04/03/2018

Déjà vu: an apology

I wanted to use this week’s blog as an opportunity to apologise once again to students, parents and staff for the inconvenience caused by Thursday morning’s decision to close the school. I really do appreciate the challenge that this posed for families, especially at very short notice - whatever the best intentions in providing updates the previous day and evening.

You always try to learn from previous experience. But it did feel a little bit like deja vu.

So much so that I thought I’d revisit a blog posted back in January 2013 - the last time we had a significant ‘Snow Closure’; another ‘no win’...

www.parkhouseschool.org/Blog/Spring-Term-Snow-closure.aspx

Of course since then we have had an additional factor thrown into the decision-making mix. Our home to school minibus runs. Nine routes a day, bringing over 150 students into school every morning from the outlying villages of North Hampshire and rural west of the County.

A great reflection of the school’s ever-increasing popularity, but obviously a further consideration in relation to ensuring safe travel arrangements for 15% of the school population. It was on hearing that within 10 minutes of leaving the site that the first two minibuses - without any students on board, I hasten to add - were already stuck that I felt I had no option to amend the initial decision to go for a partial opening until midday.

At least the decision to close on Friday was clear cut as a result of the further, significant snowfall during the afternoon and a consensus across all forecasters about the risks associated with travel.

1st March. The first official day of Spring.

Deja vu.

Thank you for your understanding.