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Arctic blast sparks major disruption
Reporter: Helen Korn
Date online: 21 January 2013
SCHOOL closures added to the problems for many Oldhamers as they attempted to get into work this month following overnight snow.
The North-West had largely escaped the extreme weather at the end of last week - but the snow finally arrived late on Sunday evening.
While Oldham Council staff worked through the night to keep main roads clear, many side roads were hazardous and skidding vehicles blocked access for others.
More than 40 schools announced they would be closed today, while others delayed their start time.
Among closures were Oldham Sixth Form College and Crompton House School, Shaw, both of which were still open for students taking examinations.
Oldham Sixth Form College also cancelled year-11 interviews due to take place today.
Many cross-Pennine road including the Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass (A628) were shut.
Denshaw crossroads and the Holmfirth to Greenfield Road (A635) — between the Green Gate Road junction and Chew Valley Road, and the A640 Huddersfield Road were all closed.
Oldham Metrolink carried many passengers who had given up on their car. Trams were running a full service, with extra staff out at the stations to clear snow.
This morning the council had staff clearing and gritting town centre paths.
GRAINS Road in Shaw was shut for two hours last night after three vehicles collided. The accident, between two cars and a van, was blamed on heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. No one was hurt.
Comments
Schools seem to close for any reason the head teacher can dream up! There is no good reason for closing a school in todays weather, it isn't that bad.
PANIC BUY!!!!!
congratulations to the head and all the staff at St Anne's Greenacres Road who have yet again kept the school open the head believes that parents need the school open because a lot of parents work during school hours and send texts to parents if school is open or not at 8 15 am when they know how many staff they have in school
No need for schools to close - just open the hall and entertain them with a DVD or set some work - we live in a society that pampers everyone. Attended Grange in 80s - it never closed and we walked to school
We have Council First Response and the best Winter Highways team in here in Oldham - Pennine roads closed due to NO activity on the Yorkshire side. The best communications team that delivers statutory warning and informing messages online and via social media - ITS OLDHAM IT SNOWS - FACT
i must give credit where credit is due! oldhams main roads where actually very well gritted and reasonably clear this morning.
well done to the council! they did a much better job.
much better than the liberal run council who where useless at the job!
sold all the grit, never filled grit bins and never deployed the gritters till it was too late!
Part of the problem is the car and the distance it allows teachers to commute in. Writing as an Oldhamer who has always lived in the same square mile, perhaps the rule that required teachers and other council employees to live within a certain distance from the borough should never have been relaxed. My tongue is only partly in my cheek.
Interestingly, there is an article on the BBC News website about the top 10 things about schools shutting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21119186
Not necessarily saying I agree with it all, but I can see that there is more to it than just the roads around the school being okay or not, as the case may be.
Who decides the school should be closed? I walked to Counthill Grammar when there were several feet of snowdrifts and not many people had cars, but the school never closed. Teachers get yet another paid day off but the rest of us manage to get into work. Oldham 6th form is in the centre of town and no buses were cancelled so why was it closed?
Ridiculous !
Well done Watersheddings primary school for being open today (Monday ) and to Oldham Council for keeping roads clear and for actually gritting Thackeray road bus route and for the staff on metro link for keeping the trams running .
A lot of kids today are'nt sent to school but MUST be escorted by parents - and it is inconceivable that most of them can be expected to walk more than a few yards.Heaven forbid.As for the schools perhaps if it was no play no pay for staff more might stay open.Sixth form college in the centre of town closed --pathetic.
There are a lot of factors to consider before a headteacher makes a decision to close. In these days of parental choice many families are no longer in walking distance of school. Parents need an early decision so they can inform work. Health & Safety concerns for staff and children travelling to school are of high priority. Heavy overnight snow is the worst scenario and staff are being contacted before 6am to ascertain if they are able to reach school. Staff don't like to miss school time either
Buses Running, Trams running, busines's open. Hulme Grammer School Open, 40 other schools shut. Perhaps these heads should explain on what grounds they shut the school. Or Hulme's explain why they stayed open. Perhaps the 40 that shut fancied a longer weekend..
Morgana60 I cannot agree with your statement that teachers just got another day off today, not at my school anyway! All staff were required to take it as their PPA cover time. Schools now have great I.T. equipment which allows them to work wherever they are. In fact children can access VLE's (Visual Learning) from home and complete project work set by staff.
@morgana60 and all the other moaners: if you think teaching is such a doss, become a teacher. All these boring 'back in the day' stories. Things were different. So many lay the blame at the foot of the teachers when a school closes: do you remember the headline, 'Girl dies after falling on ice near Blackburn school'? What then?
For you information, Head Teachers decide if the school is to close (quite often after the staff that can make it in, have made it in).
I have lived in saddleworth all my life and have had to walk 3 miles to school in blizzard conditions and been told off for being late, the biggest problem with school closures these days is good old health and safety, if a kid falls on an icy yard and gets hurt the school gets sued so take the risk away thats why they shut.
total disgrace that all these schools were closed.
It seems that schools close for any reason theses days.
Lazy teachers!
The Oldham Academy North was open as usual today too.
must have been another wedding somewhere.
IfIMay , how many of your pupils will have accessed visual learning ?? Very few and will you be making up the lossed time ?
most of the general public made it in to work ie hospital staff , police emerency services ,need I go on and
if we all took your attuide things in this country would be a great deal worse then they are already
Not sure what grounds are required to close schools BUT if we applied that ruling to all our industry we would become a bankrupt nation.
Easily solved, only close the schools when the education dept, says so, otherwise stay open. Teachers who don't make it in lose a day's pay and pupils marked absent. In other words the same working conditions 90% of people work under. Teachers today are the biggest group of over-paid, under-achievers.
Its snows,
Teachers who do not live near their place of WORK do not get to school.
Meanwhile in the real world
People who do not live near their place of work get on with it and get to work.
Well done for those schools who did open and teachers who made the effort. Schools only used to close in winter when the heating failed.
I'm just wondering how the children in Scandinavian Countries or Canada etc. manage to get an education?
With all their winter weather, which is far worse, if their schools where like Britsh ones they'd be shut for 5 months.
My school was open yesterday. Only 60% of the students bothered to turn up which begs the question, why did parents keep the other 40% off?
phill, I am a teacher but I teach people to drive and am self employed. No work, no pay. I went to work and did teach so why were you not working too?
Whether children did go on the VLE would be up to parents. There were quite a number out sledging with their children yesterday having a fantastic time - 'learning' is not all about being sat at a school desk. I would suggest all these people knocking teachers spent just one week in school and I guarantee your eyes would be opened and you'll see just how hard they all work
all this boils down to health and safety and the american style blame culture that has been growing since the mid 90's
true sometimes there are real victims in accidents who have long lasting injurys.
but a large majority just claim because they can do and thats the fault of the solicitors who milk the system for all they can!
its about time it was regulated with pay outs and fee's limited to smaller figures.
i bet if that happened they'd all change their minds then.
ifimay
we all work hard ! but the rest of the general public may an enough
Have Your Say
Can understand those Schools on the tops being closed but local Schools like the Oasis Academy near me where the roads are clear shouldnt have shut. I had to walk to Grange School from the Coppice in worse weather than this in the 80`s. Didnt do me any harm and we didnt get sent home when the School heating failed either. Had to do lessons in our Coats. No wonder Kids these days are too soft!
By Curly Wurly @ 21/01/2013 12:48:40