School Closures and Safety Arrangements

At Crowmarsh Gifford C of E Primary School, the safety and wellbeing of our children and staff is always our priority.

We have procedures in place to respond to a range of situations that may affect the normal running of the school, including severe weather, unexpected school closures and incidents that require us to take additional safety precautions.

We aim to keep parents and carers informed as quickly as possible whenever an incident affects the school day.

How You Can Help Us Keep Everyone Safe

1. Read the information below. Familiarise yourself with our school closure and lockdown procedures so you know what to expect and what to do if an unexpected situation arises.

2. Keep your contact details up to date. It is important that we can contact parents and carers quickly. Please ensure that your contact details and emergency contact information are kept up to date through the school office.

3. Monitor school communications and instructions. In the event of a school closure or lockdown, please monitor your emails and the school website for updates. Follow any instructions provided by the school to help us keep everyone safe.

School Closure Procedures

School Closures

The safety of our children and staff is always our priority. We will do everything we can to keep the school open. However, there may be occasions when we need to close the school or make changes to the normal school day.

We appreciate that school closures can cause significant disruption to families and will always aim to make decisions as early as possible.

If you think the school may be closed, please check the school website and monitor your emails rather than telephoning the school.

During closure, our office team may be unable to answer calls, and we need to keep telephone lines available for essential communication.

Overnight Snow and Severe Weather

The decision to close the school will be made by the Headteacher and Chair of Governors, taking into account the information available at the time.

The key factors we consider include:

Staffing: Whether sufficient staff can travel to school safely to provide appropriate supervision and education for the children.
Site safety: Whether the school buildings, grounds and access routes are safe for children, staff and visitors.
Weather conditions: Current conditions, weather forecasts and the potential for conditions to deteriorate during the school day.
School meals: Whether we can provide suitable food for children, particularly if deliveries or catering arrangements are disrupted.

We will aim to communicate any decision to close the school as early as possible. However, some decisions may need to be made at short notice as weather conditions and staffing arrangements become clearer.

How Will We Communicate a School Closure?

If the school needs to close, we will inform parents and carers through:

The school website.
Arbor communications (email).

Please ensure that your contact details are up to date and check these communication channels regularly during periods of severe weather.

Snow During the School Day

If weather conditions deteriorate during the school day, we may need to close the school early to ensure that children and staff can travel home safely.

If this happens, we will notify parents and carers through our usual communication channels and provide information about collection arrangements.

Please monitor your emails and the school website for updates. We will not be able to telephone every family individually.

Children will remain supervised until they are collected in accordance with the school's arrangements.

School Lunches

During periods of severe weather, food deliveries may be delayed or cancelled, even if the school remains open.

Where there is uncertainty about the availability of school meals, we may ask parents to provide a packed lunch. We will communicate any changes to catering arrangements as soon as possible.

If we are unable to provide suitable meals for children who require them, this will be considered when deciding whether the school can remain open safely.

If You Work Outside the Local Area

If you work some distance from the school, please consider making arrangements with a trusted adult who lives closer to the school and could collect your child if an early closure becomes necessary.

Please ensure that the school is aware of any alternative collection arrangements and that the person collecting your child is authorised to do so.

How Can Parents and Carers Help?

During periods of severe weather, we ask that you:

Check the school website and monitor your emails regularly for updates.
Avoid telephoning the school unless absolutely necessary, keeping our telephone lines available for essential communication.
Ensure that your emergency contact details and alternative collection arrangements are up to date.
Allow additional time for journeys and take care when travelling to and from school.
Follow any instructions issued by the school regarding closures, delayed opening or early collection.

We recognise that school closures can be inconvenient for families. Please be assured that any decision to close the school will be carefully considered, with the safety and wellbeing of our children and staff at the heart of our decision-making.

School Lockdown Procedure

Like all schools, we have procedures in place to help keep children and staff safe in the event of a potential threat or incident in or around the school.

A lockdown is a precautionary safety measure that may be used when it is considered safer for children and staff to remain inside the school buildings.

A lockdown does not necessarily mean that there is an immediate threat to the school. It may be implemented as a precaution following advice from the police or other relevant authorities.

What happens during a lockdown?

If a lockdown is initiated:

Children and staff will remain inside the school buildings and follow our established safety procedures.
External doors will be secured, and movement around the school will be restricted.
Children will remain with staff, who will provide reassurance and support.
Normal school activities, including drop-off and collection arrangements, may be temporarily suspended.

Our staff are familiar with the school's lockdown procedures, and we will always act in the best interests of the children in our care.

How will parents and carers be informed?

We understand that parents and carers may feel concerned if they hear that the school has initiated a lockdown.

Where it is safe and appropriate to do so, we will communicate with parents and carers through our usual school communication channels.

We will aim to provide timely updates, including confirmation when the lockdown has ended and information about any changes to collection arrangements.

During a lockdown, we ask parents and carers to:

Remain calm and follow any instructions communicated by the school.
Avoid telephoning the school unless absolutely necessary, so that staff can focus on managing the situation.
Avoid coming to the school unless specifically instructed to do so, as this may place you or others at risk or interfere with emergency services.
Avoid contacting children directly, as they may need to remain quiet and follow staff instructions.
Wait for confirmation from the school before attempting to collect your child.

Please be assured that children will remain in the care of school staff throughout a lockdown. We will inform parents and carers as soon as it is safe and appropriate to do so.

Practising Our Lockdown Procedures

As part of our commitment to keeping everyone safe, we practise our lockdown procedures with children and staff, just as we practise our fire evacuation procedures.

These practices are carried out in a calm, age-appropriate and reassuring way, helping children and staff understand what to do should a lockdown ever be necessary.

Our aim is to ensure that everyone is familiar with the procedures and can respond calmly and confidently if needed.