Schools play catch-up after closure

The big freeze may have thawed slightly, but its knock-on effects were still being felt today as hundreds of schools across the Black Country and Staffordshire played catch-up after losing two days of lessons to the ice and snow.

Thousands of children returned after having yesterday and Monday off due to the weather. However, schools that remained open today stressed the importance of doing so, saying it taught pupils lessons in commitment and prepared them for the world of work.

In Wolverhampton, all of the 19 council-controlled secondary schools were closed apart from Highfields Science Specialist School in Penn and Smestow Specialist Sports College in Castlecroft.

Only 10 of the city's 62 primary schools opened their gates. Among them was Villiers Primary in Prouds Lane, Bilston, which is the largest in Wolverhampton with more than 600 pupils.

Headteacher Sally Lanni said: "It is important that children learn about the need to continue with normal commitments wherever possible and that the weather should not really affect what they normally do – this is part of their citizenship education and preparation for adulthood.

Wolverhampton Grammar School was closed on both days.

Deputy headteacher Peter Hills said today: "It is always a concern when a student's education is disrupted in this way. However, our teachers are consistently working with students in areas such as independent learning and forward planning, so that a short disruption does not have an undue impact on their learning."

In Walsall, 102 schools closed, 107 did so in Dudley and 32 Sandwell. Many closed in South Staffordshire but only a few more across the rest of the county.

A few schools remained closed today. In Walsall, Barr Beacon Language College, Brownhills CTC, Frank F Harrison were all shut, as were St Bartholomew's Primary and Moreton Community School in Wolverhampton, Sedgley's Beacon Centre For The Blind and High Arcal School, along with Hednesford Valley High and Kingsmead Technology College in Hednesford.

Moorlands Primary School in West Bromwich, St Michael's CofE High in Rowley Regis and Whitgreave School in Featherstone were also closed.