Emergency Closure Policy

We aim to inform staff and parents immediately if we are unable to open due to an emergency.

Staff and parents will be informed by phone or text except in extreme bad weather conditions where parents can consult the Hillary Primary School website.

This information will also be made available to local Radio Stations if appropriate.

If we have been unable to contact some parents the Headteacher or deputy will endeavour to be on site or arrange for a closure notice to be displayed.

If we have an emergency when the school is open we will follow the emergency evacuation for the fire drill if appropriate. The welfare of the children is paramount.

We will implement the emergency closure in the follow events:-

Extreme bad weather

No heating and hot water

Fire damage

A bereavement

Incident on school premises

High levels of sickness among staff and children

Notifiable diseases

If there is an outbreak of any of the listed notifiable diseases we will act on advice from the Health Protection Agency.

Procedures in place for an emergency closure:-

Staff are aware of their roles in an emergency evacuation. We have regular evacuation drills which are evaluated. These are discussed at staff meetings.

On evacuation the register is taken along with the phone.

We will record the incident on an incident form which will be filed with the Health and Safety co-ordinator.

It is the responsibility of the Health and Safety co-ordinator at Hillary Primary School to inform the utility services.

All emergency exits are clearly marked and staff are aware of assembly points. The Headteacher /or deputy Headteacher will inform parents when the building is reopened, except when this is for bad weather.

To be reviewed July 2021