What if a red/black rainstorm signal or a Typhoon 8 is hoisted before school?
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School will be closed for the day.
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The update will be posted on the school website.
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Parents will be messaged on the ESF app. Students will be emailed.
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If students arrive at school because the signal was hoisted during the journey, they will be supervised at school and/or arrangements made for them to return safely.
Will my child be able to access their school work?
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Lessons will begin synchronously if teachers are able to.
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In the event of a typhoon T8 or above and/or Black Rain, teacher will not be expected to provide synchronous or asynchronous learning during this time.
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Asynchronous learning can be accessed via your child’s Google Classroom.
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Period 1 work will appear no later than 9.30am and all other lessons will then follow.
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Children will not have consequences or be disadvantaged as a result of not being able to complete classwork during a severe weather event.
What if a T8 signal is to be issued during school hours?
The Hong Kong Observatory may announce that a T8 will be hoisted within 2 hours. The school will message parents and begin implementing the safe release of students and staff to travel home.
What if a red/black rainstorm signal is hoisted during school?
For their safety, students will remain in school and lessons will continue as normal.
If the signal is lowered to amber before the end of the school day students will be dismissed as normal.
What if a black or red rainstorm signal is still in effect at school closure time?
To keep everybody safe, ESF School policy states that all students should remain at school under our supervision until the red or black rainstorm is lowered to amber.
ESF policy states that nobody should travel and students can only be released to their parents or another person with their parents permission.
Can a parent collect their child during a red or black rainstorm warning?
During some previous rainstorm warnings, the area outside of school was made unsafe due to the volume of families arriving to collect their children, creating limited road access to our premises. There are also no available spaces to park vehicles safely, without blocking other traffic.
Please be considerate of the safety of our whole community.
Nobody can prevent a parent from removing their child from school at any time, however, we would advise parents to wait a minimum of two hours at the end of school day when a weather warning is in place so that we can all make a safe assessment of the next steps. Normally, the weather warning is removed within those two hours which means a much safer exit from school.
Should you have absolutely no alternative but to come to school, staff will assist you upon your arrival to collect your child.
Can students leave school on their own?
No. Students can only be released to their parents or a caregiver who is physically present at the school to collect them.
Why can't my child walk home as they live close to the school?
Weather events create landslips, hanging branches, falling trees and flash floods from water drainage outlets. Weather in Hong Kong is highly localised and even when the weather looks calm, it can change suddenly and with force. Car accidents happen as the local road network becomes quickly backed up from Kennedy Town.
Are students given refreshments during a red/black rain warning?
Yes, we have stocks of light refreshments which we keep and observe expiry dates for food products.
We live on an outlying Island. What if my child struggles to get home by ferry after the weather warning has ended?
We will support all students to get home safely regardless of where they live. We have looked at ferry timings and believe there are very few situations that would mean a student becomes stranded. Every child will be looked after on-site and care put in place until they can return safely home.
Parents may also wish to plan ahead and consider having a backup plan with a family friend who lives on Hong Kong Island.
Depending on the situation in school, we will try to prioritise making arrangements to escort students to outlying islands for you to collect from the ferry pier. We will always check your permission to do this.
In a very extreme situation, we have sufficient resources to supervise children overnight in comfort following safeguarding rules.
