Severe Weather Guidance

School Closure Due to Severe Weather Conditions

Occasionally it has been necessary to close the school due to severe weather.  When making a decision to close the school, there are a number of issues that have to be considered:

  • Many students are reliant on public buses. We need to be sure that the buses will run and that journeys are safe.
  • Many of our staff live some distance from school.  We have to be confident that there will be sufficient staff able to get here in order to teach the students.  We have to ensure a safe level of supervision.
  • The condition of the site – is it safe for students and staff to move around the school? Clearing paths and gritting takes a long time on a big site such as this one.  It is a difficult decision to make and parents will appreciate the dilemma between giving everyone sufficient notice of closure and trying to guess what road and weather conditions will be between 8.00am and 8.30am.
  • A decision will be made by 7.00am on the day.  It is possible that a decision will be taken to open the school but with a delayed starting time.  
  • Our decision will be posted on the school’s website and parents/carers will be emailed/sent a text.
  • In the event of the school having to close due to severe weather all lessons will be set remotely.
  • If no closure message is texted/emailed or there is nothing on our website this means that we intend to open and all staff and students will be expected to attend.

Closure during the school day

On occasion, weather conditions can deteriorate over the day and the school may have to close early so that students and staff can get home safely.  If this occurs, we will notify all parents via email and text and keep everyone informed of developments through our website.

When the school closes I appreciate how inconvenient and difficult this is for families and how disruptive it is for students’ learning.  My primary concern has to be the safety of the students and staff.  Please be assured I will not take this decision lightly

K.​BOYLE
Headteacher

Contact Us

Please use the relevant details below to contact our office.



Our office opens at 8am and closes at 4pm. Any calls after that will be tended to the next working day. If your child is a member of Harefield School, they will be able to contact their teachers by using their school Gmail account, or via Google Classroom.