St Mary and St Chad First School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, staff and volunteers at the school.

Snow and Bad Weather Policy

In the event of disruption caused by heavy snow or other bad weather conditions, the prime concern of the school must always be the safety of children and staff. The decision to close the school will take account of the safety of all our children and staff, some of whom travel a great distance to school each day.  We will always endeavour to open the school in the event of bad weather, as long as it is safe to do so.

If the school is open in snow or bad weather, the decision as to whether or not to send a pupil to school, however, must be at the discretion of the parent, taking into account factors such as local road conditions and the availability of child care.

The school appreciates that during bad weather, children may arrive later than normal and parents should endeavour to contact the school to let them know they are on their way if likely to be delayed. The school recognises there will be isolated instances where families are cut off, even where the clear majority of children can get into school. In such instances, parents should inform the school of the circumstances of this exceptional situation, as the school has a duty to clarify the circumstances of each case so as to be able to formally authorise the absence to the Local Authority.  Parents acting on the assumption that the school would be closed without gaining confirmation, or failing to inform the school of the circumstances that prevents the child coming into school, risks their child being registered as an un-authorised absence.

In the event of bad weather, parents should check to see if the school is open before travelling to the site.  The school will endeavour to contact parents via the text messaging service and also by email if the school is to be closed due to snow or bad weather. A notice will also be put on the school website and added to the list of school closures on the Staffordshire Council Website. 

If the school is closed, we will try and make a decision as early as possible and will intend to re-open as soon as we can.

If the school does open, but extreme weather develops during the day, we will aim to remain open until the end of the normal school day.  However, this is not always possible when roads are becoming treacherous.  In which case, parents will be contacted via text and asked to collect their children as soon as possible.  Under these conditions, we will take verbal permission for their child/children to be collected by a nominated adult.  Normal lessons may be curtailed and the remaining pupils assembled in groups under the supervision of authorised members of staff to await collection. All children will be cared for by a member of staff until collection. 

Staff will always make every reasonable effort to undertake the journey to school.  It is appreciated that the journey may take longer than normal and therefore some staff may not be able to arrive before the normal start of the school day.  It may be necessary to ask all children to bring packed lunches if the kitchen staff are unable to reach school safely.