Shropshire headteacher tells schools: Don't close up

Martin Stott, headteacher of Old Hall School in Wellington, said he believed a school had 'a duty to its parents and pupils' to continue to work as normally as possible.

Old Hall was open during the heavy snowfall on Friday and remained open this week. Parents were able to collect their children early if they wanted to because of concerns or personal circumstances.

Mr Stott said: "I feel we have a sense of responsibility to the parents of children who work hard to get on. If I close, many parents can make alternative arrangements and keep their children home, but many can't. If I ask doctors to come and collect their kids or keep them at home, lists get cancelled.

"Those parents who had no option but to work were reassured to know that their children were at school and could be collected at the end of the school day as usual."

Mr Stott added: "In the middle of a recession, parents have to work even harder to make ends meet and it's vital that they don't take time off unnecessarily when the school holidays already stretch them in terms of childcare arrangements. If all schools were self-employed then every one of them would stay open, regardless of the weather, because they couldn't afford not to.

"Our parent body includes a number of self-employed parents and health professionals who rely on our consistent policy of keeping the school open so that they can do their jobs. The knock-on effects of school closures ripple far and wide for families, businesses and the entire economy."

Mr Stott said he also believed staying open in during bad weather helped instil in pupils 'a tenacious approach to life, where obstacles and problems are there to be overcome'.