Adverse Weather and School Closure Procedures

In the case of adverse weather, such as very heavy snow, the school may have to close at short notice. The reasons for such a closure is consideration for the safety of families and staff who have to use local roads to travel to and from school together with the safety and well-being of the staff and children in school. Other reasons for closure are flooding, storm damage to buildings, loss of heating (in cold weather) or water supply. In such circumstances the over-riding priority will be the safety and well-being of the children and the staff who work with them.

In all of the above circumstances the headteacher will always act in the best interests of children and staff. If children and staff are safe, warm and have a water supply the school will not be closed unnecessarily.

However, in the event that the school does have to close the headteacher will:

• contact staff in order that they do not have to make unnecessary journeys on treacherous roads.
• contact the local radio stations (BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Q103) to inform them. They will broadcast regular bulletins - so please tune in.
• Put a message on the school website... please log on.
• try to ensure that adults are in school to man the telephones, place school closure signs outside the main entrances and contact parents should children turn up unaccompanied.

If the weather is very poor (e.g. very heavy snow, storms or flooding) when you wake up please log on to the school website and/or listen to the local radio stations rather than phoning the school - the school will probably be inundated with calls! The headteacher will try to put a message on the website by 8.00am. If you do call the school staff answering the phone will ask you to phone other parents to inform them if the school is closed. This will help to inform everyone quickly. You may wish to establish a 'telephone tree' in advance to help us, nominating one person to call the school and then cascading the information to other parents who in turn pass the information on.

If the weather/conditions become very poor during the school day when the school is open, we will endeavour to keep children in school for the normal hours if it is safe to do so. If, in the unlikely event, we have to close the school before the end of the school day we will telephone parents using their contact numbers. (Please make sure we have your home/mobile/work telephone numbers). We will ask parents to help us by telephoning other parents - another good reason to establish a 'telephone tree'.

We will not send children home unaccompanied or if there is no-one at home. Children will remain with staff at school until they are collected or parents request that we send them home.

We thank parents and carers for their support of this guidance. We know that you will trust us to make a considered decision with the well-being of our school community at heart.