Dear Parents

 

First of all may I extend my thanks to you all for your support and understanding regarding the school closures last week. I sincerely hope that this is it now for another five years but just in case it isn’t I thought I would write with some pointers.

 

At St Joseph’s we will always take each day as it comes. Because weather reports are so unreliable it is impossible to make long term decisions. The situation at our school will be assessed on a day to day basis and it is extremely unlikely that we will ever announce closures for days at a time. (See how I never say never though!!) Last week Mrs Barker (our cleaner) ensured that our school site was safe every day – and if the council had been as thorough in their gritting regime, St Joseph’s would very likely have been open every day.

 

Decisions regarding St Joseph’s school closures will always come from St Joseph’s. Difficulties last week were further compounded for our parents by well-intentioned friends and neighbours passing on information that they had received from other schools regarding Headteacher ‘joint decisions’ and Headteacher ‘reviews of the situation’. Unfortunately this information was inaccurate. There were no joint decisions – in fact there were not even any joint discussions regarding the situation of school closures. We would never base our decision on what other schools had decided to do - so please only take note of the messages sent to you via our school.

 

Finally, although we will do everything we can to open the school in these situations, the final decision about whether it is safe for you to get your child here is your decision.

 

Thank you once again. Your support and understanding is, as always, greatly appreciated.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Mrs Kelly

Executive Headteacher