Carleton Endowed CE VA Primary School

Severe weather procedure

January 2024

During severe weather, we will endeavour to keep the school open, however many of our current staff travel some distance to get to school and on occasion we may be forced to close, particularly if there are floods, or if snow falls at crucial times such as early in the morning. Our key priority is always the safety of the children and staff and we will avoid putting anyone at risk.

If we are unable to get enough staff to school to open safely we will inform parents through our messaging service. If the weather is looking particularly bad parents may want to keep an eye on their mobile from 7.30am onwards. They can also check online to see the most up to date school closure list at any time on https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/school-closures. We will endeavour to make a decision as soon as possible to allow parents to make any necessary childcare arrangements.  If necessary we may decide to open late.

Parents should ensure that staff are in school before leaving their child at school for breakfast club.

If our school remains open during snowy weather, it will be for the children who can get here safely. Some of our children do not live locally, we ask that parents do not drive their children to school unless they feel it is safe to do so.

If there is heavy snow during the day and we feel we have to close the school early we will inform people as soon as possible through our messaging service. If parents need to drive  and feel that they  would like to collect their child early because of severe weather this is absolutely fine, they can  just call the school office and arrange to do so.

We will always endeavour to keep the school open until 3:15pm although this may be with a skeleton staff/volunteers as we need to allow staff from outlying areas to get away.

Hopefully we will not have to put these plans into operation and we will remain open. If it snows and the playgrounds are covered in snow we would normally allow the children to play outside. We would therefore ask the following:

  • Parents should ensure their child has a change of footwear, preferably (named) wellies for outside and a pair of indoor shoes.
  • Children also need warm outdoor clothes. (A change of socks and gloves is also very useful!)

We will only go outside if the children have appropriate clothing and the teachers feel it is safe to do so.

It is vital that we have up to date emergency contact details in place, and we request that parents inform us immediately of any changes.

If you have any weather concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at school.