Memories of snow

The snow forecast for today turned out to be just a dusting - like icing sugar - but it brought back memories of the Big Snow that arrived 3 months ago on 6th December 2010. The quantity of snow and the speed at which it arrived was amazing. When I arrived at school that morning it was cold and raining. The weather forecast had predicted snow, and it arrived mid-morning looking very picturesque at first but soon it was lying very thickly. Everyone was looking out of the windows expecting it to go off but it was relentless. By Period 4 I was teaching a 1st year class a PSE lesson about autism and rumours were flying around the school that it was about to close. Sure enough the pupils were sent home at lunch-time and those that were on foot, the majority, made it home ok, but most of our pupils in the base travel by taxi and the taxis couldn't get to the school because the roads were jammed with snow and traffic. During the afternoon most of our pupils managed to get home; their parents collected them, a few local taxis got through, some staff helped pupils who lived nearby to walk home. But the taxis from the outlying areas couldn't get to us and by tea-time Jackie and I still had 7 pupils with us. There were other staff stranded at school too, and someone went up to the chip shop and got us and the pupils fish suppers. Meanwhile Ally walked all the way home from his school, which took him more than 3 hours, he and his friends were helping drivers by pushing them up the hill on Kings Park Avenue. James tried to drive home but had to abandon the car in Rutherglen and walked home from there. And David was stranded at school in Newton Mearns, however Olivia and Neil very kindly kept him overnight so it was good to know that he was safe.
At nine o'clock at night a minibus turned up at the school with 3 drivers, they thought that the pupils were from the local area and were understandably uneasy when they found out that they would have to go further afield. After a short discussion among themselves they decided to go for it. We arranged for the parents to meet us at several "pick-up points" and I went as the bus escort. About 14 members of staff were stranded overnight but at least they didn't have to worry about the pupils any more. And our Duke of Edinburgh sleeping bags came in handy!
So off we set into a winter wonderland; every tree and fence was piled high with snow, the roads were almost impassable - thick with snow that was like ice, cars abandoned everywhere, traffic jams at every roundabout. The bus drivers took turns getting out of the bus to push it or to dig out the front wheels. We had to go on the wrong side of the road because of abandoned vehicles, with one of the drivers scouting ahead to make sure it was safe. We had to back up to take a run at slopes, and as we went down the hill we passed huge queues trying to get up it, the cars were just sliding around. It was a journey that I will never forget, scary but also very beautiful, the landscape was transformed out of all recognition by the snow. The pupils were great and the parents were all waiting where they should be, very pleased to see their children. By 9.45 the pupils were all safely delivered and I asked the bus drivers dropped me off about a mile from home so that they could set off back up the hill, they were fantastic. I started trudging home through deep snow, but was soon offered a lift by a friendly Landrover driver. By the time I arrived home at 10 James had walked back to Rutherglen to retrieve his car and he and Ally were busy digging out the driveway. All's well that end well and I was so relieved that all the pupils were home safe and that my family were all safe. I certainly slept well that night. The school was closed for the next few days because of the snow - in more than twenty years of teaching that has never happened at any of my schools, which shows how unusual the situation was.
So here we are in March. The experience hasn't put me off snow but I'm hoping that my favourite season of Spring is just around the corner.