First of all, I need to assure you that the school will only close if the building is not safe or routes home for children are threatened, ie bridges closed or routes flooded, or we are unable to staff our school as most teachers live outside of our catchment area.

Closure before the start of the school day due to severe weather

If we were to close the school before school starts we will inform you in the following ways:

• A message will appear on the school’s website by 7:30 am each day (although we will aim to be sooner) and we will update the website with information, as far as possible, during the day.
• A text message and email will be sent to all parents, whose details we have and that are up to date, by or shortly after 7.30am. Please let us have your up to date contact details if you have not already done so.
• Broadcasts by the following Radio Stations –
  - Somerset Sound 95.5 FM 1566MHz
  - Heart FM 102.6FM [96.5FM Taunton Area]

If the decision to close school before the start of the day is made, arrangements for remote learning will be put in place as follows:

• All students will receive a link to complete the Daily Check In form via Class Charts before 8.00am. Daily Check in should be completed by 9.00am in place of tutorial.
• Learning will be set following the normal school timetable for each subject for that day. Learning will be set via Class Charts and will be a mixture of ‘live’ and independent learning.
• Students will be able to contact their teachers for support with lessons throughout the day via their Courtfields.net emails.
  

Closure during the school day:
Our priority is to keep all students calm and safe, therefore, please follow these instructions so we can keep the children calm and reassured that they are safe.  DO NOT phone/text your child/ren as it causes them alarm and other children to panic.

If for any reason weather forces us to close during the school day we will inform you in the following way:

• We will put information on our website. Those parents who have given us their email addresses and text contacts, we will send you a message. This message will direct you to the school website which is where we will put all advice/instructions.  Again, please do not text or phone your child at this point as it will cause panic and over-excitement.  I have attached a flow chart which I hope will reassure you about what will happen.  We do need to do things in an orderly and safe fashion, as I know you will appreciate.  Please keep an eye on our website if you are concerned during the day, but do not phone or text your child who will most likely be in a lesson, learning.
• Once we have informed you via text, e-mail or on our website, we will inform students that the school is closing and dismiss students who will then walk home. If any student is concerned, they must tell their teacher so that we can contact their parent directly to make arrangements for the child to leave the school site.
•     Normally, the school bus will arrive early to ensure that students who catch the bus are able to get home. This is at the bus company’s discretion and we usually have a call from them telling us they will arrive early. We will let you know if this is the case.
• If a parent or carer comes to the school to collect their child – as agreed with the school – students must sign out. Please make sure students sign out if you collect them. You will need to wait in Reception while we collect your child/ren; please be patient as we will be doing all we can.

As most of our students are able to walk to and from school, we will stay open for as long as we possibly can and, although there may not be enough teachers to teach lessons, we will provide supervised activities for Years 10 and 11 in the main hall and for Years 7, 8 and 9 in the sports hall, so that students can remain in school even though normal lessons will be disrupted. This is to allow parents the comfort of knowing their children are safe and supervised.

In the event of school closure during the day, students are expected to complete the relevant shielding work for any remaining lessons they would have had that day. Shielding work can be accessed on Class Charts by searching by date due and setting the date to the 8th of April. Teachers will be available for support via their Courtfields.net emails, however there may be some delay while staff supervise those remaining on site and travel home themselves. If a student cannot complete work for a lesson while waiting for support, they should move on to the next subject while they wait.

Transporting Somerset has set up a website to advise parents about bus routes out of operation or restricted routes.  In an effort to improve communication with parents, Transporting Somerset has asked for parents to look at their website (www.somerset.gov.uk/badweathertransport) before phoning for information.

Everything reasonably possible will be done to ensure children’s safety and well-being.

If you do not receive information from the school to the contrary, please assume that school will be open as usual.

In times of adverse weather, students are permitted to wear suitable footwear (eg wellington boots, trainers) on the way to and from school but will need to bring their school shoes to change into once in school.  In emergencies such as school closure, the driveway to the school will be closed.

Thank you for your support with this.  Our intention is to ensure all students are safe and are not alarmed in any way.

Adverse weather flowchart for parents for more information.