Dear Parent/Carers,
As many of you will know the school went into lockdown at around 3.00pm this afternoon. This was a precautionary measure because of a possible risk involving one family. This risk has now passed and will NOT have any impact on any other children or families in school. I understand that there have been some comments on Facebook already about the school being unwilling to share the reasons for the lockdown- this is true as we do not share confidential information. However, I can assure all parents and carers that the situation passed very quickly and is now completely resolved.
General Information about Lockdown (shared previously on a Newsletter to parents/carers in July 2017):
The Local Authority has asked all schools to prepare a lockdown procedure to be used in the case of an emergency. The type of event that may involve a lockdown procedure being put in place could be:
- An intruder on site
- A local fire or chemical leak
- A dangerous dog/animal in the vicinity
- A threat to a child or children in school
- Criminal activity in the vicinity of the school
- Adverse weather
- Gas leak
We have practiced this procedure in school as it is quite complex given the size of the site and the number of doors and windows. We have explained to children that this is an ‘indoor fire alarm’. Instead of practising leaving a building in the case of a fire, we are practising staying in a secure building in case of a different type of emergency.
In the highly unlikely event that a genuine emergency arises that does result in a lockdown, children will not be able to leave the school building, even at the end of the school day. In this event, parents will be informed by text/via the school app that a lockdown is in place if the lockdown is expected to last for any more than 10 minutes. Children will have to stay in the school building being cared for by staff until we are given the all clear by the emergency services. We have also been asked to explain to parents that the school phone lines would need to be kept clear so that we could liaise effectively with outside professionals. For this reason, if we ever do go into lockdown, we would ask you not to ring the school but to wait for updates via text/the app. I know this would be very difficult and worrying but it would ensure that we could deal with any emergency as quickly and safely as possible. It is also very important that we have an up to date number for all parents- some are out of date so could you check this please?
I am sure you will all agree that the most important job of any school is the safety of pupils. The lockdown procedures are part of our Health and Safety procedures and are in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all pupils.