Sunday, February 23, 2014

Emergency Evacuation Practice Feedback and Action Points

Thanks to all the parents and caregivers who participated in our school evacuation and pick up practice last Friday.
The main focus for this practice was to refine our procedures for having all students safely picked up by emergency contacts after an emergency situation. We appreciate that this was an inconvenience for many people, so thank you for your support and patience.
Below are the main points from the practice, including action points for staff and parents to ensure smooth and efficient procedures in the case of a real emergency.
We are keen to get your feedback on the evacuation, too. Please read the points we have identified below and if you have any further points or comments not included below we would love to hear them. Please email Urs (urs@amesbury.school.nz) with your feedback.

Overview:
* All students and staff followed the evacuation procedures quickly and effectively. Students were all quickly accounted for and evacuated to initial evacuation points (central courtyard for Harakeke, netball courts for Koru hub). Once accounted for, students and staff then all gathered on our netball courts.

*Once all students were accounted for, Gail sent out a bulk text to all families informing them of the evacuation and asking them to pick their child/ren up.

*All students were safely picked up by 3pm, with many students being picked up by 2:30pm. Kelly Club and Kelly Sports students were safely signed over to their instructors at 3pm.


Action points for staff:
1) It was a slow procedure to sign out students, as all records were kept in one folder that only one person at a time could access. Action to take: We will split student records into three folders according to surname (A-H, I-O, P-Z) and have three lines running simultaneously. Angela, Urs and Gail will run this, with other teachers acting as runners collecting students once they have been signed out.

2) It can be hard for younger students or students who are upset to see their parents and not be able to go to them straight away. Action to take: We will identify students we feel may need extra support and have systems in place to fast track them through the procedure (if possible) or have teachers able to provide additional support, allowing 'runners' to continue collecting other students efficiently.

How you can help:
1) Be patient and wait in the line/s to sign out your child/ren. We appreciate that signing out all students is a slow procedure, but it is also a very necessary one. We need to ensure students are only collected by nominated emergency contacts, and in the case of a real emergency we need to record who picks up each student. This will mean that if parents cannot communicate with each other (if communication systems are affected by the emergency) multiple people may come to pick up one student - we need to be able to tell you exactly who picked up your child/ren. We will do all we can to refine our procedures so that this process goes as quickly and smoothly as possible.

2) Check the emergency contacts we have on file for you. If you did not receive the text after our evacuation on Friday please let us know so that we can check we have updated contact numbers for you. We cannot send this emergency text to all emergency contacts. Our student management system sends messages to the first two contacts in our system - they are usually the two main caregivers for each student. You will then be responsible for contacting your other emergency contacts if you are unable to pick up your child/ren. Wherever possible, ensure that your nominated emergency contacts are people who live close by and do not rely on transport to get to school in an emergency. In the case of an earthquake, for example, many roads may be blocked and public transport will be affected. Having neighbours, family or friends in the area who can walk down and pick up your child/ren will make it easier for you to ensure the safe and quick pick up of your child/ren. If you would like to change or add any emergency contacts, please contact Gail Greenslade in the school office.

3) Please clearly state your child's name when you are signing out your child/ren or when you talk with a staff member in a high-visibility vest. Although we know who you all are, in a pressured situation it can be difficult to recall everyone quickly and we want to ensure that we do not make any mistakes. It can also be a bit embarrassing asking people we know who their children are! Bear with us in the case of a real emergency and make it easy and clear for everyone.

If you have any further feedback or comments about the evacuation, please email Urs and let her know.
Thanks again for all of your support.

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