Severe Weather
If at all possible, The Discovery School will stay open during all weathers. On occasions however, the School may need to close. If this is the case, a message will go out on local radio stations before the start of the school day.
Local Radio information is given out on:
Radio Kent (96.7 FM, 97.6 FM or 104.2 FM) · KMFM Radio (96.2 – 107.9 FM)
We will also display a message on the home page of our school website and an email will also be sent via SchoolComms to inform parents of the current situation.
A list of school closures can also be found at www.kentclosures.co.uk.
We will always aim to make a decision to close as early as possible on each day of potential school closure as we do not want parents and children to travel unnecessarily. However, assessing whether we have enough adults in school to open can take a while, particularly as we are a large school and most of our staff do not live within walking distance. This is further complicated by localised snow conditions and disruption to public transport.
In order to assist us in making a decision as early as possible and communicating this to you, please DO NOT contact the School by telephone to find out if it is open. This blocks the phone lines and hinders the School from assessing the situation.
If a decision to close cannot be made the night before, we will always aim to make a decision and inform you between 6.30 a.m. and 7.00 a.m. on the day of any closure.
We recognise that some parents may have difficult journeys to school and that you have the responsibility of getting your child/children to and from school safely. You will need to decide if the journey is safe when severe weather affects driving and/or walking conditions, but please inform the School (after 8.00 a.m.) if your child is to be absent due to severe weather conditions.
If the School should have to close during the school day because of deteriorating weather conditions, parents/carers will be informed via SchoolComms (text).
On occasions, school meal services may be affected by weather conditions, although we would expect this to be carefully managed by Caterlink.
So that the children can continue to learn, there is a link below which will take you to the Remote Learning area of the website. Below, there is some additional information about learning activities which your children could complete on snow days too.
To assist us in being able to open, we may also ask for volunteers to help clear our school site. If this is the case, a SchoolComms message will be sent.
In the event that we are open, any arrangements for the day e.g. early closing, will be communicated to you.
In snowy weather, should we have sufficient snow for the children to play outside, wellington boots or an old pair of shoes is essential! A change of socks/tights might also be useful. Unfortunately, those children who do not have a change of footwear will be unable to play outside in snowy conditions.
Snow Closure Learning
