Bad Weather/Academy Closure

Academy Closure Procedure

The decision to close the academy is one that is not taken lightly and is based on the safety and welfare of both students and staff, many of whom have to travel a distance to get to school.

Emergency closure will occurs in exceptional circumstances:

• Where there is a loss of an essential services to the school which cannot be compensated by alternative provision.
  
• When there are severe weather conditions adversely affecting the access to the school.

If the academy is closed due to a loss of a particular service i.e. water, electricity, gas etc., the principal will implement the academy’s procedure for emergency closure.

There are times when weather conditions are so severe that the principal may consider that the health and safety of the students and staff are best served by closing the academy. This may be to close early on the day, not to open at all following overnight weather conditions, or because of a severe weather warning affecting the following day.

In the event of students being sent home early because of poor weather, we will text parents and issue notifications on our social media account (X). In the event of the academy not opening due to overnight weather conditions the Principal will:

• Display a message on the front page of the school website.
  
• Post notifications to our social media account (X).
  
• Inform Walsall council to be included on their list of school closures; they will also share this on their social media accounts.

If the school is forced to close during an external examination period, arrangements will be made with the individual students concerned regarding the sitting of the examinations.