Lockdown in Schools Procedure

Whether it’s a disaffected person, turning a knife on a teacher in Leeds, a pair of rampaging armed gunman in Columbine, or members of a terrorist organisation with political and ideological reasons to cause harm, we have a risk mitigation solution to counter the threat to your school or organisation. This is a simple lockdown procedure that is easy for you to learn and apply. In the event of a violent intruder or gunman, speed of thought and action are absolutely vital.  This training course provides the knowledge to think and act quickly and ultimately save the lives of the pupils and staff.

The term “Lockdown in schools” are measures to protect children, teachers and other school staff from a terrorist attack. A lockdown takes place as a result of imminent threats to schools and the wider communities. The procedure involves locking interior and exterior doors and gates. No one enters or leaves the building during a full lockdown.  A modified lockdown is where permission for restricted access exists for authorised people.  All students and staff take training to know how to respond to a lockdown situation.  Schools have lockdown drills as part of emergency planning procedures. By the end of this training you will know:

• The responsibilities of the Lockdown Officer
• The reasons for lockdown procedure.
• The school lockdown and all clear signals
• how to utilise a classroom, or other area, to protect the lives of yourself and your pupils
• how to maintain effective communications during

This course is intended for use as a roadmap for the appointed “Lockdown Officer”. This lockdown officer is responsible for the establishment of a workable lockdown procedure and maintaining an “Intruder Risk Assessment.  They are also responsible for ensuring those in positions of authority know what do to in the event of a lockdown emergency. The lockdown officer is responsible for liaison with:

• the head teacher,
• the school regulator
• the independent school’s inspectorate (ISI), the regulatory body
• for public schools, in some cases, the trust’s bursar. The lockdown often is the bursar
• the emergency services. Contact with the emergency services is particularly important. The lockdown officer needs to have a personal contact within the service and know how to contact them.

When designing new schools or preparing existing schools for lockdown procedures, thought should be given to ensuring that the school administration is secure and separate from the rest of the school. This allows the administrative area to be secured quickly and easily, enabling it to become the communication hub between the school and the emergency services and media. The school administration area may also be the target for the intruder.

The course discusses how preparing those who work in schools on how to use communications available to them to minimise the risks the staff and students are exposed to in the event of a lockdown. It explores different types of communication methods available, taking account of when staff and students are located and if they must remain silent, if they are in hiding.

The course introduces two important terms: ‘hold and secure’ and ‘shelter in place’. By the end of the course, you will be able to instruct on the specific situations each should be used.

• Hold and Secure example: A bank robbery occurs near the school. In this situation, the school continues to function normally, with the exterior doors being locked until the dangerous situation near the school is resolved.
• Shelter in Place should be used where it is necessary to keep all the occupants within the school to protect them from an external situation. Examples could include chemical spills, blackouts, explosions, or extreme weather conditions.

The course introduces a comprehensive a five-step procedures to protect staff and students from a violent intruder. This strategy is comprehensive and is easily remembered using the acronym ALICE, which stands for:

• Alert: The purpose of alert is to notify as many people as possible within the danger zone that there is a potentially life threatening risk.
• Lockdown: The purpose of lockdown is to secure the place and prepare to evacuate or counter if needed.
• Inform: The purpose of inform is to continue to communicate the intruders location, and to keep each other informed of what is going on any injuries or similar issues.
• Counter: The purpose of counter is to interrupt the intruder and make it difficult or impossible for them to kill or injure.
• Evacuate: The purpose of evacuate is to remove yourself from the danger zone when it is safe to do so. In extreme situations, you will more than likely be evacuated by armed police. Let’s look at these in greater detail.

The course covers each in detail and how the specific tasks the lockdown officer needs to be able to ensure are implemented.

In order to achieve an efficient and effective response to a lockdown procedure, it is important to know what the police or emergency services need to know during an incident. The course details the key information requests you can expect to receive from the police. If you know what these are in advance, you can pre-empt their requests which will improve the efficiency of the police response.

Access official government guidance “Developing Dynamic Lockdown Procedures“