This time of year often means more Cold health alerts where the forecast weather is likely to have minor impacts on health and social care services, and can lead to disruption in education delivery.
You can see all the weather health alerts currently in place across England on the UKHSA data dashboard and the latest weather forecast on the Met Office website.
Here are our top 5 frequently asked questions regarding snow and severe weather:
1.Can I ask staff to clear the school site of snow?
You can ask site staff, e.g., caretakers or site managers. Also consider the type of snow/ice before requesting this clearance as clear fresh, loose snow is easier to shift than hard, compacted ice and snow. Please ensure you consider slips and trips and manual handling of ice and snow in your risk assessment.
You cannot ask any other members of staff to clear snow. However, if they wish to volunteer, you can take advantage of their offer but consider their personal attributes and any existing health conditions.
2.What if parents want to clear snow?
If parents offer to clear the snow, ensure you have completed a risk assessment and do not let them clear hard, compacted ice on your premises.
3.How far should the school clear the snow?
Schools should not clear the whole site, just enough for safe access and egress. If fire exits have soft snow against them, they can be cleared. If not, just clear the exits that have soft snow and inform everyone on the site (including pupils) that in the event of a fire, they may have to use alternative exits to those detailed on the fire evacuation notice. Further guidance is available on Gov.UK: ‘Clearing Snow and Ice’
4.Can I clear the path/road outside my school?
Schools should not clear the road outside the school as this is a highways function and you would be responsible should any accident happen. However, if the balance of risks for clearing the pavement directly outside the gates of the school falls on the side of clearing the snow for access/egress to the entrance then it is a responsible action to take.
5.What should I do when I have cleared the snow?
Having cleared the snow, schools must ensure that they continue to maintain the cleared area. This means checking that areas that had been cleared, have not re-frozen. If you have salt available, salt will help to melt and ice and snow and prevent refreezing. Don’t use salt from the roadside salt bins as this salt is used to keep roads clear.
Further advice can be found in the Severe Weather Guidance sheet in our Guidance for schools, which also includes a Severe Weather Closure Checklist.
Reminder of How to Report School closures
Staff should log on to the School Closures site https://services.somerset.gov.uk/school-closure. Designated members of staff in each school will be given a login and password to this site. If a dedicated officer at your school requires access please contact the Education Leadership Business Support team at sse@somerset.gov.uk or the webteam@somerset.gov.uk.
