Emergency closure guidance

Emergency Full or Partial Closure Plan-January 2026

Dear everyone,

I am writing to you to let you know about our proposed plans in the event of an emergency affecting the numbers of staff or availability of nursery space.

This plan would only be implemented during an emergency or when we have unforeseen circumstances which would affect our ability to look after children safely. This could include high levels of staff sickness, poor weather making it difficult to get staff onsite, or emergency repair works in the building.

Please be reassured this would not be a decision that we would take lightly and the below plan outlines what our course of action would be.

The idea is that by imposing a partial closure, this would avoid the full closure of the school. However, there are certain circumstances such as no heating or hot water, where we would have to close the whole site.

Below is our plan to help everyone understand how decisions will be made and how we will keep communication clear and supportive.

Our Priorities

If we need to limit the number of children attending, priority will be given to:

Full-time children

Children with identified vulnerabilities or additional needs

Children whose families are employed in essential-worker roles

We will always aim to keep disruption to a minimum and reopen fully as soon as staffing levels allow.

How we will communicate with You…

If a partial closure is required:

We will contact parents as early as possible, ideally before opening time. Information will be shared via our text messaging system – we may also ask for your help to share the information by contacting other families who you may know, particularly where English is an Additional Language.
We will let you know why we need to partially close and whether you can bring your child or not.

We will try to give you as much information as possible about how long the partial closure will last for and will keep everyone updated as we hear.
We will also let you know if we can run breakfast or after school clubs on those days. Wherever possible, we will aim to keep them open.

Please ensure we have your most up-to-date contact details.

What we ask from you…

To help us manage safely:

If you receive a message saying your child’s session cannot be accommodated that day, please keep your child at home.
If your child is attending, please drop off and collect at your usual times unless we ask otherwise.
Let us know as soon as possible if your child will not be attending—this could allow another family to take the space.
Let us know if you are employed in an essential skills role – this will help us to identify which children are priority

We understand that a partial or full closure of the site may cause you and your children upset and disappointment, and may be very inconvenient. This is not a decision that would be taken lightly and would always focus on the best interests and welfare of the children.

We do use agency staff as well as our own cover team wherever possible. However, too many unfamiliar adults cause the children additional distress and anxiety. This would be a factor in making the decision for a partial or full closure.

You will be able to stay in touch with the school via email which will be monitored for messages. The best email to use would be admin@clyde.lewisham.sch.uk