Anthony Gell School Practice and Procedures – Snow
It is our intention to open as normal during periods of inclement weather. We take our responsibilities to educate and care for young people seriously, and are aware of the impact on parents and carers if the school is closed at short notice. However, careful assessment needs to be made about whether opening in snowy conditions is appropriate. There are several factors to consider. These include:
- The severity of the weather at the time.
- The forecast and likelihood of change in the weather.
- The condition of the school site, and our ability to offer lessons in school.
- Access to the school via local and regional roads for staff and students.
- Operation of School Transport.
We endeavour to provide parents with as much notice as we can. Our website will be regularly updated during periods of challenging weather.
On days of snow or ice, early inspection of the site is conducted to establish whether the site is safe, dependent upon the above factors. If the site is deemed safe, further checks are conducted throughout the day – the weather may deteriorate, the forecast may change, the ability of school transport may change or unforeseen other factors may impact on our ability to operate. Therefore, we may be forced to close during the course of a school day. Again, we will always try to provide parents with as much notice as possible and make every effort to ensure pupils and staff can leave the school and return home safely.
We will use the following methods to communicate with parents:
- Information will be on the landing page of our school website.
- Information will be posted to our Twitter feed.
- We will aim to email parents via the ParentPay platform and our School information System (Sometimes heavy use by many schools can cause delays to messages getting through)
- Information will be updated to the Derbyshire County Council website
Sometimes these judgments are difficult. We appreciate your patience and understanding at these times.
