FARNHAM & RICKLING - EMERGENCY SCHOOL CLOSURE PLAN

In the event of the school having to close due to bad weather, boiler breakdown or any other circumstances that lead to the school being cut off or not being available to the staff and pupils, the following 'Emergency Closure Plan' will come into force:

PLAN 1: Closure before the school has opened for the day

1. The decision to close will be taken by the Headteacher and Chair of Governors by approximately 8:00am. Information will be on the Federation website and a parent mail/email will be sent as soon as possible after the decision to close has been made.

2. The Headteacher will start the contact of all staff members due at the school that day.

3. The Office Manager/Teachers on duty that day will contact parents via email/Parentmail.

4. School closures will also appear on the Essex County Council website.

5. This process will be repeated the following morning/s if the school is to remain closed.

   https://www.essex.gov.uk/emergency-school-closures

PLAN 2: Later Opening

Please note in the event of inclement weather, or any other circumstances, the School will have a later start time of 10:00am. Should it not be possible to open the School at this later start time, or in the event of an emergency, the following Emergency procedure will take place:

1. The decision to close will be taken by the Headteacher and Chair of Governors.

2. The Headteacher will start the contact of all staff members due at the school that day.

3. The Office manager/Teachers on duty that day will contact parents via email/Parentmail.

PLAN 3: Closure during the school day:

1. The decision to close will be taken by the Headteacher and Chair of Governors.

2. The Headteacher will inform all staff on the premises.

3. The Office Manager/or any available staff will contact the parents via email/parentmail.

4. Arrangements can be made for children to go home with friends if parents are going to be delayed in getting to the school, providing the school is notified of these arrangements.

5. Parents will be advised if the school will be open the following day. If that information is not available at the time of closure, PLAN 1 will come into force the following morning if the school is to remain closed.

Information Specific to Farnham

In the event of flooding and/or road closure we will follow the steps below:

1. The Headteacher will make contact with named local residents in the event that flooding looks likely for the next day, or in the morning before opening.

2. If local residents report the roads to unsafe, or closed, and none of the routes on the map below are available to access school, the headteacher will make a closure decision.

3. This decision will be communicated to staff and parents as close to 8am as possible, via the Emergency Whats App group and email.

4. When we predict a closure or difficulty with roads, we will do our best to warn the day before.

5. No news from school means that the school is open.