In response to the first fall of snow this winter, we would like to clarify our policy in the event of adverse weather so that you are clear about our expectations and procedures.

As a general rule, unless extreme weather conditions persist, you can assume that we will open, and remain open. We will do this both in order to provide education for the children and for the convenience of parents who themselves need to get to work. In the rare event that we decide to close the school on Health and Safety grounds, we will send a text as soon as possible, update the home page of the school website and notify the local authority and radio stations.

It may be that some of our staff who live a distance from the school, have difficulty in reaching us on time for the start of the school day: if this happens, it may well result in some disruption to the normal timetable. Staff do, however, make every effort to be here on time.

It is helpful if you do not telephone school to find out if we are open. Doing this ties up a member of staff to answer a busy phone line at a time when we need to be planning and preparing for the day. If there is a decision not to open, you will be sent a text, it will be announced on local radio and will appear on the banner of our website. If we have not contacted you to say school is closed, assume we are open as normal.

School could close during the course of the school day. In the extreme case, due to health and safety reasons, we have to make the decision to close school early, again you will be contacted by text. There will always be supervision of children until the end of the normal school day.

It would be helpful if you do not collect your child early on a snowy day (unless we have contacted you to say that school is closing early) as it can be very disruptive for the class as a whole if children are taken out of class. Please only consider this in extreme circumstances. If we need to close early we will contact you by text message.

If you normally collect your child from school and are unable to get here, then it is helpful if you can make arrangements with another parent. Do contact school to let us know your plans if you need to do this. Equally, if you will be late, and are unable to make arrangements for someone else to come, please telephone to let us know and we will provide safe accommodation inside the building until you arrive.

We do understand that some parents, especially those who do not live within easy walking distance, may feel that it is unsafe to try to get children to school. We also understand, if the weather is unusually extreme you may decide to be at home with your child. In these situations, please make your own decision with the best interests of Health and Safety and the needs of your individual child in mind.

In terms of children at play, the snow can certainly encourage imaginative play; we sometimes allow outdoor play if deemed safe to do so, but only for children wearing suitable, preferably waterproof, boots and a coat, hat and gloves. A spare pair of indoor shoes/PE pumps is desirable. To keep everyone safe, we do not allow any snowballing or kicking of snow. The children are not to make slides on snow or ice.

We hope this information is helpful to clarify our policy and we hope for snowy weekends rather than weekdays!