Term dates and INSET day information

Gelli Primary School will close for the summer holidays on FRIDAY 16TH JULY. The staff will be involved in In-service training on Monday 19th July.
School will recommence after the summer holidays for pupils on TUESDAY 7th SEPTEMBER. The staff will be involved in THREE days In-service training on THURSDAY 2nd and FRIDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER and on MONDAY 6th SEPTEMBER. This is slightly unusual but we will be involved in training with the cluster schools on this occasion and also on TUESADY 4th and WEDNESDAY 5th JANUARY 2011. There will be another two INSET days which will be taken in the Summer term 2011.
If there is a repeat of the inclement weather we have experienced during the past two years that will force schools to close because of snow during the winter, the Minister for Education has written to suggest that these may be used to make up the time. This information and the dates for school holidays in 2010 - 2011 is available from the school calendar link on the School website and the term dates link to the RCTCBC website.

SCHOOL IS CLOSED THURSDAY 14th JANUARY 2010

I have just completed a site visit and the Chair of Governors and I have decided to close the school on Thursday 14th January 2010. The main road is clear, but the snow ploughs that were used to clear the road overnight have sprayed slush on to the pavements which has already frozen.and the surrounding streets are still under inches of snow. RCT have withdrawn their home to school transport tomorrow. The school will be open for staff in the morning, unless conditions deteriorate overnight. We plan to reopen school on Friday as usual as conditions are due to improve throughout the day, I will confirm this tomorrow on this site.

My thanks go to our relief caretaker who has begun clearning the snow from paths and will continue to make improvements to the site tomorrow to make sure that we are open on Friday. I would like to thank everybody for their patience this week in what must be the most difficult of times in recent years, Thank you for your co-operation. I have been in touch colleagues and our cluster schools have also made a similar decision. Please will parents circulate this information to others. We will also post this link to our facebook page.

SCHOOL IS CLOSED WEDNESDAY 13th JANUARY 2010

The Chair of Governors and Relief Caretaker conducted a site visit at 8.30. p.m. and have reported that it will be impossible to guarentee that the conditions in and around the school will allow us to open the school tomorrow. We have decided to take this decision now in order to make sure that parents can inform each other and there be no confusion in the morning.
The snow is due to last throughout the night and into the early morning but conditions will improve by late morning. The relief caretaker and I are planning to meet mid morning and endeavour to clear the pathway as we did yesterday. I am sure that we will be able to make the school safe for the children to return to school on Thursday.
Updates will be posted on this sight when available and on the facebook page.
Thank you for your patience during these difficult times.

URGENT MESSAGE SCHOOL IS CLOSED MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010

I have just completed a site visit and as you can see from these pictures taken at 4pm today conditions around the school grounds continue to be too dangerous for us to open school for pupils tomorrow MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010. The pathways are still under a few inches of snow and ice. I have been unable to source any rock salt from any local DIY stores and there is no likelihood of sourcing some in the near future.

I have arranged that a relief caretaker will be in school at 9.30 tomorrow to clear paths to the school main door and nursery entrance from the front entrance from the gate on Ystrad Road. This should enable the children to walk safely into the school building so that school can be open on Tuesday. I still await clarification from my professional association and the LA if we can open on a reduced timetable from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. I also need to clarify what arrangements if any can be made for Breakfast Club.

The main road is extremely icy and I would advise extreme caution when walking across this area to the school. It is very unlikely that this area will be treated in the near future and will remain a high risk area to those who use it. I will update the status throughout tomorrow and inform parents of the likelihood of school resuming on Tuesday and any safety warnings that will need to be observed.

SCHOOL CLOSED FRIDAY 8th JANUARY 2010

After a site survey I am sorry that I will again be closing the school on Health and Safety grounds on FRIDAY 8th JANUARY 2010. The areas surrounding the school are still very dangerous and although the main road is accessible, several of the adjoining streets are still under inches of snow. In addition the school grounds are also still frozen and the pathways and car park are still under saveral inches of snow which has turned to ice. The staff are coming in to school tomorrow morning in order to prepare the school for reopening as soon as the weather allows. Please keep referring to this website for updated information over the weekend and arrangememts for next week.

SCHOOL CLOSURE THURSDAY 8th JANUARY 2010

After consulting with colleagues in the cluster we have decided to close the schools on health and safety grounds. The surrounding areas and pavements have already frozen and the Met Office are forecasting hazardous driving conditions in the morning. Please keep referring to this site and the friends of gelli Primaey School facebook page for details for the remainder of the week.

SCHOOL CLOSED TODAY

Gelli Primary School is closed today WEDNESDAY 6th January 2010 due to heavy overnight snow making conditions around the school dangerous. Please keep looking on this site for details of arrangements for school tomorrow.

School Closure

Gelli Primary School is closed today TUESDAY 22nd DECEMBER due to the freezing conditions in the surrounding areas around the school. Despite the efforts of the caretaker to make the pathways around school accessible, the surrounding areas are treacherous and I have no alternative but to close the school due to health and safety. This information has been circulated to the BBC and news of the school closure is on the website. Please will you inform as many parents as possible to avoid any unnecessary travel.

Snow Day

Gelli Primary School is CLOSED for staff and pupils today on Monday 21st December. The pathways are very dangerous and despite the caretaker attempting to clear them I have no option but to cloe on health and safety grounds. I anticipate that the weather situation will improve as the day goes on and anticipate that school will be open tomorrow. Any school closure will be communicated to the BBC and Real Radio and we will attempt to inform parents by means of telephone calls, texts and parent updates.