HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

WINTER MAINTENANCETOPIC GROUP

THURSDAY 2 APRIL 2009 & FRIDAY 3 APRIL 2009 AT 10.00 AM

SCHOOL CLOSURES DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER - PROCESS

Report author: Sharon Robinson, CSF CommunicationsTel : 01992 555131

1. School closures

A decision to close a school is based on the County Council’s severe weather plan (attached as Appendix[NR1]A) and the school’s assessment of risk. The final decision rests with the school. Schools are advised to follow the Snowline guidance and notify the Education Health and Safety Team by telephone if they are closed.

During the severe weather Hertfordshire County Council was notified of school closures as follows:

Monday 2 February / Tuesday 3 February / Weds 4 February / Thursday 5 February / Friday 6 February / Monday 9 February / Total*
373 / 306 / 3 / 130 / 288 / 3 / 458

*Total number of different schools that notified us they were closed

Schools were asked for feedback on their reasons for closure which is summarised below:

  • the ability of teachers and site staff to get to the school
  • health and safety issues if the school site, surrounding roads and pavements are icy (the main issue from Tuesday onwards)
  • the ability to provide school meals
  • child care issues for teachers with children at other schools, which are closed
  • the availability of public transport and school buses
  • the availability of salt or grit for playgrounds and paths
  • availability of caretakers or staff to clear ice and snow from the school site
  • national and police advice to carry out essential travel only
  • the risk of children and staff being stranded if the predicted heavy snow fell during the day
  • local agreement between schools in an area based on the weather conditions.

2. Guidance given to schools

Following each Business Continuity Planning meeting (held daily) schools were emailed with the following information:

  • the latest weather forecast (with a link to the Met Office to take account of the variations throughout the county)
  • any disruptions to school transport
  • the situation on the roads and the availability of salt
  • a reminder of who to notify in the event of the school closing
  • a message that schools should try to remain open where possible but the final decision was down to the headteacher based on local conditions

This information was also posted The Grid – school intranet site.

3.Notifying parents

Schools use the Snowline procedures to notify parents or through their own email/telephone networks. There was mixed feedback on the effectiveness of this due to the large number of closures.One radio station reported an issue with web capacity on Monday and could not update the list of closed schools. Hertsdirect did not carry a list of closed schools on Monday 2 February 2009 as it was an emerging picture; information on school closures was received throughout the day and in some cases retrospectively. All school closure notifications were published on Hertsdirect on Thursday 5 and February 6 February 2009.

4.Feedback from schools on the issues faced

  • teachers have to make a decision very early in the day before people set out on their journeys – a problem if the weather was more or less severe than forecast
  • many schools are situated on side roads which were not a gritting priority
  • the size of Hertfordshire means that there can be a big difference in the weather from one area of the county to another – forecasts and reports on road conditions were not always accurate for every area
  • the ability to provide effective learning in schools with limited staff & children numbers – some feedback indicated that schools were not happy to open as crèche facilities
  • conflicting messages from the media and HCC on essential travel and weather forecast variations
  • many teachers drive some distance to school, plus 35% of school children are driven to school in cars and 12% use the bus

5. Additional feedback from schools

  • 21email requests were received for help clearing school sites
  • 15 emails were sent to the Health & Safety team about lack of gritting on roads around schools
  • many schools said they felt well informed and supported by the updates issued from HCC
  • only a couple wanted greater guidance on whether to close or not
  • a few schools reported a mixture of feedback from parents who felt they should have either opened or closed based on the conditions
  • a couple reported problems with the snowline procedures and inability to notify us (wrong number / engaged etc)
  • a couple have complained about the guidance to teachers to offer to help at a nearby school - CRB checks and teaching qualifications
  • a couple of schools reported staggered opening times were helpful

6. Feedback from parents

Schools reported a mixture of feedback from parents – mostly supportive of their decisions, but some complaining they were shut and some that they were open. The feedback received via the customer service centre and Hertsdirect is summarised below:

  • 20 complaints were received via Hertsdirect about the lack of information available on the website and the fact the school closures were not listed
  • two complaints were received via the website and two from headteachers about the advice to teachers to go to their nearest open school
  • five complaints were received about schools being closed, including a letter from James Clappison MP on behalf of constituent

7. Improvements planned - the Closure Notification System[NR2]*

The Closure Notification System (CNS) will provide schools with the facility to text information which will be published instantly on a public-facing web page, linked from Hertsdirect.

The system will eliminate the need for teachers to telephone or email their status to HCC. The system will be quicker and more efficient, and should reduce the stress on school websites, HCC’s website and the Customer Service Centre.

The system will be demonstrated to Heads and Governors at the next round of briefings in April 2009 and the plan is to roll out CNS to schools during next term. It is yet to be decided if this will replace the Snowline procedure or run alongside it. Feedback on this will be gathered from parents and schools.

* A demonstration of the system is proposed to be given to the Topic Group in the afternoon session on the second day - Friday 3 April 2009.

1

[NR1]Adrian gives this a number

[NR2]FYI – John Sellgren or Boulter will be demonstrating PM Friday