Emergency Management Plan

Definition of an Emergency

An event – or events – usually sudden, which involve experiencing significant personal distress, to a level which potentially overwhelms normal responses and procedures and which is likely to have emotional and organisational consequences.

For example

Off site incidents such as

• Any incident that could involve the council or Islington Council in liability
• A health and safety incident
• Accident or major breakdown of transport being used
• The death or serious injury of a pupil or member of staff
• Assault or attack of pupil or member of staff
• Terrorist activities

On site incidents (on school premises or in the immediate vicinity) such as

• The death or serious injury of a pupil, member of staff or visitor
• A direct threat to the safety of pupils or staff e.g. fire or gas leak, requiring evacuation of the building, an intruder with a lethal weapon etc.
• A direct threat to the health of pupils or staff e.g. outbreak of a serious infectious disease, flu pandemic etc.
• Disruption to the fabric of the school which will result in long-term displacement of the pupils and staff.

Responsibilities

The Headteacher or nominated representative has the delegated power and responsibility to determine the appropriate course of action in the event of an emergency. This includes the decision to close the school or not.

Where necessary, a School Emergency Team will be called upon to help to manage the emergency. This will include any member of the senior management team that is on site (the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, Assistant Head/SENCO, Head of Early Years and School Business Manager) together with the Premises Manager. Other members of staff may be called upon to be part of this team according to their availability and skills.

Of course, making the decision to close the school and informing parents, the Local Authority and the Chair of Governors of the decision and making sure that all children have been collected safely may be all that is required in some emergencies e.g. severe weather conditions, a flu pandemic etc. In these situations, staff should continue to come into school where possible (where transport is affected, all reasonable efforts should be made to find alternatives), unless ill, caring for dependants or authorised to work elsewhere.

Three-stage Emergency Management Plan

The following plan is to use as guidance during a full scale emergency. This Emergency Plan consists of three stages as listed below:

STAGE 1 – Term Time during school hours.
STAGE 1 – Outside Term Time or outside of school hours
STAGE 2 – After immediate actions have been completed
STAGE 3 – Ongoing actions

Appendices:

1. School Emergency Team contact details
2. Useful organisation/ individual contacts details
3. Notes for media interviews
4. Emergencies Procedures/ Decisions log
5. Emergencies Procedures Message Form
6. Planning for a Human Influenza Pandemic

All staff, especially those nominated staff on the emergency team, must familiarise themselves with this action plan.

All members of the Senior Management Team will have a copy of this Emergency Management Plan at home as well as in school. In addition, each will hold an up to date staff and pupil list with emergency contact details. This will be updated each September and February by the school admin team.

Activation of this emergency plan.

Notification of an emergency may come from:

• LB Islington/ Islington Council
• The emergency services
• A member of staff
• A member of the public

This plan can be activated by the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher or in their absence another member of the SMT, together with the Premises Manager and School Business Manager.

STAGE 1

An Emergency DURING School Hours
Immediate Actions by the Headteacher or nominated representative

• Make an initial attempt to clarify exactly what has happened
• Call the emergency services if appropriate
• Ensure the safety of everyone on the premises
• Further clarify what has happened. Open and continue to maintain, a personal log of all factual information received, actions taken, and the time of those events (see appendix 4 for log)
• In serious emergencies contact the Local Authority through ‘Contact Islington’ (see appendix 1). Ask to speak to a shift supervisor. Tell them:
  • Your name
  • Name of the School
  • That the call is important/ urgent as appropriate
    Establish who they will contact. Ensure this includes the Director of Schools Services

• Unless there is overwhelming pressure or a necessity, avoid closing the school and endeavour to maintain normal routines and timetables
• Inform Chair of Governors of the incident. The Chair of Governors should be made aware of any media interest and be briefed in any involvement of the Local Authority PR team

Media

If the incident attracts media attention, you are likely to be inundated with requests for interviews and statements. If this is the case:

• Ensure those answering the phone pass on the call immediately and give out no details
• Try to postpone media comment until you have been given guidance and assistance by Islington Council’s communications team Tel no – 020 7527 5826
  Out of hours – 07913 324 341The team will field enquiries from the media leaving you free to deal with the emergency
• If you cannot reach Islington, only the on-site co-ordinator is to liaise with the media, see Appendix 3 for key points to remember
• Recognise the relevance of multi-cultural and multi-faith factors in any response to the mediaNB: It is especially important that if names of those who may have been involved in the incident are known – DO NOT release or confirm them to anyone before those identities are formally agreed and parents/next of kin are informed.

An Emergency OUTSIDE School Hours
Immediate Actions by the Headteacher or nominated representative

• As above, in addition;
• Arrange for the Premises Manager to open certain parts of the school as appropriate and to be available (and responsive) to requests
• Arrange for immediate administrative support
• If deputising for the Headteacher, try if possible to contact and brief them
• Call in designated staff members to form the ‘School Emergency Management Team’

STAGE 2 – AFTER THE IMMEDIATE ACTIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED

• If ‘Local Authority Support Team’ has been activated, arrange for On-Site facilities for the team
• Agree appropriate identification of staff by using badges
• Expect to see identification of Local Authority Support Team Officers
• Set up arrangements to manage visitors – arrange for their names to be recorded
• Set up arrangements to enable accurate information to flow into and out of the school and for telephone calls by ensuring:
  • Sufficient help is available to answer the many calls that could be received (The Local Authority Support Team will be able to assist with a ‘Helpline’)
  • Staff maintain records of all calls received (see Appendix 5)
  • Brief, but up to date prepared statements are available to staff answering phones
  • Media calls are directed to Islington Council’s communications team
  • Care is taken when answering calls
  • An independent telephone is made available for outgoing calls only. Ideally plug a telephone into the fax line as a temporary external line. Alternatively a mobile phone can be used but such messages can be easily intercepted.
  • Telephone staff are reminded that some calls could be bogus
• To arrange for all staff – not just teaching staff – to be called in and, if necessary,briefed at an early stage. Subsequent briefings e.g twice a day for 10 minutes should be arranged
• Be aware of how colleagues are coping
• To arrange for all pupils to be told, in simple terms, at an early stage. Ideally in smallgroups and initially by class teachers wherever possible
• To brief the team to discourage staff and pupils from speaking to the media

STAGE 3 – ONGOING ACTIONS

Informing Parents

• If pupils are involved, the contacting of parents will be an important early task (remember if it is a major incident parents may already have heard). It may be appropriate to ask the parents to come to the school for a briefing and support. This will need to be done with the utmost care. The LBI Emergency Support Team will be able to assist with this
• Maintain regular contact with parents
• In an incident away from school seek advice whether parents should travel to thescene, or whether children should be taken home

Staff

• Remember to have regular breaks and advise others to do so
• Maintain regular contact with all staff. Make a point of seeing that all staff involvedknows each others roles and responsibilities
• Always try to think if something positive to say to staff and respond positively to ideasand suggestions
• Be available to see staff when required
• Remember some members of staff may be so affected that they will not be able tohelp in supporting children
• Recognise also that if the burden of dealing with the situation falls disproportionatelyon a small number of staff, they too could need professional support
• If the incident is away from school, try to dissuade shocked staff from driving parentsto the scene
• Maintain liaison with ‘Local Authority Support Team’ Senior Officer for the duration ofthe incident

Further Information and guidance can be found in the Islington Council Emergency Plan folder located in the Headteacher’s office and also the school’s Lock-Down procedures.