In severe weather parents and students should assume the school is OPEN unless there is an email message saying we are closed. We will also update the school Facebook page. In all but the most exceptional of circumstances, this decision will be taken before 7.30am.  

Our status can also be checked on the Buckinghamshire Council website via the link below.  We will notify the local authority in the case of a closure, who then display this on their web page.  

Check if your school is closed | School Closures and Bus Disruptions

Why do schools close due to bad weather? 

Snow can be a major inconvenience to people who have to travel, particularly in a rural community such as ours. We also know that school closures present further problems with regard to childcare for working parents. So why do schools close when it snows, when most other businesses manage to stay open? 

The key issue is the safety of pupils and staff. This includes weighing up many different risks regarding travelling to school, site safety and pupil supervision on site. Shutting our school is the very last option for us and is not a decision that is taken lightly. Maintaining the rhythm of learning is extremely important, but we have to balance that against the risks to our students and staff. 

In the event of severe weather conditions we liaise closely with our local transport companies. As well as monitoring local weather reports, we contact staff in areas that form our catchment to assess the travel conditions that might be affecting pupils and staff who come to school by car and bus. We also aim to clear the access roads to our site and ensure it is safe for the children to return to once the worst of the poor weather is over. 

If we do not feel that it is safe for students or staff to travel we will close. This reduces the number of vehicles on icy roads at peak times. Furthermore, we will close if we feel that we will not have sufficient members of staff on site to allow us to effectively supervise our students or if the site is unsafe due to snow, ice, or loss of water or electricity. We have a responsibility not just for the safety of our staff but also for your children. 

In the event of any school closure and especially if it is for more than one day, we will clearly signpost work for our students to do at home via Arbor. Class teachers will set work remotely as ‘assignments’ to complete in advance of the next lesson. If there is a reason a staff member cannot set work directly, we advise parents and carers to access our self directed learning resources at Sparx Maths, Sparx Reader, Seneca and Educake. Your child will have logins to all of these resources, and in the event that they do not, further excellent resources can be found through Year listing | Oak National Academy & Home - BBC Bitesize. Finally, we publish extensive guidance on self-directed revision which can be found here: Revision Support — Sir Thomas Fremantle School