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Parent/Carer

I would like to clarify why the school has closed today.

At 0745 the intention was to try and remain open, even though by that time we had had several calls from staff and parents that they were stuck in bad traffic and that there is no chance they would be in school on time.

By 0750 we had in excess of another 30 calls from staff confirming that they would be late or possibly not in at all as they were stationary in traffic.

The school then made the decision to close, not just because of the dangerous conditions on the school site and the service road outside Fenton Manor, but because the low percentage of staff who had been able to get in was not of a sufficient quantity to safely teach pupils and monitor them at social times.

Had we have been able to predict the dramatic change in conditions that took place in the morning, we would have made the decision earlier.

We have used every form of communication, other than making thousands of phone calls. We texted parents/carers (I am aware that not all got the text immediately, but over 2500 were sent so there is inevitably a delay/queue in them being received), sent e mails, sent messages on TEAMS and updated Facebook, all within a few minutes of the decision being made.

I would also like to refer you to the fact that many other schools in the area have closed today, many at the same time or later than we did.

There is a wealth of resources available on our website in the Support Zone and lots of websites, such as mathswatch and Oak National Academy for students to access.

Thank you,

Mr Astley