Emergency Closure

Every winter brings the possibility of snow and ice. Extreme bad weather can cause widespread and prolonged disruption. Schools are often affected and it can be difficult to maintain an education service.

As a fundamental principle every effort is made to keep the school open, even if only limited numbers of students can attend. However, schools may close due to ‘unavoidable’ circumstances. Those circumstances being that it is no longer safe for staff or students to be onsite.

St Gregory’s Catholic School makes every effort to prepare for severe snow/ice and the normal expectation should be that the school is open. However, if we do experience severe weather resulting in hazardous and unsafe conditions, we may have to take the decision to close the school.

Once a decision is made to close, we will:

• Update the Kent Closures website. To see if St Gregory’s is open or closed, please visit www.kentclosures.co.uk and search for St Gregory’s in the search box. The Kent Closures website may also be used to find out if other services in Kent are open or closed. We recommend parents sign up for email alerts on the Kent Closures website.
• Post a message on the school website by 6.30am or as soon as possible.
• Send a message to parents/students via email.
• We will update the website regularly to keep parents, staff and students informed about arrangements for the following day.

If the school is open, but that you feel the journey is not safe for your son/daughter, please contact the school to report the absence in the usual manner.

Teachers will assign work via Edulink in order to enable students to continue working from home if the school is closed. All teachers are instructed to set work for students in this way in the event of a school closure.

Closure during the school day

If the school is forced to close during the day, we will immediately post a message on the website and send a message to parents via email.

It is imperative that children know what to do in such a situation and we ask parents to ensure your child(ren) are aware of where they should go in the event the school has to close early.

Students who are not permitted to leave in these circumstances should report to Reception where staff will contact parents to make the necessary arrangements.