Highland School Closures Online Launched As Winter Arrives

5th December 2012

With the onset of wintry conditions, The Highland Council has launched a new school closure page on its website to supplement its school closures telephone information service.

School Closures Online is prominently featured on the home page of the Council�s web site www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosuresonline to advise parents and pupils if local schools have been closed due to adverse weather conditions. Although the closures website is particularly useful during the winter months, the website will be active all year round when schools can close for a variety of reasons such as damage caused by adverse weather or emergency situations such as loss of power or water supplies.

School closures decisions are made by individual Head Teachers who are responsible for the health, wellbeing and safety of pupils, staff and other users of the school building. The list of school closures is refreshed at 3pm at the end of each school day in order to allow schools to update their closure status for the following day.

In an area the size of the Highlands, the Council�s Education Culture and Sport Service does not normally take steps to close schools collectively as local weather conditions can vary significantly across the Highlands.

In addition to the School Closure Online website, the Schools Telephone Information Line is still available. This service gives callers access to the latest pre-recorded message(s) from the Head Teacher. The telephone number is 0870 054 6999, followed by the school's PIN number when prompted. PIN numbers are available from each school and also on the council�s website at: www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosuresonline