Dear Parents/Carers,
Safety Day at The Leigh Academy – Tuesday 14th December 2021
At The Leigh Academy, we take safeguarding and safety very seriously. It is important that we continue to review all our procedures, taking into account even those events that are very unlikely to occur. As part of this process, we are introducing two new procedures to students called ‘onsite lockdown ‘and ‘off site evacuation’. We will be speaking to all students in assembly and tutor time about the reasons why we might need to have these in place. We will emphasise the unlikeliness of either actually occurring, but, in the same way we practise fire drills, an ‘onsite lockdown’ and an ‘off site evacuation’ practice are necessary precautions.
I am writing to inform you that we will be practising an onsite lockdown and an onsite evacuation on Tuesday 14th December as part of our “Safety Day”. We will also have a focus on online safety in the extended tutor time on that day.
Onsite Lockdown
a) What is an ‘onsite lockdown’ and when would we carry it out?
- A lockdown procedure is a standard health and safety procedure, similar to a fire drill.
- Our lockdown procedure would be used when there is a threat to the safety of students, staff and others in the academy, and when it is safer for everyone to remain in the academy rather than evacuate. The aim is to keep people safe by confining them to a secure place of safety.
b) Situations where our lockdown procedure may be used include:
- A potentially dangerous person or animal on the academy site
- A disturbance or dangerous situation in the local community that could affect the academy
- A nearby chemical incident or other risk of air pollution
- An incident related to terrorism
c) Our lockdown procedure is as follows:
- An alarm, different to the fire alarm will sound
- Staff will receive a notification on their laptop
- Students will remain in classrooms and be directed away from doors
- Students are asked to remain calm, quiet and sensible. NOT to use mobiles.
- Await instructions to be dismissed
- If a student is in the toilet – remain in there with the door locked
- If a class is in the plaza, they will be directed to a classroom; go quietly and sensibly.
- If in a PE lesson – guided by PE staff to the sports hall or lecture theatre depending on where the lesson is.
d) Instructions for parents in the event of a real onsite lockdown situation:
- Parents will be informed that the academy is in lockdown via our text message service.
- Parents should not attempt to call or come to the academy, as this may hinder the academy’s effort to contact and work with the emergency services
- Parents should not discuss the event on social media, as this may spread false information and create panic
- Students will be instructed not to use mobile phones during a lockdown, so parents should not be alarmed if your child does not answer their phone
- Parents will be contacted when the lockdown situation has been resolved and what action(s) to take at that point
Off Site Evacuation
a) What is an ‘offsite evacuation’ and when would we carry it out?
- An ‘off site evacuation’ procedure is a standard health and safety procedure, similar to a fire drill.
- Our ‘off site evacuation’ procedure would be used when there is a need not only to evacuate the building but to actually leave The Leigh site altogether. When there is a threat to the safety of students, staff and others and when it is safer for all to evacuate off site. The aim is to keep people safe by evacuating them to another location.
b) Situations where our lockdown procedure may be used include:
- fire breakout
- gas leaks
- flooding
- an incident related to terrorism
c) Our offsite evacuation procedure is as follows:
- The usual fire evacuation process takes place. The staff and students should evacuate to the MUGA and Goals Assembly Points where a full head count will be made.
- The emergency off site evacuation would then be triggered by the Principal sounding 3 blasts of the air horn. Once all students, staff and any visitors on site are accounted for and it is safe to do so, the whole academy should evacuate the Site via the main pedestrian entrance gates.
- The emergency off site premises are Dartford Football Club located on Princes Park, Grassbanks, Darenth Road, Dartford, KentDA1 1RT. It is a short walk (approx. 500 yards) on the footpath down Princes Road to Dartford Football Club.
- Once at Dartford Football Club another full head count would be taken.
- A risk assessment would follow and on the advice of emergency services, students would either return to The Leigh once the risk had passed or parents would be contacted to collect their child(ren) from DFC
d) Instructions for parents in the event of a real offsite evacuation situation:
- Parents will be informed that the academy is evacuating offsite via our text message service.
- Parents should not attempt to call or come to the academy, as this may hinder the academy’s effort to contact and work with the emergency services
- Parents should not discuss the event on social media, as this may spread false information and create panic
- Students will be instructed not to use mobile phones during an emergency situation, so parents should not be alarmed if your child does not answer their phone
- Parents will be informed if students are returning to The Leigh Academy or whether to collect their child(ren) from DFC
What you can do to help
To reassure your child, please take time to talk to them about ‘onsite lockdown’ and ‘off site evacuation’ procedures and explain why they are important. After the practices, our staff will reassure pupils that they are safe, and will emphasise that practising procedures like this will make sure the academy remains a safe place to learn.
I must stress again on Tuesday 14th December the activities are simply a practice, so that in the unlikely event of such a situation, our students and staff are fully prepared.
If you or your child have any further concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact their college teams.
Yours faithfully,
Julia Collins
Principal
