Community - Snow Days: What's the Future?

Posted in: Blog

By Kaz Russell - Education Copywriter

Snow Days: What's the Future?

Covid-19 has forced schools and pupils to be inventive in using technology. Could e-learning and homeschooling consign ‘snow days’ to the past – and should they?

Confession: In my village, every child went to school by coach. On snow mornings (two floating specks of white to a foot of thick snow) there was a frisson of excitement: if the coach hadn’t arrived by 8.30am we were permitted to go home. A communal countdown to the set time might result in a deep groan of disappointment. Or a joyous scream and stampede from the coach stop (even if we could see it in the distance!).

Headteacher Burden

The Headteacher declares if it’s a snow day. This means waking in the early hours to consult weather conditions, or (if snow starts during school) deciding if and when children should be sent home. As every school is different, this makes sense; but it also puts a huge burden on the decision-maker because they can never please everyone! Pupil welfare is paramount. Accidents happen on playgrounds that have become ice rinks – and children being stranded at school is an obvious no-go.

However, even if a large proportion of pupils could get in, evidence shows that teachers are the greater issue. They tend to travel further to work and may not get there – or have children of their own whose school has already closed. If a headteacher cannot cover pupil numbers safely, let alone provide adequate lessons, it’s a no-brainer that pupils are better off at home. On the other hand – that’s also a whole learning day (or more) down the drain. Isn’t it?

E-Learning

Aha. Now there’s an answer! Covid 19 has upped our skill set. Teachers have the no-how and experience; parents know what to expect. Children can log in from home and follow set lessons and assignments to be completed that day. Even easier if teachers have planned a ‘snow day’ of lessons in advance, making sure that it’s set up and ready to go at the press of a button. And if a teacher lives a long way off, but local pupils make it into school, they could still teach on-line (if there is enough cover staff to supervise a classroom). This means a snow day won’t stop the curriculum flow, and crucial learning days won’t be lost – whether a pupil (or teacher) lives next to the school or a 30-minute drive away.

USA

Schools in the USA also announce snow days. The difference is that these lost days must be added to the end of the school year as ‘make-up’ days. More recently, some school boards have introduced policies requiring students to work from home in the event of school closure. Teachers take a virtual ‘e register’ and must be online to answer pupils’ questions. One school district has even piloted giving students tablets with preloaded assignments. Whilst students may have once cheered over the calling of a “snow day” – it’s doubtful there would be the same joy over the words: “e-learning day”. However, it would mean that school semesters will always start and finish on pre-planned days, making a lot of schools organisation smoother.

Does it Matter?

Along with taking holidays in term time, missing school days is presumed to be detrimental to learning. In 2016, the Department for Education published research suggesting that missing any days at school could have negative impacts on results. A Harvard study, in contrast, found that missing a few occasional days due to weather did not damage learning. Interestingly, what they found was a greater negative impact when schools tried to stay open, fumbling along when staff and pupils were absent. And snow isn’t necessarily the worst culprit for learning: another Harvard study concluded that adverse weather could be detrimental to learning – but that spells of sweltering heat produced a “significant” link to lower results.

Snow Day Benefits

These are tricky to quantify because each child’s experience will differ. It also depends on whether a school is in a region that experiences regular winter snow – or if it’s a relative rarity.

In my village: I can report that we would go sledging, have snowball fights, build snowmen, get lots of healthy outdoor exercise, and cement bonds of friendship with other kids of all ages. (It sounds idyllic – but I am skating over the rock-hard ‘ice’ balls that certain pupils enjoyed chucking around.) However, snow is great fun and best experienced at leisure.

In-School: The day feels different. In primary school there is a special atmosphere with reduced numbers; pupils and teachers can mix play with learning. Snow-themed science might reveal where snowballs melt fastest. Does volume change as it melts? Can you stop it melting at all? What about snow sculpture – indoors, or out? Snow-inspired poetry and stories? In secondary education, there could be a chance for intimate tutorial type sessions to review the ‘tricky’ stuff, or ask individual questions.

To experience the benefits of a small class is something that state-educated children rarely get.

Drawbacks of E-Learning

Child Care
Schools may close, but parents work! This means that pupils could be home alone, or being cared for in a larger group by friends or relatives. And of course – everyone will be distracted by the snow! E-learning will be hard to set up and enforce.

SEND
E-Learning cannot produce a classroom assistant to help pupils with specific learning needs. In addition, a ‘one-size fits all’ lesson might be too hard for all pupils to achieve their best - if anything at all - without support.

Access
It relies on everyone having reliable internet and the use of a device on which the lesson can be accessed. As established under Covid-19 homeschooling, not all pupils of any age will have this in their home environment.

More Days Called
If e-learning is deemed acceptable at home, even if it’s not as beneficial as being in school, then there’s a risk of more days being called because it makes the decision simple and clear. This won’t be popular with parents, and could be detrimental to the quality of learning.

A Compromise Solution

Schools aren’t just closed for snow and pandemics: boilers break, heating is off, roofs leak. Covid-19 has taught us that it’s prudent to have a plan B. But is snow something special? A connection to the natural world that kids have a right to experience? Certainly not all parents in the USA support the “e-learning day” strategy; some even call for kids to be allowed to “enjoy” the snow.

It’s impossible to please everyone all of the time on this issue. One suggestion is a pre-prepared “blizzard bag” – that contains a few hours’ worth of activities that are expected to be completed if access to school is impossible. Similarly, e-lessons could be set up to allow plenty of time to enjoy the outdoors. No pupil will be out in the snow all day long, so a compromise seems the only way possible to please everyone (at least everyone for some of the time!).

In Summary