Emergency Closure Procedure

There are a number of reasons why the school may have to close unexpectedly, but the most likely scenario would be because of bad weather.

Staff will attempt to arrive at school suitably early to make an inspection to ascertain whether the site is safe.  Consideration will also need to be taken of any difficulties staff may have in respect of getting to school, whether walking or coming from further afield.

Once it is clearer what the situation is, we would endeavour to notify parents by 8.00am if school is going to be closed, or there is to be a delayed opening.  This will be via a message on the home page of the school website first (and then followed up by a message through Arbor, which may take some time to come through if lots of schools are having to send closure messages, due to Arbor system capacity).

We may then also need to adjust closing hours to suit weather conditions and the safety of everyone throughout the day.

In the event of a closure, work will be placed on Google Classroom for the children to complete.

Once conditions improve and if we need to clear the playground to provide safe access, a notice will be posted on the website and Arbor messages will be circulated requesting help from those parents who are able to do so.

If the school is ever forced to close early during the day because of severe weather conditions, or any other emergency, all children will be safely supervised by staff until collected.  We will contact parents/carers via Arbor, and upon arrival at school, parents will be asked to wait in the hall for their children.  Teaching Assistants will check and sign all children out as parents/carers collect.  As in normal circumstances, no child will be released to another parent unless we have heard from the child's parent directly to authorise this.

 Updated  20 November 2024