School exercise

How are you preparing
grenfell
Posts: 4014
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:55 pm

School exercise

Post by grenfell »

Thankfully very rare in the UK but in the news again over in the states is the matter of attacks on schools. My daughter's school held an exercise this week on how to react to such an incident. It wasn't in response to the recent US school shooting and had been planned beforehand but brought into focus by it.
My daughter wasn't in school on the day of the exercise but her friends told her about it. It started with a bell , different to the normal school bell and this was the trigger for the exercise to start. The headmaster strolled the school as the shooter while pupils were instructed to hide under desks. My daughter's friends were saying there was a degree of confusion and quite a few not really taking it seriously and my daughter added that if there was any shooting a lot would be dead as the walls are paper thin. I suppose the final conclusion was that it in reality achieved very little but it did at least start the germ of an idea and is something to build on.
GeeGee
Posts: 403
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:35 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by GeeGee »

Yes it seems a few are starting this some of my grandkids ( primary school age) have been involved in this kind of thing
Bell / alarm goes off and teacher instructs kids to ..hide under tables ..or depending on what the crisis is make way out of school via emergency doors etc all kinds of things really
Asked my son who works in primary school have they done it he said no not at ours daughter in law teaches primary ..they have ..and all the schools are in a ten mile radius so I dont know if its at discretion of the school or not
When it happened at the primary 2 of the grandkids are at they were told this is a training exercise etc
Don't panic follow instructions
9 yr old granddaughter went straight out of door down corridor and did one to playground ..her house is two streets away I presume if she hadn't been caught shed have done one and gone home.
More training needed
Hope it never has to be done for real ..but ..well who knows.
grenfell
Posts: 4014
Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:55 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by grenfell »

Ah , interesting that it's not an isolated case and that our local headmaster hasn't turned a bit odd , well odder . I don't think a shooter in a school is very likely over here but as you say you never know and of course the training should help in other sorts of school "invasion" . At least it's being thought about...
jansman
Posts: 13692
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by jansman »

Our local school ( my wife’s workplace) had a ‘mugger’ try to hide from police on the school grounds. All staff have two way radios and training for a ‘lockdown’. It worked well. A stranger cannot get in either without reasons,and there’s only one entrance during school day. If I walk down to meet my wife,even I am not allowed in. A proper system.
Also ,my wife told me,if a parent starts kicking off - and violence DOES happen occasionally- there is an alarm system available through the walkie talkies,which generally sorts the problem. Fortunately,the ‘public’ area has cameras- good,as my wife has been both punched by a mother,and stabbed with a pen by one!
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
GeeGee
Posts: 403
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:35 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by GeeGee »

jansman wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 4:25 pm Our local school ( my wife’s workplace) had a ‘mugger’ try to hide from police on the school grounds. All staff have two way radios and training for a ‘lockdown’. It worked well. A stranger cannot get in either without reasons,and there’s only one entrance during school day. If I walk down to meet my wife,even I am not allowed in. A proper system.
Also ,my wife told me,if a parent starts kicking off - and violence DOES happen occasionally- there is an alarm system available through the walkie talkies,which generally sorts the problem. Fortunately,the ‘public’ area has cameras- good,as my wife has been both punched by a mother,and stabbed with a pen by one!
Yes grandsons school is same cameras all over
Had to collect him as he had lump like a egg on head
Took me through one intercom a gate 2 double locked doors to a security glass where 3 members of staff stood behind asking for password as grandson was behind 2 double doors locked ...
I had maneuvered the first few fairly easily but as I havent picked him up for a while could I heck remember the password
The lollipop lady who lives 2 doors on was in office waving at me along with his teacher who went to school with my kids :)
Still couldn't have him ...
I told them they'd have to keep him... as hes yelling GG I have to come home
They let him out as I remembered the elusive password that I actually chose but even though they know me he wasn't going anywhere till I said the password
Then went through the order of gates and doors unlocking for us to get out ...
Its sad its come to this thinking of my own school days walking to school age 6 with my reflective bands on in the dark no security nothing...but safety first .. staff and kids should be safe in a school !
GillyBee
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: School exercise

Post by GillyBee »

Gee Gee
Did your school get regular bomb threat evacuations? Mine did this back in the seventies amid the IRA terror threat. I guess only the threat type has changed.
GeeGee
Posts: 403
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:35 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by GeeGee »

GillyBee wrote: Mon Apr 03, 2023 6:36 am Gee Gee
Did your school get regular bomb threat evacuations? Mine did this back in the seventies amid the IRA terror threat. I guess only the threat type has changed.
Yes we had this wailing siren I can still remember it now..3 min warning ..squashed about 20 of us and teacher into a cupboard ....
Terrified us about war with Russia
How times have changed ..not ...
jansman
Posts: 13692
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by jansman »

I can remember the Cold War alarm going off ( bi annual check) at the Rolls Royce factory that used to be South of the school my wife teaches in now! When it went off we had to stand and March into the WW2 Concrete air raid shelters that were still there. Indeed they weren’t gotten rid of until about ten years ago.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
Frnc
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Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by Frnc »

Where I live it was a pop concert that got bombed, many people killed. There was also a major bombing in the 70s, IRA. That one took out a whole loads of shops. I don't remember any drills.
grenfell
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Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:55 pm

Re: School exercise

Post by grenfell »

Funny thing is that my daughter goes to the same school as I did although when I was there it was a comprehensive and now it's an academy. We live in what was a small mining town and is now has been called a dormitory town in that there's little here in the way of industry and everyone travels for work. Either way we must be and were pretty unimportant or not a worthy target . I can't remember any sort of drill at the school. There was an air raid siren but I can only remember that being tried out a couple of times probably in the early 70's...