Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,
Winter has arrived with a vengeance, we are almost forced to build an ark at the beginning of the week-end and an igloo by the end. But you only have to watch the T.V. to realize that our trials and tribulations are indeed minor in comparison to those experienced in other parts of the world.
It is very important that on mornings where the weather is extreme that you check to see that school is open at the normal time or indeed at all. For the places to check we have put in an article later in the newsletter, but once again I say please check, as while you may deem it possible for your child to walk to school, a number of other factors come into play to determine if school will be shut or have a late start.
The reasons include: the state of the roads (do police deem them safe for use), the possibility for the
weather to get worse (nobody wants the situation of trying to get children home in a blizzard), the ability for the teachers and children from outlying districts to get to school (while the majority of our teachers live in the Mosgiel area a number don’t and putting them or the bus children at risk is not an option. But ultimately the bottom line is one of safety for all.
The call to either start late or close the school for the day is made by the local Principals’ Association in consultation with Civil Defence, the Met service and the Police. The reason for this is obvious as having one collective announcement for all primary schools means individual schools do not clog up the cancellation sites with a variety of notices and parents only need to listen for one notice, not one in a huge range of similar notices that could lead to confusion i.e. St Mary’s could be either Mosgiel, Milton or Kaikorai.
I am always hopeful that the predicted snow will pass us by and I know my sheep would agree but on the off chance the forecasts are correct please use the procedure to check that school is open.
Have a great week.
Mike Brosnahan
Principal

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