Snow Procedures - 2024/25

As we are now approaching the winter months, I would like to remind you about how we deal with any severe weather, especially ice and snow, which may affect the school.

Each day of any severe weather, I will make an assessment about whether it is safe and practical to open the school to pupils. This decision will be made early in the morning, in enough time to inform you if we are to close.

As soon as we make the decision to close the school, we will inform you immediately by text. The text will be sent to whoever you have nominated as contact no 1 in the Admissions Booklet (unfortunately we cannot send messages to 2 numbers due to the cost – we expect whoever is contact no 1 to inform the other parent/contact no 2). If you do not hear anything from us, the school will be open – please keep calls into the office to a minimum as staff may not have arrived to deal with your call. The text message will be followed by an email giving further information. This will be sent to all the email addresses for contacts (numbers 1 and 2) we currently have in our database for sending letters home. In addition, the school website (www.holmfirthjinschool.net) will be updated.

Should you wish to check reports of closures for all schools in Kirklees, you can do so by visiting the council website www.kirklees.gov.uk/schoolclosures where you will find up-to-date information. Kirklees Council will share closure information, with the local radio and TV stations for them to use as they wish in their bulletins. You can also check on weather and gritting updates at www.kirklees.gov.uk/winter.

Please be assured that I only decide to close our school in exceptional circumstances where the safety of your child/ren is the primary concern. On occasion, this may be due to the availability of teaching and support staff, the majority of whom travel some distance to reach school, rather than purely conditions for pupils getting to school. In the past, it has been necessary to close the school due to treacherous icy conditions on Rotcher/Cartworth Road, which made driving impossible and walking dangerous. In the event of a school closure class teachers will put some activities/work onto SeeSaw, to be completed at home whilst school is closed.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Finally, please remember to inform the office if you change your email or mobile phone number to ensure that you continue to receive messages from us.

Thank you for your cooperation