What to do when the roads seem dangerous

[tara]

I have a mindee comming in the morning at 7am l take him to school with my children.My worry is the snow l hate driving in it and pushing the pushchair She called tonight saying that she wont know if her coach is running till morning understanable but is there ever a case a childminder can say she feels unsafe so will keep the children with her rather then going out if so what would you do over payment or dose that sound bad

[Blackhorse]

I have a LO that goes to nursery in the mornings.
I have to take her and back. Mum pays me for the full day so I asked if she is ok with me not taking her as I dont want to risk the journey.

Not sure how it would work for school children as they still have to get to school unless the schools are closed. If I felt that it was too dangreous or that I was not a good enough driver ( I dont mean this bad I mean if I felt I couldnt drive safely) then I woudl tell the parents and see wht their feedback was.

In my policy it says that if I am unable to work I dont charge...so if I am unable to go to school I might not charge them..
but then some people have a policy for occasions like that and they state that they will still charge...I dont have one (yet) so probably wouldnt be able to charge...

hopefully someone who knows more about this will come along soon!

[Pauline]

I suppose it is a case of telling the parents and seeing what they say, if you are happy to have the child home for the normal fee it would foster good relations, but equally you don't want to set a presidence for future snow or school closures and have the parent expect not to pay. Perhaps you could meet half way on the fees, if you explain the situation?

At the end of the day it is how you feel about it, you need to weigh up the possibility of working for almost nothing against risking going out in the bad weather.

If it were me personally, I don't think I would charge extra, but that is just my opinion, others will have their take on it too

[Adiamond]

I don't feel safe driving in this weather it is so dangerous out there......
My husband is off work this week so he is doing the driving for me!!! but if I had to drive to pick up from school I would tell the parents that I wouldn't be able to get to the school because of the weather and see what they say I am sure they would understand but I do state in my policy that I don't charge if I am unable to work (time to review my policies I think).x

[Zoomie]

My eldests school is about 30 mins walk away. We live at the bottom of a steep hill.

Last year, before I was minding, I met him on the way home with the ice and snow and it took us ages (with buggy), we slipped and slided and were freezing (DD was howling in the buggy ) by the time we got home. It was also dark by then.

I swore from then that if there was snow on the ground in the morning, and a forecast of more during the day I would not send him to school.

Twice this winter I have kept him off school and twice I was very glad.

You have to consider the welfare of all the children, including your own. Use the H&S trump card whenever you need it

[miffy]

I think you have to do whatever you feel comfortable with - if you don't want to drive then don't.

The other bits you will have to discuss with mum - suppose it depends on whether mindee comes to you and if the school is open - there might not be a problem.

Miffy xx

[mushpea]

I dont have a problem going out and playing in the snow and both schools are a 5mins walk from the house but mostly they close when it even looks like snow as non of the teachers are local, i did find out yesterday that if you live within the same town as the school you are legal obliged to get your child to school though.
I wouldnt like to drive in the dodgy wether but then having said that my partner drives for a living and at night when the weather is at its worst and he still goes to work so i guess you have to go with what ever you feel comfortable doing.