Power Cut Update - 11.38am
8th May 2008
New Hall remains closed. Both schools will reopen to Students on Friday. Boarders may return from 4.00pm today.
Please click [here] to download a letter from the Principal regarding today's closure.
From the Principal: Thursday, 8 May 2008, 11.38am
To all Preparatory and Senior School Parents and Guardians
8 May 2008
Dear Parents
Re School Closure: Thursday, 8 May 2008
This is to update you on the situation regarding the school closure today for the Preparatory and Senior School students. Staff are in school and provision is being made for the 12 Boarders who remain on campus, as well as all students who are taking public examinations today.
First, I would like to clarify the circumstances that led to the school’s closure. The New Hall campus lost its electricity supply at 1.30pm on Wednesday, 7 May 2008 along with thousands of homes and one of the hospitals in Chelmsford. This occurred as a result of an explosion and large fire at the electricity sub-station at Bishop’s Hall Lane, Chelmsford, which supplies power to North Chelmsford. Although the explosion covered areas of Chelmsford with smoke, this did not affect New Hall. We were sorry to hear that a member of staff working for EDF Energy died at the sub-station.
By late yesterday evening, New Hall was able to restore power to much of the campus, by the use of its own generators. The mains power supply was off for over 16 hours and was reconnected around 5.00am this morning, although we have been told that the mains supply to New Hall and parts of North Chelmsford may not last. EDF have explained that this is likely to be a protracted incident and we should expect more power cuts over the next few days, particularly during peak times of electricity use in the mornings and late afternoon. The sub-station is badly damaged and will not be working for some time, which means there is considerable extra pressure on the other electricity sub-stations in the town. The company does not yet know how long any problems will persist because they are not allowed into the sub-station yet to assess the damage. Their official statement is attached for reference.
The school’s three electricity generators on campus are now able to provide continuous electricity for most of the campus. New Hall School will therefore reopen for Boarders from 4.00pm today. All Preparatory and Senior School students should return to school as normal on Friday, 9 May 2008.
If your child is in the Preparatory School, you should be aware that there is a possibility that our electricity supply to the Preparatory School building and Walkfares might have an interrupted power supply tomorrow. This is because we are dependent on the mains electricity supply for these two buildings. In the event that the power is cut off, we will make appropriate arrangements for the students to be relocated, if necessary, to a building that has electricity.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents, guardians, students and staff for their co-operation at this time. We managed to evacuate successfully the vast majority of Boarders from the campus yesterday. We are grateful to all New Hall families and guardians for welcoming so many Boarders into their homes due to the power cut. Also, we would like to thank the parents who have assisted other families with care of students during the school’s closure today. The conduct of students during this incident has been exemplary. We were grateful that everyone remained calm yesterday and generously offered to help those who needed assistance with travel arrangements or overnight accommodation.
Naturally, we regret any inconvenience parents may have been caused as a result of the school’s closure. I am sure you will appreciate that the health and safety of students is a priority and it was necessary to have as few as possible remaining on campus given the length of time that we were without electricity. It was not practical to reopen the school today; we do not yet have a secure power supply to the Preparatory School or Walkfares and we are awaiting further news from the electricity company. Staff are in the process today of making the necessary preparations, and contingency plans, to ensure the school can reopen for Boarders from 4.00pm today and for all students tomorrow morning.
I would be grateful if you would continue to check the school’s website for any further updates. Yesterday, the website had 40,000 hits; we were delighted to see that so many families have used this to check the latest news. In addition, we have our normal procedures in place for ensuring that announcements are made on Essex FM about the school’s closure and its reopening on Friday, 9 May.
If you have any feedback about our critical incidents procedures that could help us to improve our practice in future, please do not hesitate to let me know.
With all good wishes
Yours sincerely
Katherine Jeffrey
PRINCIPAL
EDF Energy have issued this statement:
“The emergency services believe that, sadly, a member of our staff has died at the scene. Our thoughts are with the family of the person involved. EDF Energy Networks has initiated its own investigation and we are co-operating fully with the Health and Safety Executive and Essex Police investigations.
Supplies were restored to many customers yesterday and we were able to restore final customers just after 5am today. We still await permission from the Health and Safety Executive and Essex Police to access all areas of the substation and, as yet, have not been able to properly assess the damage.
Further work will be needed and while we are maintaining supplies, we are still unable to use this key site and would urge all customers in the area to limit their use of non-essential electricity to help us maintain supplies.
We do apologise to all customers who may be affected by this, but there may be further interruptions while repairs are carried out. We are doing all we can to ensure a normal service can be resumed as soon as possible.”
(08/05/08)
