Posted by: mediaofficer,
Schools will make every effort to stay open in adverse weather
conditions, including storms, snow and heatwaves. However, the
safety of pupils and teachers is a top priority.
On rare occasions schools do sometimes
need to close or operate at a reduced level.
Who decides if schools should close?
Schools and other education settings set their own plans and
policies on how to deal with adverse weather conditions.
It’s up to schools to decide on whether it is safe for them to
open or close based on their own risk assessment and taking local
issues into account.
How should schools and councils inform parents?
Schools will have their own approaches to contacting parents, in
many circumstances they have their own apps and/or messaging
services.
Schools will try to give parents as much notice as possible but
sometimes decisions will be made quite late as circumstances
change.
What things should schools consider when deciding whether
to close?
Decisions will be made locally based on common sense and there
are a large range of things that schools will consider.
This could include where staffing levels can’t be met because
transport issues are preventing teachers from getting to work.
Other examples include safety conditions around the school,
temperatures in school buildings and more.
If they do decide to temporarily close during severe weather,
they should consider moving to remote learning for pupils until
it is safe to reopen.
What if it’s unsafe to travel to school?
Parents should not send their children to school if they believe
it is unsafe to travel.
Instead, they should inform the school as soon as possible to let
them know their child will not be attending and why (in line with
the school’s absence policy).
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