Today, staff and pupils rehearsed our invacuation and evacuation drills. Each term we drill both our invacuation and our evacuation procedures. So that everyone knows what to do, we plan for and rehearse procedures even for events that are very unlikely to occur.

An invacuation is a standard safety procedure, similar to an emergency evacuation/fire drill. This procedure would be used if there is a threat to the safety of pupils, staff and others in school, and when it’s safer for everyone to remain in the school building rather than evacuate. Situations where our invacuation procedure may be used include:

• a potentially dangerous animal on the school site
• an alert from the police about a disturbance or dangerous situation in the local community that could affect the school
• a nearby chemical incident or other risk of air pollution
• a dangerous person or intruder on the school site

When we initiate the invacuation procedure, everyone in school will be alerted by the sounding of a specific alarm. Staff have been trained to follow procedures and ensure that, as in the case of a fire evacuation, everyone is safe. During a drill/event pupils will either stay in their classroom, or if outside make their way into the nearest classroom, and wait quietly until the event or drill is given the 'all clear'.

We also rehearsed evacuation to leave the building, for example, in the event of a fire to ensure the children recognised the different alarms and what they each meant.