Fire Drill, Evacuation & Lockdown
The safety of the children, staff and visitors to our pre-school is of paramount importance. We hold an emergency evacuation drill and a lockdown drill, at least once every half term to ensure the children and staff are familiar with our procedures to allow for a speedy and safe evacuation should the need arise. Drills are carried out in a calm, playful, manner to prevent the children from becoming anxious or worried, if the children and adults leave the building in a calm manner it helps to facilitate a smooth, incident free evacuation. The drills are carried out on different days and sessions to ensure every child and staff member has practiced at least one drill. A record of the drill is kept on file and reviewed at the weekly seniors meeting, to ascertain if there is anything we can do to improve our evacuation procedure.
The procedure for evacuation is - when the alarm is sounded all staff are responsible for gathering the children together and leaving by the nearest/appropriate exit. The manager will check the toilets and kitchen to ensure no children, staff or visitors are left behind, and collect the register of children and staff present, which also holds the contact and emergency telephone numbers, first aid box, and mobile phone box. On leaving the building the manager will call the emergency services. The children and visitors will assemble by the front gate and taken to the church gardens where the register will be taken, and first aid will be given if appropriate. The children will be comforted, and the manager will call the parents/carers or emergency contacts of the children for collection as soon as possible.
The procedure for lockdown is – when the alarm is sounded all staff are responsible for gathering the children and visitors together and taking them to the youth hall. The manager will lock all doors, check the cloakroom, kitchen, and toilets to ensure no children, staff or visitors are left behind, join the others in the youth hall, and lock the door. The register will be taken, and a headcount carried out. The manager will then contact the emergency services. All staff are responsible for keeping the children calm, still and quiet. The doors will only be unlocked on the instruction of the emergency services. Parent/carers will then be contacted.
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Confidential information regarding contact and emergency numbers for children and staff will be kept securely and used only for the purposes they were intended for.
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Children will only be handed over to an adult once we are entirely satisfied of that adults’ identity, and the validity of them taking the child. We will take steps to ensure the safety of the premises, regarding, risk assessments, checks, and monitoring.
We will always be covered by adequate and appropriate insurance.
Ofsted will always be informed of any incident where evacuation procedures, or lockdown, has taken place and of any injury to a child, staff member or visitor during the evacuation.
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Last Review:- September 2025
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