As an Academy with responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of young people in our care, we constantly need to renew our policies, test our procedures and communicate plans to our Forge family.
You will be familiar with lockdown procedures in primary schools and in the workplace, we are no different and we have an obligation to test our plan in a similar way to the way we test our fire alarms.
Lockdown will help us to deal with issues such as:
• A reported incident or civil disturbance in the local community which potentially poses a risk to the Academy community.
• A dangerous individual in the locality.
• An intruder on the Academy site with the potential to pose a risk to students, staff and visitors.
• A warning being received regarding a local risk of air pollution (for example smoke plume, gas cloud).
• A major fire in the vicinity of the Academy.
• Serious accident on-site requiring good access for emergency services.
What is lockdown? It is similar to fire alarm/drill. However, students stay INSIDE THE BUILDING.
When would it be used? When the Academy is alerted to an EXTERNAL incident which means we have to stay inside.
How will students know lockdown has started? A horn will sound.
What should students do? Staff will provide guidance:
How will students know lockdown is over? A horn will sound.
Please do not be alarmed. These things do not normally happen but we do need to be prepared for such eventualities. We will be discussing this with students and we will be practicing locking down our site.