We are determined to do whatever we can to stay open to staff and students despite any adverse weather conditions or issues with water or power.

We will endeavour to have done the following by 6.30am on any day we must close the school:

• Notified the local radio stations: BBC WM 95.6 FM, Free Radio 96.4 FM, and Heart FM West Midlands 100.7 FM.
• Placed a message on our social media feeds
• Sent a text message to all the mobile phone numbers of parents/carers with parental responsibility we currently have in Arbor.
• Sent an email to all the email addresses of parents/carers with parental responsibility we currently have in Arbor
• Placed the appropriate message on the website, for example:
  - Open for all students
  - Open but late start (and instructions will follow)
  - Closed to all students except for those sitting external examinations.

• Notified the local authority: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

The decision to close the school, unless directed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, is always made in the morning. However, if there is any additional information that we feel would be helpful to share with parents/carers we will update the website at the earliest opportunity.

We will do all we can to stay open. However, there may well be health and safety reasons which would mean we would have to close during the day and send the students home before 3pm.

We would suggest all parents/carers nominate a place of safety, which may be your home, to which your son/daughter can go if we must close.

We have been reviewing our procedures and are planning to complete the following if we must close during the school day:

• Notify the local radio stations (especially Heart FM West Midlands, BBC West Midlands and Free Radio West Midlands).
• Send a text message to all the mobile phone numbers of parents/carers with parental responsibility we currently have in Arbor.
• Send an email to all the email addresses of parents/carers with parental responsibility we currently have in Arbor.
• Place a message on our website and social media feeds.
• Thirty minutes later we will send the students home. Any students who are unable to make their own way home may remain in school until 3.00pm.

We hope you appreciate that any decision to close the school is never made lightly. The safety of students, parents/carers and staff will always remain the priority when making decisions.