturday, 9 January 2010

A telling item in today’s Guardian:

It’s in schools’ interests to close completely. For to open and then get a low attendance figure will reflect badly on the school’s overall yearly attendance figures. This in turn will mean the school is unable to hit its attendance ‘targets’.

Mad or what?