South Essex school closures

in Echo News

School closures in south Essex School closures in south Essex
  • Cherrytree Primary School and Nursery, Basildon – Closed The Deanes School, Thundersley
  • Greenstead Infant and Juniors, Basildon
  • Waterman Primary, Rochford
  • Eastwood Academy
  • Glenwood, Benfleet 
  • Canewdon Primary
  • The Pioneer School, Basildon
  • St Nicholas School, Southend
  • Lancaster School, Southend
  • Porters Grange School, Southend
  • Westborough Primary and Nursery, Westcliff
  • Stambridge Primary
  • Billericay School, Billericay – Closed. Open for exams only.
  • Bromfords School and Sixth Form College, Wickford – Closed on Monday. However will open for students taking exams and they should attend at the expected time.

  • Castledon School, Wickford – Closed Monday due to the condition of minor roads and the school site.
  • Cedar Hall School, Benfleet – Closed.
  • Cherrytree Primary School and Nursery, Basildon – Closed.
  • Deanes School, Benfleet – School will be closed due to adverse weather conditions.
  • De La Salle School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Greensted Infant and Junior School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Laindon Park Primary and Nursery School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Little Gems Pre-School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Millhouse Infant School and Nursery, Basildon – Closed.
  • Millhouse Junior School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Phoenix Primary School, Laindon – Closed Monday due to health and safety concern for pupils and staff.
  • Piglets Pre-School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Pioneer School, Basildon – Closed.
  • Ramsden Hall School, Billericay – School closed due to extreme weather conditions
  • South Quadrant CSS Centre, Basildon – Closed.
  • Stanford-le-Hope Primary, Stanford-le-Hope – Closed Monday due to the continuing severe weather and hazardous conditions.
  • St Anne Line Infant School, Basildon – Will open late at 10:30am on Monday. No breakfast club, morning nursery and after school clubs.
  • St Anne Line Junior School, Basildon – Opening at 10:35am for safety reasons and there is no staff until 10:15am. All clubs cancelled.
  • St Margaret’s Primary, Bowers Gifford – Closed.
  • St Johns School, Billericay – Aiming to open the school at 10am Monday morning. School uniform will not be required. Pupils should dress to suit the conditions and bring a pair of dry indoor shoes.
  • St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Billericay – Closed.
  • St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Basildon – Closed
  • Whitmore Primary and Nursery, Basildon – Closed due to adverse weather.
  • Woodlands School, Basildon – Closed except for Year 11s. Open for pupils taking exams and they should attend at the expected time.
  • Leigh Beck Infant School shut due to heating breaking down.

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Comments(39)

StuckInTraffic says...
8:21am Mon 21 Jan 13

Why are the school closed. The roads are fine, most are completely clear and those that aren't are passable with a bit of care.

Absolutely ridiculous, the Head Teachers of all the closed schools should be made to provide a good reason why they felt it was necessary to stay at home in bed, rather than get up and go to work just like everyone else has to.

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Steve H says...
8:35am Mon 21 Jan 13

Unbelievable that schools are closed today, unless there is good reason, ie. heating problems, there is NO reason that any school should be closed. There has been plenty of time to clear snow and grit paths, the roads are all clear. Any headteacher that has decided to close their school should hang their heads in shame, they have let down their pupils and should have a good think about if teaching is the right job for them.

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the citizen says...
8:38am Mon 21 Jan 13

StuckInTraffic wrote:
Why are the school closed. The roads are fine, most are completely clear and those that aren't are passable with a bit of care.

Absolutely ridiculous, the Head Teachers of all the closed schools should be made to provide a good reason why they felt it was necessary to stay at home in bed, rather than get up and go to work just like everyone else has to.
Totally agree. There may be staffing issues of course, but if other schools can manage on reduced staffing (ie they plan properly) then the Head Teachers should be called to account. I can understand the special needs schools too, but not the main stream. Funny that two schools that nearly always close at the first hint of snow (Eastwood and Westborough) are both Acadamies. Also the information on which schools are closed is different on every website. The Echo differs from the Council which differs from heart FM which differs from Southend Radio which differs from BBC Essex. It cannot be THAT difficult to get all the sites saying the same thing.

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fredfoot says...
9:23am Mon 21 Jan 13

Why is Porters Grange closed when Sacred Heart School about 200 yards down the road is open?

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GentleGiant says...
9:35am Mon 21 Jan 13

Those that can, can - those that can't, teach!

Head teachers are a law unto themselves and get highly paid for it.

Sites say different things because not all schools phone each station.

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Essex Medja says...
9:54am Mon 21 Jan 13

There was a headmistress on the radio talking about "my pupils" and "my parents", totally arrogant. She said the school was closed because she had a responsibility for her staff in case they might skid on ice coming in to work.
How "nanny" can you get. Perhaps she might want to lay down a diet and exercise regime for them or draft instruction on how to boil a kettle!!!

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fredfoot says...
9:55am Mon 21 Jan 13

Just heard on BBC Essex that staff and parents are helping clear snow in one of the Chelmsford Schools perhaps teachers should do more at other schools, I know one school where the teachers teach full stop nothing else.

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artytoit says...
10:04am Mon 21 Jan 13

We live in Basildon, but I took the wife and kids to their respective schools (Hamstel and Greenways) in Southend and got back to Basildon in an hour and a half - the roads are fine in both Southend and Basildon. Yet the kids old school (Porters Grange) is closed? Pathetic.

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sosad 1 says...
10:07am Mon 21 Jan 13

i went to school 1960 to 1970 they never shut once inc the winter of 63 we now have genarations of pc wimps

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pendulum says...
11:40am Mon 21 Jan 13

They have a moan if you take your kid out of scholl for a holiday but they don't mind closing the entire school for no good reason, what's more damaging, one kid off school for 5 days, or all of them? Hypocrites.

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InTheKnowOk says...
11:52am Mon 21 Jan 13

•Deanes School, Benfleet – School will be closed due to adverse weather conditions.

What adverse weather conditions ??

Is King John & Westwood open ?? If they can make it in then why can't Deanes ??

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JuliaM says...
12:07pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Essex Medja wrote:
There was a headmistress on the radio talking about "my pupils" and "my parents", totally arrogant. She said the school was closed because she had a responsibility for her staff in case they might skid on ice coming in to work. How "nanny" can you get. Perhaps she might want to lay down a diet and exercise regime for them or draft instruction on how to boil a kettle!!!
Please don't give these people any ideas or encouragement!

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j-w says...
12:08pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Perhaps the long school holidays should be moved to January/February, Not only will the weather not cause a problem but think of the costs saved on heating / grit and snow clearance and no need to lose days to bad weather.

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j-w says...
12:09pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Not only that but school run mums wont be clogging the roads whilst the rest of us get to work.

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Democrat says...
1:24pm Mon 21 Jan 13

sosad 1 wrote:
i went to school 1960 to 1970 they never shut once inc the winter of 63 we now have genarations of pc wimps
I went to school in the 50's and 60's and was taught by hard-nosed ex-WW2 soldiers, and yes, we did close when necessary.

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tallblokerobbie says...
1:32pm Mon 21 Jan 13

What is happening to this country? Is this the type of easy quit example we want to install into the future generations? Today it was easier to get into work than usual (12mile, mixed road drive). All my company lorries have got to their destinations on time throught the UK. It is no longer a severe weather condition. Little wonder the youth often have the 'don't care' attitude. It is the example shown to them from the schools. Head teachers and caretakers should be held accountable for any closures. Particularly as this was predicted last week!

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AnotherSister says...
1:53pm Mon 21 Jan 13

I was at Porters Grange through the winter of 1962/1963 and it only closed for half of one day, due to the central heating breaking down. It was mended the same day and it was back to school as normal, regardless of what was falling from the sky and covering the ground. I can remember the snowdrifts in the streets being banked up at about 10ft high in places, yet it didn't prevent anybody from doing anything. We just got on with it.

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siddymint says...
1:56pm Mon 21 Jan 13

I asked my councilor he sent me
St. Nicholas School – passenger transport suspended

Westborough Primary and Nursery School – Due to Health & Safety (on a hill and has speed bumps) and not gritted. Hope to be open tomorrow – staff have been clearing site.

Eastwood Academy – No reason given

Porters Grange Primary and Nursery School – No reason given

Lancaster School – Cannot clear site, Health & Safety

Chase High School – closing at 10.30 am due to Boiler failure – not due to the snow

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lennyfy says...
2:09pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Essex Medja wrote:
There was a headmistress on the radio talking about "my pupils" and "my parents", totally arrogant. She said the school was closed because she had a responsibility for her staff in case they might skid on ice coming in to work.
How "nanny" can you get. Perhaps she might want to lay down a diet and exercise regime for them or draft instruction on how to boil a kettle!!!
This has got to be a wind up surely ! Can you imagine the outcry if the train companys announced " Sorry no trains today in case our drivers skid on ice comming into work"
This farce needs sorting " School closed - No pay " would be a start.

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emcee says...
2:22pm Mon 21 Jan 13

fredfoot wrote:
Why is Porters Grange closed when Sacred Heart School about 200 yards down the road is open?
Exactly

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emcee says...
2:42pm Mon 21 Jan 13

I think the Government needs to step in and sort this fiasco out. It really is becoming a farce. Kids miss their schooling, parents have to take time off work (some losing wages), all because either teachers cannot be bothered or head teachers make bad decisions based on an overactive health and saftey panic. Trouble is, as has already been said, head teachers are a law unto themselves. Nobody in authority has the balls to confront them about their decisions.
Schools must be made to be open, for teaching purposes, a minimum number of days a year. So for every day the schools close, due to "adverse weather", they should open during one of the school holidays. Simple.

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fredfoot says...
3:27pm Mon 21 Jan 13

I went to Eastwood school from 1949-1959 and we never shut once we all walked to school in those days.
I noticed passing Temple Sutton school all the children were playing out at play time on the field making snowmen and snow balls with the teachers why cannot other schools do the same?

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woolstone says...
3:56pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Some school closed because they do not have caretakers anymore to clear the snow from pathways due to government cutbacks, as schools have to follow the health and safety guidelines the school has to close. I

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HadleighBoy says...
4:00pm Mon 21 Jan 13

People who talk about "The Old Days" please remeber that in the "The Old Days" teachers all lived within walking distance of the school in the "The Old Days" school cartetakers lived on site. In the "The Old Days" no one sued becasue they slipped over. We have ended up with waht we deserve becasue we demand everything is cost effective and lots of people want something for nothing from any source including suing for no reason.
You reap what you sow I am afraid and that is what we have. Also no one in power can organise a "P*** in a brewery" they could make teachers go to their nearest school and have a plan.

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lennyfy says...
4:38pm Mon 21 Jan 13

emcee wrote:
I think the Government needs to step in and sort this fiasco out. It really is becoming a farce. Kids miss their schooling, parents have to take time off work (some losing wages), all because either teachers cannot be bothered or head teachers make bad decisions based on an overactive health and saftey panic. Trouble is, as has already been said, head teachers are a law unto themselves. Nobody in authority has the balls to confront them about their decisions.
Schools must be made to be open, for teaching purposes, a minimum number of days a year. So for every day the schools close, due to "adverse weather", they should open during one of the school holidays. Simple.
Great idea emcee.Tag every day lost onto the end of the school year that should focus the Heads mind before taking the desicision to close.

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tricklesthegreek says...
5:05pm Mon 21 Jan 13

We told the children to bring a change of clothes and we were open. Kids are too mollycoddled and common sense just needs to be exercised. It's the suing culture that's ruined things.

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woolstone says...
5:10pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Well emcee how do you think the pupils will feel about adding extra days due to the days lost over weather conditions ?

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Eric Whim says...
5:33pm Mon 21 Jan 13

happy duvet day everybody.........

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Antonius says...
5:48pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Essex Medja wrote:
There was a headmistress on the radio talking about "my pupils" and "my parents", totally arrogant. She said the school was closed because she had a responsibility for her staff in case they might skid on ice coming in to work.
How "nanny" can you get. Perhaps she might want to lay down a diet and exercise regime for them or draft instruction on how to boil a kettle!!!
It does make you wonder who they think they work for.
Utter stupidity.

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sosad 1 says...
8:12pm Mon 21 Jan 13

Democrat wrote:
sosad 1 wrote:
i went to school 1960 to 1970 they never shut once inc the winter of 63 we now have genarations of pc wimps
I went to school in the 50's and 60's and was taught by hard-nosed ex-WW2 soldiers, and yes, we did close when necessary.
you might be right democrat idid live opposite the school gates im just try ing to liven it it up its, like the at the school iwas at during the cuban crisis in the 60s icant remember doing nuclear attack stuff but the teachers were alrhigt when they been down the pub nite nite

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emcee says...
10:31pm Mon 21 Jan 13

woolstone wrote:
Well emcee how do you think the pupils will feel about adding extra days due to the days lost over weather conditions ?
What does it matter what the pupils will feel. They do not run the show. If they have to return to school a day or two early from the holidays or have to break up a day or two later, all because the head gave them a few days off due to "adverse weather", then that's tough. It is in their best interests, after all. It is their education at stake.

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the citizen says...
8:02am Tue 22 Jan 13

For goodness sake Evening Echo. Keep this page up to date !! Are all these schools closed today too? I don't think so. This is quite irresponsible journalism/web site management to still have yesterdays closed schools showing on today's web page.

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Antonius says...
10:17am Tue 22 Jan 13

Essex Medja wrote:

There was a headmistress on the radio talking about "my pupils" and "my parents", totally arrogant. ....................
.......

I quite agree. They are not "her" pupils or parents.

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Antonius says...
10:19am Tue 22 Jan 13

I do hope these schools make up the lost days at the end of term .

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r6keith says...
3:01pm Tue 22 Jan 13

Antonius wrote:
I do hope these schools make up the lost days at the end of term .
Thats all well and good ,but what about the parents that have booked something to go and see or do during the holidays should they loose out again.These schools should be open for the business of teaching thats what they are there for.
If the schools closed dont pay the teacher !

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emcee says...
4:41pm Tue 22 Jan 13

r6keith wrote:
Antonius wrote:
I do hope these schools make up the lost days at the end of term .
Thats all well and good ,but what about the parents that have booked something to go and see or do during the holidays should they loose out again.These schools should be open for the business of teaching thats what they are there for.
If the schools closed dont pay the teacher !
No, because that sort of ruling would have to be phased in. Schools (or the LA) would have to give advanced warning to the parents which week they will set aside the following year to cover the shortfall in teaching days that may have occured that year. This will ensure that parents do not make any plans.

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Letmetryagain says...
11:50am Thu 24 Jan 13

So a school can be closed at the drop of a hat, causing a lot of inconvenience to a lot of parents. Many of whom will lose a day's work, but they cannot add an extra day on to make up for it. Seems like a win win situation for the schools, and the teachers.

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emcee says...
4:49pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Letmetryagain wrote:
So a school can be closed at the drop of a hat, causing a lot of inconvenience to a lot of parents. Many of whom will lose a day's work, but they cannot add an extra day on to make up for it. Seems like a win win situation for the schools, and the teachers.
You've got it.

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Letmetryagain says...
7:45pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Take a kid out of school during term time, and there's all hell to pay.

It's acceptable to close a school because we have two inches (50mm) of snow.

Strange !

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