Early Years Care & Education
Snow & Adverse Weather/Conditions Policy
The safety of our children, staff & the families who use our settings, is of the utmost importance to us. We will however, endeavour to remain open where possible during bad weather, or other adverse conditions that affect operational running, but this will heavily depend upon a number of circumstances.
If adverse conditions are predicted we may make the decision to close the nursery the affected day. In this situation, each child’s primary contact will be individually contacted, by email or telephone, to notify them of the closure. Staff would be notified, if not in person, then by these methods also.
If the nursery remains open during adverse conditions, we will aim to operate as normal for as long as possible. However, we may make the decision to open later or close earlier, depending on: how many staff members are able to work/safely travel to & from work, the nursery building both inside & outside being accessible & safe, & the temperature being suitable for the children when inside. We will keep staff & parents updated via Facebook/eyLog throughout the day. It should be noted that we cannot remain open unless the minimum correct adult:child ratios can be met. Therefore, if the nursery opens & only a certain number of staff members are able to work on the day, unfortunately the children that we are able to accept on that day will be based on a first come, first serve basis. We will aim to contact other staff members from our wider team, but we are not able to go over the required ratio number.
If the nursery is open as normal & we experience adverse conditions during the day, the Nursery Manager, Area Manager & Director will have the final judgement on whether the nursery remains open for the day, & for how long. We will take into consideration any local school closures, along with the local area forecast, as well as following any relevant Local Authority &/or government instruction/guidelines. We will also monitor closely the services available by public transport. The safety of everyone accessing the nursery is the most important thing, & if we feel parents need to start collecting their children earlier than usual in order to get home safely, phone calls will be made to all parents to inform them of our decision.
Staff members will be sent home in order of distance or personal circumstances, but only as & when ratios within the nursery allow it. These decisions will be made at the discretion of the Management team.
Most of the time, travel & the operation of the nursery can remain normal, but we ask that all parents understand the need for safety when faced with bad weather. We suggest that when it does snow, that staff & parents give themselves ample time to make their way to & from the setting, & that they travel as safely as possible. If driving, we recommend using, & parking on, main roads wherever possible. We will do our best to ensure that our car parks (where applicable) & approaches/pathways are cleared & gritted to assist accessibility.
Please note that there will be no refunds offered for any closures or alterations to opening hours for the reasons detailed above. We do not take the decision to close any of our settings lightly & would only ever do so under extreme unavoidable conditions.
Snow specifically, can be very exciting for the children & we like to be able to make these times fun for them & incorporate learning opportunities. To this end, we ask that children attending nursery when snow is forecast &/or evident, are sent in appropriate clothing with suitable outerwear & footwear as it is more than likely that they will go outside to play during their time at nursery. As always, all items should be name-labelled.