GUIDANCE ON EMERGENCY SCHOOLCLOSURES/ADVERSE WEATHER

School Closure Due to Bad Weather or Other Emergency

We want to work in partnership with parents and carers to ensure the safety of children at all times. These guidelines outline the procedures for dealing with school closures during bad weather or other emergency

Parental Role

We would like you to:

● Ensure your child wears appropriate outdoor clothes throughout the winter

● Decide whether it is safe for your child to travel to school in bad weather

● Provided the school with information about emergency contacts to whom your child can be sent at short notice if you are not available. Also tell the school about any changes to this information and to your daytime contact details.

● Provide school with a bad weather address within safe walking distance of the school.

When will schools be closed?

Head Teachers decide if and when schools should close due to bad weather or another emergency In bad weather they will decide this after receiving information about local weather conditions. This decision can be made during any time, day or night.

If you are concerned about local weather conditions please contact the school. You may wish to collect your child yourself and are free to do so provided you make arrangements with the school.

If the school or nursery is to close early, the school will contact you by telephone. If this is not possible the school will contact your named “emergency contact”. No child will be released from school without contact being made.

Information on School Closures

We will use SchoolTwitter, Groupcall and Class Dojo to update parents with information about school closures.

Your local radio station is also a good place to find information on school closures. The following radio stations receive updated information every 15 mins from the Aberdeen City Council website.

It is important contact details are current and the people named are available –particularly during bad weather.

Security

All schools across Aberdeen City are fitted with security systems. Parents are asked to cooperate fully with security arrangements at each school. Parents are also asked to be vigilant and to warn their children about “stranger danger”. This includes sharing with your child/ren who they should expect to be present at 3.15pm to collect them from school. Parents should reinforce the arrangement that children report to the school office when there is no one to collect them at 3.15pm. On these occasions contact with parents/carers and if necessary emergency contacts or duty social work will be made.

Any worries about unknown or suspect strangers on or near a school site should always be reported to a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

At St. Joseph’s we ask parents to enter by the main entrance and check in at reception. Parents must not enter via any other door apart from when dropping off and collecting children to and from Nursery when they should you the Nursery entrance only

Child Protection

Every school has a named senior member of staff appointed as responsible for Child Protection matters. At St Joseph’s, that person is Mrs Sinead Lindsay Any parent who wishes to discuss Child Protection should contact the Head Teacher Staff at St Joseph’s have a duty to report concerns related to child protection to the Head Teacher Parents should be aware that whilst every effort will be made to discuss concerns with them in the first instance, outside agencies may be contacted in an emergency where the welfare of a child is believed to be at risk.

EXTRA-CURRICULARACTIVITIES

We are always keen to offer extra-curricular activities to pupils at St Joseph’s. Currently we offer,a wide range of activities both sporting and non-sporting. Our clubs are run in collaboration with parents, partners, Active Schools and school staff. We are very grateful for the input and expertise of those willing to give up time for our pupils.

Active Schools also offer a range of activities within the local area for our pupils. For more information please look at their website http://www.sportaberdeen.co.uk/activities/active-schools

Parentsand Familymembersas Helpers Both Withinand Outwith School

Parents and family members are encouraged to support the life of the school in a variety of ways, both formally and informally, in the classroom to support the delivery of the curriculum, through after school and lunchtime activities and accompanying classes on school trips. We appreciate and value the contribution parents and families can make to the experiences and learning opportunities for our pupils. Any parent who volunteers on either a regular or occasional basis is asked to contact the school office in order to complete a PVG Disclosure form.

Parentsand Carers As Partners

At St. Joseph’s Primary , we value and promote the importance of parents/carers being involved in their own child’s learning and also in the wider life of the school. Induction Days and Presentations/Workshops for parents/carers also provide useful information on how best you can support your child’s learning.

St Joseph’s Parent Council are always looking for more support from parents. The fundraising sub-group organise a range of social opportunities for pupils and parents and the wider community and provides valuable funding for educational items, outings etc.The Parent Council work in partnership with the school, supporting school projects and improvements. Our Parent Council meet termly They also work in partnership with the school to benefit our pupils, parents and the wider community, representing the parents. To find out more about the work of the group, please contact school and we will inform you of meeting dates. Further information on both groups can be found on their website - https://sites.google.com/view/stjopc

Promoting Positive Behaviour

The general aim of the school is to provide an atmosphere of mutual respect and collective responsibility, as per our school values. Pupils, parents and teachers all have an important role to play in achieving this. We try to teach children to be responsible citizens and make good choices. As a staff we lead by example and use praise and encouragement to support pupils.

All pupils respond well to praise and recognition. At St. Joseph’s Primary staff will recognise and praise pupil’s efforts daily All pupils belong to a school ‘family’ and win family points when they display attributes associated with our values. The behaviours expected at St. Joseph’s Primary were decided and agreed upon through our Pupil Voice Forum.

St. Joseph’s Primary has a clear Behaviour Management Strategy. Discipline is essential to good learning situations. At St. Joseph’s Primary we do not tolerate negative behaviour and we aim to work in partnership with parents if pupils are struggling in school to follow the expected standards of behaviour. Through delivery of our Health and Wellbeing curriculum and through the positive relationships across and within the school, our pupils are encouraged to share with an adult if they feel they are being bullied. This will be dealt with in accordance with Aberdeen City Council’sAnti- Bullying Policy

A copy of our Behaviour Management Strategy and/or the Anti Bullying Policy can be requested through the school office and is available on our school website.

Earlyyears Provision

At St Joseph’s Primary School our nursery provision is an integral part of the school. The nursery has two part-time classes ( morning and afternoon classes), each catering for 20 children. Children can be offered a part time nursery place in the term following their 3rd birthday

During each of the nursery sessions children help to prepare a healthy snack. The cost of snack is £2.50 per week, per child. Snack money can be handed in either weekly or termly in a clearly marked envelope with child’s name and how much money is enclosed.

We encourage outdoor play in all weathers and we are pleased to be able to offer this as part of our provision.

The Curriculum

Within our nursery we aim to build on the natural curiosity and previous learning that children bring with them. Children engage in all curricular areas across the Early Level of Curriculum for Excellence in line with our whole school curriculum ( given in detail in Section 2 of this handbook).

At St Joseph’s Primary we are committed to developing children’s knowledge and understanding of curricular areas through a wide variety of play opportunities, both free play and more structured.

UNIFORM/ CLOTHING

At St Joseph’s Nursery we do not have a set uniform for children to wear however they are more than welcome to purchase a school jumper from our Parent Council. Parents should be aware that children are asked to wear aprons for art and design activities they will be allowed and encouraged to play, learn and explore without worrying about their clothing. Pupils should therefore come to nursery in clothing which they can get ‘messy’in.

Nursery pupils will require the following items of clothing:

- Apair of soft indoor shoes with non-slip soles

- Achange of clothing

- Outdoor shoes, wellies

Children should dress appropriately for the weather conditions. In winter months we recommend children to have ‘all in one’ waterproof suits. During summer months, please ensure that you have applied sun cream to your child before nursery and that they wear a sun hat.

Please ensure all clothing and footwear is clearly marked with your child’s name.