Dear Parent
I am emailing to let you know that we have had to make the decision to close the school on Monday and open only for Tuesday morning.
On Friday, the forecast was at 32 degrees and we believed we would be able to make reasonable adjustments to keep student and staff comfortable. On Saturday the forecast changed, and it is now stating 38 degrees on Monday (the British record is 38.6).
Over the weekend, we have been looking at re-rooming all classes from south facing rooms and checking the temperature at school. Currently today (Sunday) in classrooms it is already 30 degrees and these already have fans and windows open. It is for this reason that I believe students and staff would be extremely uncomfortable and with the amber weather warning, this could be dangerous.
This is the last thing I wanted to do, and we have tried over the weekend to find alternatives. We have been speaking with bus companies as well. I apologise to you as I know that the late notice and disruption could cause a problem for you and being the last week of term, this really is bad timing.
Teaching staff have been asked to set work on Classcharts for the lessons they would have on this day.
However, to confirm:
Monday 18th July – school closed
Tuesday 19th July – school open until 12.30pm (lunch will be served at break time for those who access lunch at school) and bus companies are aware of this change and will collect at 12.30pm for those who access a bus service
Wednesday 20th July – school open as normal
Thursday 21st July – school open as normal (with the early close as published)
Please stay safe in the heat, keep hydrated and once again, apologies for the disruption.
Regards
Tim Farrer