All parents should read the following published bad weather routine carefully, and establish a clear plan with their son(s) early in the Autumn Term, well before any emergency takes place.
Coming to School
When weather conditions are exceptionally poor the School monitors the Met. Office weather forecasts very closely, as well as assessing the situation on the ground at School.
The plan for the day will be posted on the School website by 6.30am each morning. Parents must read this message rather than phone the school switchboard, which only opens at 8.00am.
If the School is open, it is for parents to decide whether their son should attend. He must register/sign in when he arrives, and will then be expected to remain at School all day until 4pm unless the Headmaster decides to close the School.
It is most important that your son brings adequate outer clothing to school, even if he usually travels by car.
Emergency Closure
The definitive source of all information about closure before 4pm will be the home page of the School website.
If the weather is so bad that early closure seems advisable, the Headmaster will make a decision, in consultation with the Heads of the other sections of the School. If, as is probable, the time of school buses is to be altered, agreement will also be made with the Headmistress of NGHS.
Going Home
If the Headmaster closes the School early, boys will be allowed to go home by whatever route seems most likely to be open. It is essential that parents discuss with their sons the route likely to be attempted well before any emergency takes place. Boys must sign out before they leave, and permission to leave will only be given after an authorised member of staff has made a confirmatory phone call to parents/guardians. Boys will be advised of detailed signing out arrangements on the day.
If a boy has a younger brother in the Junior School, he should report to the Junior School Hall after signing out. The Headmaster of the Junior School will allow him to take his brother home once a parent has given permission.
If a boy is responsible for a younger sister, he should make his way to Nottingham Girls' High Junior School after signing out, and follow the directions of the Headmistress of the NGHJS.
If a boy can only travel by school bus he should sign in and remain in the Library until his bus arrives. The signing-in register will be held at Reception so that incoming messages from parents can be passed on quickly. He must not wait anywhere else in the buildings.
If he is normally collected by parents and has no alternative route, he must also remain in the Library. It is, of course, desirable for alternative routes to have been agreed, otherwise delays incurred by parents struggling into school may be considerable.
If he cannot gain access into his home before a particular time, a boy may remain in the Library rather than risk arriving home too early. (We hope this will apply to very few boys.)
Our main line of communication is the website, and we ask parents not to phone the School unless absolutely necessary. Mobile phones are clearly useful in the context of boy-parent discussions,. The best way to avoid stressful arrangements on the day is for all boys to establish their own bad weather procedure with their parents well in advance,
If weather conditions deteriorate sharply in an area far from the school (eg. Mansfield, Derby or Newark), parents living in that area are free to phone and ask for their sons to be released early and we will give permission for this.
