Snow and Extreme Weather Procedure 2021-22

There are times when the weather is so severe, e.g. heavy snowfall, that it is considered that the health and safety of pupils and staff are best served by closing the school.

Our School Closure Procedure:

• We will aim to inform parents by 7.45 am if the school is going to close *
• If conditions deteriorate during a school day, a decision may be made to close the school early or to end after school provisions/ clubs early. We will send a text to inform parents to collect children as soon as possible should this decision by made.

Please do not ring the school. Staff will be busy implemented our procedure; we also need phone lines free. We will not have capacity to answer individual approaches.

Information about school closure will be communicated to parents through:

• Parent Mail (email or SMS)
• Class Dojo
• School website: http://www.blackbrookschool.com/
• Somerset County Council website https://slp.somerset.org.uk/SitePages/Home.aspx.

The following radio stations should pick up school closures information from the above website for broadcast/publication on their website:

· BBC – Somerset Sound. 95.5 FM, 1566 MHz

· Heart FM. 102.6 FM, 96.5 FM (Taunton Area)

· Breeze FM. 100.8 FM, 102.4 FM, or 107.4 FM

· Tone FM 107.8 FM (Taunton & surrounding areas).

If the school is open on a snow day:

• A flexible start, from 8.50am - 9.30am, will be implemented to help avoid congestion on the roads and pavements outside school and improve safety.
• Children who are due to have a hot dinner will need to arrive with a packed lunch if our Trust kitchen is closed; we will text you once we know this information.
• It would be advisable for children to wear wellies and have spare warm clothing.

Parents should not take any unnecessary risks trying to get their children to school; we recognise dangerous conditions can be very localised and that conditions can change quickly.

*Criteria we consider before closing the school.

1. Can parents, pupils and staff access the school building safely?
2. Are pedestrian routes in to school safe and accessible?
3. In an emergency, could the Emergency Services access the school?
4. Have local weather forecasts and road conditions, including those for areas from which staff will be travelling, been considered?
5. Are there any areas within the school locality particularly impassable or dangerous in times of extreme bad weather?
6. Are there any Met Office warnings available and what is the forecast? (i.e Is the severe weather likely to clear quickly and allow safe access to the school building? Is more severe weather likely?)
7. Can the school premises be heated?
8. Is there provision of water for sanitary use or drinking?
9. Can enough teaching staff and teaching assistants attend school to ensure the adequate supervision of pupils? (Many of our staff commute from areas well beyond Taunton)

We recognise that any decision to close the school can be costly and inconvenient but the health and safety of our staff and our pupils are paramount.