SchoolDocs reviews are always interesting.
As the number of schools has increased – so too has the volume of feedback we
receive. Hardly surprising, I hear you mutter.
The biggest problem with that feedback is
the confusion around process that fuels some of the comments.
The review process is focused on the accuracy
of the actual content and any issues or errors you spot, arising from your
sharp reading. How well a procedure is being followed is an
implementation issue for the school’s management to consider. School-specific
details that need immediate updating should be emailed directly to team@schooldocs.co.nz, and not included
in your review comments.
Many comments were received in the latest
review asking where a school’s tsunami content could be found or stating that
the link didn’t work. In every such case there was no tsunami procedure online
because the school has not developed one and submitted it to team@schooldocs.co.nz for inclusion on
your site!
Schools need to carefully consider whether
your site is at risk from a tsunami event, and if it is, follow the guidelines
on the Demo Site to draft your planned response. A quick check suggests that
there are schools at risk who would benefit from considering this planning
urgently.
Having said that, some schools that raised
the question are so far inland that there would be little or no risk of
inundation, in which case there will be little point in preparing a tsunami
plan for your site.
Here’s a useful resource to help you
evaluate your school’s risk: Civil
Defence Tsunami Evacuation Zones
Lockdown Procedures
Lockdown procedures are not something that
should be published online. This is to prevent a person intending harm to know
exactly how a school will respond. A school’s lockdown procedures should exist
in printed paper copies issued to all staff.
Every school is different in its layout and
accessibility to the public, which means that each school must consider its
layout and its infrastructure in order to tailor any response to its reality.
The way that doors are positioned, locked, and controlled, the way that
communication between admin and staff is handled, and the number and type of
pedestrian and vehicle access points a school has to manage, are just some of
the many variables that a school needs to consider in drafting its Reverse
Evacuation Plan.
The March 2019 attack on mosques in
Christchurch resulted in the NZ Police calling for a prolonged lockdown across
the local schools’ network, and most Christchurch schools remained locked down
until 6.00 pm. This lockdown was complicated by the arrival at school of
parents who had been released from their places of work, or were just available
to “go and get the kids”. Many became frustrated when they were not allowed to
access the school and uplift their children, but that rather misses the point
of a lockdown.
The Ministry of Education and the NZ Police
are currently coordinating a complete review of lockdowns and any
recommendations will be used to improve our review and then to improve your
plans. It will mean a delay to our Emergency Planning update, as there is no
point in issuing changes, and then making further changes after the report is
published.
There were a number of comments from staff
members which showed that not all schools have fully briefed their personnel on
lockdowns, and possibly have not distributed paper copies for everyone who will
be affected in an emergency. Please add this to your next staff meeting agenda.
Earthquakes
Your SchoolDocs team is based in
Christchurch and we can all claim to have had personal experience with earthquakes.
The Canterbury series of quakes is estimated now at more than 12,000 shocks and
after shocks. There’s not much to like about earthquakes.
So our content is based on our experience
in schools and the advice from Civil Defence. It is worth noting that no child who
was “at” school on 22 February was killed by the shaking.
It is really important to have robust
checking and monitoring of classrooms as part of a school’s preparedness.
Unstable furniture, loose items on shelves, and light fittings probably pose
more risk to safety than a building collapse, especially when a building is
constructed with a flexible wooden or steel frame.
Checking rooms for earthquake readiness
should be a regular part of the caretaker’s role in any school. Children are
encouraged to get under desks more to protect their heads from breaking glass
and falling objects than to save them from a crushing injury from building
collapse, which is usually quite unlikely.
One hidden threat in classrooms can be
heavily laden and unlocked metal filing cabinets which can shake open and then
tip over as they become unbalanced with their drawers open. A four drawer
cabinet could be lethal for a person turtled beside it should it topple!
One Christchurch teacher suffered severe
trauma when a whiteboard bounced off its clips and pivoted from the wall silently
onto the back of her neck giving her a karate chop style impact which has taken
years to treat.
My daughter narrowly missed being struck by
a falling 1.2 metre long fluorescent light fitting which disconnected itself
from the ceiling on 22 February. She had not dived under her desk!
Collapsing masonry was the main killer,
whether it was old unreinforced concrete store fronts, or multi-storey
buildings which catastrophically failed, such as the CTV Building, and the PGC
Building. The majority of New Zealand’s school classrooms are of framed timber
construction and although they may end up in a bad way, will be very unlikely
to spontaneously collapse. More modern buildings should have been well planned
with earthquakes carefully considered in their design and construction.
School leaders should walk thoughtfully
around their site with a clipboard, thinking carefully, and making notes about
these matters, and then instructing staff to support the planning by securing items
in their rooms, and taking an active and engaged part in regular drills.
Signing Students Out
Whenever an emergency strikes and
regardless of what it is, your school needs to be maintaining a record of its
kids present, and when they are handed over to a parent or caregiver. For this
to work effectively all class teachers need to be well briefed on their role.
During the Christchurch earthquakes,
parents turned up to school as soon as they could get there. Some had run
across town carrying their heels, whilst others drove, but often roads were
blocked, and all movement was on foot.
The first critical step is to have each
teacher mark attendance at the designated time, first thing in the morning.
This is often an issue for schools, as teachers get engrossed in teaching and
delay this important task. It’s very hard to sign someone “out” if you haven’t
signed them “in”.
It is complicated by the use of SMS systems
as well, as following a really good earthquake it is highly probable that there
will be no internet or electricity. A paper-based backup is the obvious answer.
Teachers need to understand the importance of recording the person to whom a
child is released, and the time that happens. It may not always be the child’s
parent.
The parents of some children may work for
the emergency or other services and be unable to get to school. Some may be blocked
by traffic, damaged infrastructure, or personal injury. On the 22 February, it
took Kay Harding from SchoolDocs eight hours to drive home - a trip that
usually takes forty minutes.
Your teachers and staff will be there
supporting their community, but planning and preparation must be completed in
advance. Imagine the reaction when a parent arrives to pick up a child is
missing because they have been released to the care of someone else, but the
teacher can’t clearly state who it was!
Fires
A number of commenters raised the mystery
of fire extinguishers. Although there was acknowledgement that they existed,
many did not feel confident that they would know how to use one in an
emergency. Five minutes once a year should resolve this uncertainty, and it is
important that all staff know that they should only tackle a fire with an
extinguisher in its earliest stages and if they have an easy avenue to escape.
by Phil Harding
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