St Philip Neri RC Primary School Critical Incident/Disaster Recovery Policy
Contents Page 1 Page 2-4 Critical Incident Management Crisis Management Plan Appendices Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendix 5 Appendix 6 Appendix 7 Appendix 8 Appendix 9 Appendix 10 Incident Response Arrangements for Schools School Incident Response Team On / Off Site Incident Rooms Useful Contacts School Alarm Systems Managing Critical Incidents on visits away from school Critical Incidents/Bereavement & Loss Key Local Contacts Key National Contacts Voluntary & Community Organisations in Gateshead Information on Bereavement Support Annexes connected to Incident Response Annex A Annex B Annex C Annex D Annex E Annex G Annex H Annex 1 Grab Bag Information Emergency Evacuation Action Cards for Team Members Information / Message Log Incident Log Sheet for Emergencies Reception Area School Utilities Guidelines dealing with Bomb Threats
Critical Incident Management Handling crisis is a normal and recurring part of life. Some incidents, however, are more critical and overwhelming in character in which children and young people, staff and parents may experience acute, even prolonged distress. The guidance and advice from the Managing Critical Incidents, Bereavement, Loss in Schools and Settings document, (attached to the back of this policy) assisted school to review the policy for its initial response to a critical incident and create a Critical Incident/Disaster Recovery Plan. A crisis could affect the community, a whole school setting, or a class or an individual and could, for example, be one of the following: The death or serious injury of a child or young person, a parent or a member of staff Violence or assault A road, rail, sea or air traffic accident A natural disaster within the community A serious accident on an out of school trip The consequences of terrorist or criminal activity A major arson attack Extremely unusual circumstances which produce a high level of immediate or delayed emotional reaction, surpassing the individual It is important to note that certain larger scale incidents or disasters which go beyond a school or other children s services settings will be designated as Major Incidents, usually by the emergency Services. The Local Authority s response to such incidents will be managed by the Incident Control Team acting on behalf of the Chief Executive at the Civic Centre. 1
ACTIVATION OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN (CMP) Roles and Responsibilities of the Crisis Management Lead Co-ordinator (Appendix 1) Lead Co-ordinator Val Douglass Head Teacher Responsible for activating the Plan once notified of an on-going or impending disruption that warrants the implementation of the plan. The Head Teacher/Lead Co-ordinator will: (a) Provide appropriate command and control (b) Impact assessment of immediate consequences and further potential damage (c) Implementation of appropriate response strategies (d) Restoration of normal operations once disruption has been dealt with The Head Teacher will refer to: 1. Determine Evacuation Site (Annex B) if applicable 2. Action Card 1 (Annex C) and complete 3. Information/Message Log (Annex D) and complete 4. Incident Log Sheet for Emergencies (Annex E). and complete Sarah Williams Deputy Lead Co-ordinator On Maternity Leave (from 5.1.15) Colette Bell (Monday & Tuesday) & Emma Hutchinson (Thursday & Friday) (Jointly on Wednesday) Acting Deputy Head for her maternity cover will lead and manage the Co-ordinators role if she is unavailable. They will refer to: (a) Action Card 1 (Annex C) and or (b) Action Card 2 (Annex C) The Crisis Management Team (Appendix 2) Val Douglass Colette Bell/Emma Hutchinson Janet McKie Anna Oswald Rowena Mahoney David Scott Head Teacher / Lead Co-ordinator Deputy Head / Deputy Lead Co-ordinator School Business Manager Teacher Teacher Site Manager 2
The Response Team will co-ordinate the response to the disruption. The size of the team will be determined by the nature of the disruption but is likely to contain a minimum of: (a) Head Teacher / Lead Co-ordinator Mrs V Douglass (b) Log Keeper Mrs J McKie (c) Media Liaison Co-ordinator Mrs V Douglass/Mrs C Bell/Mrs E Hutchinson (d) Administrative Staff Mrs J McKie, Miss D Fiddler Teaching Staff Teaching staff will continue to undertake normal duties wherever possible but will be asked to brief pupils and parents as appropriate. Facilities Staff Facilities staff will continue to undertake normal duties wherever possible but will support the Head Teacher / Co-ordinator as appropriate. David Scott Site Manager Will (if applicable) carry out the principal tasks in Action Card 4 (Annex C) Administrative Staff Administrative staff will support the Head Teacher/Co-ordinator. They will: (a) Have Grab Bags (Annex A) available for collection in the event of an incident (b) Janet McKie School Business Manager will carry out (if applicable) the principal tasks in Action Card 3 (Annex C) (c) Complete information / message Log with Team Co-ordinator (d) Provide School Utilities contacts (if applicable) (Annex H) Incident Room- Set up Anna Oswald/Val Douglass - Will set up Incident Room (if applicable) full details on (Annex F) Janet McKie Team Member will set up Reception Area (if applicable) full details on (Annex G) Monitoring Impact The Head Teacher/Lead Co-ordinator will monitor the level of impact on normal operations and assess the extent of disruption to establish the need for intervention, i.e. resources available to fully restore normal operations. 3
Performance Review and Maintenance It is important that on all occasions the Plan is implemented, there is a formal Performance Review. Once a disruption is over, the Head Teacher or Deputy Lead Coordinator will carry out a formal de-brief. The findings will be reported to the Chair of Governors and the Children s Services at Gateshead Council. The Head Teacher or Deputy Lead Co-ordinator will review this Plan in light of the identified learning points and ensure that appropriate changes are made. Emergency amendments will be issued as required. The CMT meets at least once per year, to update procedures, names and contact numbers. All staff, governors and parents are aware of the above members and their roles within the CMT. The policy is on the school website. Date of Review 5.1.15 Next Review due 2016