Bad Weather Plan

Rationale:

At Epworth Education Trust, we want to ensure that in the event of heavy snowfall or extreme weather conditions, adequate measures are in place to enable our schools to remain open.  It is always the school’s priority to remain open in order to maintain high standards of learning.  To this end, our site staff work tirelessly to ensure that the site is safe for pupils, staff and visitors.

Aims

This plan aims to:-

• Keep pupils and staff aware of our priorities in extreme weather conditions
• Keep parents/carers updated on our methods of communication
• Prevent pupils and staff from being stranded at school
• Reduce unnecessary risks
• Reduce accidents in the school

Procedure:

In the event of heavy snowfall, where the school is unable to guarantee a full capacity of staff, a decision will be taken by the Headteacher and Chair of Governors as to whether to close the school. Where no updates have been provided, parents and pupils should assume that the school is open as normal.  However, if a decision is made to close, this will be communicated out to parents/carers and staff as soon as possible.

School Closure

In the event of school closure, a member of staff will, where possible, be available on site to ensure that messages and communication are maintained for the first few hours of closure; thereafter the school site will be closed and unmanned.

Decisions taken by the Headteacher and Chair of Governors for ‘School Closure’, will be communicated by the following means:

• Email to parents (via Arbor)
• Message to parents via Class Dojo
• Published on the school website and Wigan Council website (www.wigan.gov.uk)
• Published on the school's social media pages: Twitter

School Closure during the School Day

In the event of heavy snowfall during the school day, a decision will be taken by the Headteacher and the Chair of Governors as to whether the school should remain open or not, taking into account the safety of all pupils and staff. If a decision is made for an early closure, the communication methods will remain the same as in full school closure.

Given the event of bad weather, the school advises all pupils, staff and visitors to wrap up warmly and wear sensible footwear.