Due to the current prolonged hot weather conditions, we have made the decision to close school early today, Wednesday 24th June, and the same for Thursday 25th and Friday 26^th June.

School will close to students at 1.15pm for the remainder of the week. Students being collected by parents/carers should not be collected before 1.15pm, to allow us to manage dismissal safely and in an orderly way.

Please be assured that we will always endeavour to keep school open wherever possible. However, we must also consider the health, safety and wellbeing of students and staff on site, particularly during periods of very hot weather. We have reviewed the conditions in school and have also taken account of the forecast, which currently indicates that tomorrow and Friday will continue with the same conditions.

In addition, we have been informed by our IT service provider that they are likely to be unable to maintain consistent service due to cooling system issues in the data centre meaning that safe operating temperatures cannot be sustained.

This means that key school IT systems, including those used for attendance and safeguarding, would not function reliably.

This is why we have made the decision for today and the remainder of the week.

Students who normally walk home or are collected by parents/carers should follow their usual arrangements, but at the earlier time.

If the earlier finish means your child cannot safely follow their normal travel or arrival-home arrangements, please contact the school office on 01588 638257 as soon as possible.

Given the reason for the early closure, we would also encourage students to avoid unnecessary time outside during the hottest part of the day, to drink plenty of water, and to stay in shaded or cooler spaces where possible.

For the remainder of the week, students may continue to wear their school PE kit if they choose to, in line with the arrangements already shared.

As this is an early closure rather than a full school closure, we do not expect students to move to formal distance learning for the remainder of today. However, students should complete any homework or independent work that has already been set. Distance learning will be set for tomorrow afternoon’s lessons via Go4Schools.

We expect school to reopen as normal after these temporary heat arrangements unless you are informed otherwise. Any further updates will be shared by email/message and on the school website