Amber Weather Warning Letter

Our ref: HJO/lti 

14 July 2022 

Dear Parents and Carers 

You will be aware that the Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for extreme heat which covers our area, for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday next week. I am writing to update you on the measures in place at Hans Price Academy to keep students and staff safe at this time.  

We will ensure temperatures in school are kept as low as possible by keeping blinds closed and opening windows and doors, and where available will use fans and air conditioning. 

Thorpe Park Trip 

It is with regret that we have taken the decision to postpone the Thorpe Park rewards trip until September. We understand this will come as a disappointment to students who have worked so hard to receive this reward. However, the length of journey and the nature of the theme park venue (entirely outdoors, long queues, lack of free drinking water facilities) means that the safe decision is to postpone. We will be in touch with the families of the students who were due to go on this trip when we have a rescheduled date. 

Student Uniform 

On Monday 18 July and Tuesday 19 July, students will not be required to bring their blazer to school or to wear their school tie. They should continue to wear their white school shirt, and we encourage them to choose school shorts instead of long trousers or skirts. 

We are aware that other local schools have allowed students to wear PE kit during hot weather. This is not the course of action we take at Hans Price, because whilst most students have more than one white cotton shirt, they typically own only one PE top. It is not hygienic for children to wear their PE top for several days without it being washed, and we do not want to impose on families trying to wash and dry a PE top overnight.  

In the event of high temperatures, such as those expected on Monday and Tuesday, it is important that students understand that no one outfit will feel considerably cooler than any other. Instead, they should make behaviour choices which allow them to feel comfortable throughout the day. 

Behaviour Advice 

Students will be encouraged to make small changes to their behaviour during these especially warm days; consider sitting indoors chatting to friends rather than running around playing games, sitting out of direct sunlight, bringing cool drinking water to school. Students are discouraged from bringing frozen water to school; the ice thaws quite slowly and can leave the child with insufficient water to drink. We will be blowing the whistle to clear the playgrounds at the end of break/lunch slightly earlier, to allow students to move quietly and calmly to lessons without feeling hot and bothered. We will also re-room some lessons where classrooms have large windows and/or face South and can become hotter than other areas in the school. 

These measures will be adopted from Monday 18 July. The weather forecast for Friday 15 July is that the temperature will reach 22 degrees, so students should continue to wear their usual school uniform on this date.  

All of the above measures will assist in keeping a reasonable temperature inside, and of course as always we will continue to dynamically assess throughout the day. 

We thank you for your continued support. 

Yours faithfully 

Mrs H. Jones 

Interim Principal