Reading articles about school closures made me realise how complicated things have become in what seems the fairly straightforward subject of school attendance. Some schools are closed and others open and it doesn’t seem to depend purely on the weather. As a basic premise it might be thought that schools should be open whatever the weather. It causes inconvenience beyond the school as well as sending out mixed messages to children and parents. The more I thought about it the more I realised that it’s just the tip of the iceberg and came up with a few thoughts that it seems should be basics for schools.
Schools should be open whatever the weather and parents should know it is their decision as to whether their child attends.
Children should attend their nearest school and if they want to attend one further away it can only be done if that school has satisfied local need.
Schools should not be allowed to exclude or expel children or send them home, all children should be given every opportunity for education however difficult.
There should be zero tolerance of parents who intimidate teachers and it should not be possible to prosecute or take legal action against a teacher for action in the school.
Teachers should be innocent until proved guilty in all cases.
Several books can be written on this subject but that’s all for now.