If the College is unable to open as a result of an emergency or because of the severity of the weather we will inform parents via:

• our home page and
• the local radio network

Messages will be given out over the air by:

• Southern Counties Radio 95.1 / 95.3 / 104 / 104.5 / 104.6 / 104.8
• Southern FM 102.0
• Mercury FM 102.7

If any parent is concerned about a particular situation then we would advise you to ring the College for up to date information. Parents should not automatically listen to local rumour as this is invariably wrong. Children who fail to attend, when the College is officially open, will be registered as unauthorised absence.

On occasion the weather can 'close in' during the working day. Parents would expect the College to close if there was any risk, at all, to the students. Safety concerns will always force a closure but normally this would only be on the recommendation of the Police or the bus companies. Our obligation to teach the children has to be seen in the context of the overall safety of those children. A quick phone call to the College will always give the latest picture during such troubled periods.

All children are issued with a copy of the statement about what to do if the College should close and parents should make themselves familiar with this document. We ask that parents let us know of alternative arrangements for their child if we need to close early in such exceptional circumstances. Equally all children should be briefed by parents about where to go, in safety, following an emergency closure of the College.

Parents and children must always assume that the College will be open again the following day as it is extremely rare for such serious weather conditions to last for more than 24 hours in this area.

If a child is absent from College, for whatever reason, parents are asked to notify us so that we know that this absence is genuine. This notification helps to prevent unauthorised absence (occasional truancy) and it also helps to ensure the safety of a child.

College telephone lines are frequently very busy during the first hour of any working day but we have set up a dedicated answer phone line just for parents to notify us of a child's absence. This special line is 01580 881264.

We also require written confirmation of an absence. We appreciate that this may sound bureaucratic but our attendance records need to show that a parent has covered an absence. This is because it is the parent's legal responsibility to ensure that a child attends regularly and written notes cover this point completely. If a note is not forthcoming then the College is duty bound to follow up on the absence and this we will do in all cases.

Many items of equipment are sold by the College at very competitive prices and students should enquire of the Technology and Mathematics Departments for up to date prices or see the price lists displayed within the College. This equipment includes calculators, writing and drawing equipment.

Virtually all of the outlying rural areas are served by a series of bus routes, with transport supplied by the LEA, to bring our students safely to and from College.

The College Prospectus outlines these main routes and, in practice, they are as follows:

In total there are nine buses which transport our students along these routes.

These services are operated by the Local Authority but we may be able to respond to individual queries from parents. All bus passes are issued by the LEA.

Robertsbridge Community College has excellent facilities which may be hired by the community, both at the main site and at the Youth centre in the centre of Robertsbridge. Open the hire leaflet for details (pdf format).

To book or to find out more details contact Tracey Ash on 01580 880360 (ex. 121) or email her at tash@robertsbridge.org.uk.