It has been suggested some schools may close on snowy days partly to protect pupil attendance figures - as poor attendance counts against annual attendance targets, while closing a school entirely does not.

The Government could solve this by allowing governing bodies to designate certain school days, after the event, as “difficult attendance days”. The school would then exclude these from its annual attendance calculation. Governors would be held accountable for their designation.

Thus, figures would be comparable between schools that have decided to close for the last week or so and those that have made considerable effort to stay open.

John Atkins, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.