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Exceptional Weather and School Closures

Exceptional Weather

In the event of exceptional weather, we will advise of any changes to arrangements, including any concessions to the uniform policy. Advice we offer will be response to guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office. The Met Office has a dedicated page for Heat Health and a page for Weather Warnings.

Hot Weather

Sunscreen

In addition to having sunscreen applied before school, children may bring with them a sunscreen that they can apply independently during the school day. If your child does not already apply sunscreen independently, please give them suitable direction and opportunity to practice at home.

Your child's class teacher will remind children to use sunscreen (we suggest factor 50 with UVA protection) to protect their skin if they will be playing or taking lessons outdoors for more than 20 minutes.

Outside Activities

The time that children spend outside will be limited when UV levels are high.

Children will not take part in vigorous physical activity during a heatwave.

When outside, children will be encouraged to stay in the shade as much as possible.

All children should bring with them to school a wide brimmed sunhat to wear when outside.

Children should continue to wear clothes from our uniform, as set out on our website - a cotton shirt and either shorts or a skirt. Children may also bring a sunhat or baseball hat. Children are not required to wear jumper or cardigan during hot weather.

Hydration

All children should bring with them to school a plastic (not glass) bottle that can be refilled periodically throughout the day with fresh water. All classrooms have fresh water taps for refilling bottles and we also have three chilled water stations around school. Some children consistently arrive at school without a bottle - please make sure that your child always brings one with them. Children will be encouraged to drink more water when the weather is hot.

School Closures

From time to time, events beyond our control will mean that the school has to be closed in order to maintain the safety of the children and staff who attend each day. We define such an instance as 'an event which threatens the safety of children, staff or the school premises'.

The School takes any decision to close very seriously and acknowledges that closure may have significant impact upon arrangements that parents and carers will need to make in order to care for their children if they are not attending school.

The school considers the factors that may contribute to a closure with the School Policies in mind at all times. We also liaise with Hook Infant School to reach our decision, which may result in the closure of both schools.

Make Sure We Can Contact You

In order for us to effectively communicate with you, it is essential that we hold a record of your current contact details. We ask all parents and carers to provide us with appropriate conact details at the start of the Academic year. If your contact details have changed since the start of the Academic year in September, please advise us of these changes by contacting the school office.

Communicating With You

In the event of a closure, we will communicate with you formally using these mediums: