Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil
I don't think it is quite as simple as that.
So much emphesis is put on the schools duty of care to the children that the parents who complain about the schools being shut would be the first to complain if the children could not get home because the busses could not get through.
When the schools closed the other week the bus companies were contacting schools to say they could come now for the kids but might not be able to get through later.
My son goes to St Chris's, they have kids from as far as Burnley so its not practical to say walk home. Even when I was at school I had to travel 7 miles by bus to the secondary schools in Clitheroe.
If you were the head teacher and the bus companies were saying they would not be able to take your kids home at 3.30pm but could come now at 1pm what would you do?
I think most of the problem is down to our transport system not being able to cope with a bit of snow. Its laughable when you look at most of northern Europe and what they manage with. We seem to have the attitude over here that it does not snow much so we wont bother being prepared.
How many of you have shovels in the boot of your car and warm clothes incase you get stuck.
Last night on the news it was saying that the Scottish Transport Minister has resigned because they were not ready and they mentioned forcing wagons to use winter tyres as some of the problems were caused by stranded wagons.
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i can remember when i was at the high school .. if you had to catch a school bus and the buses were sent to the school you were sent home ...but the pupils who walked to school stayed at school until finishing time or if it got really bad ... got sent home then.
when i was driving i always had a box in the boot with a hi-vis jacket, tyre sealant, torch, cooking salt/ a carton of ice melt in winter, and a pair of wellies/steel toe capped boots.
up in scotland these last couple of weeks has been really bad. Spugs had to walk to work a couple of days and walk home as the buses had been stopped .. was sent home a couple of days as well. Last monday which caught out the transport people they'd not expected as much snow as they got. In fact spugs said it started at 6.55am .. and was still snowing at 3pm in the afternoon .. no let up at all ... that was on top of what they'd already had.. In fact one school up there the pupils slept in the school as they couldnt get home .. the schools pupils were aged 3 - 18 .. and the staff stayed there as they couldnt leave until all the pupils had left .. the problems were exacerbated by people abandoning their cars on the road and walking so gritters and snow ploughs couldnt get through.... spugs also said that he'd been talking to a council worker .. who told him that the problem with the snow ploughs the ice was so thick it was breaking the blades on the snow ploughs ...