DS: Risk Warning; On and off-site safeguarding and safety

Hello all,

Welcome back to a gloomy start with the news from London again and the weather not helping.

Here's the current position:

There is no known threat locally. Having said that events show we must be vigilant and on guard, while continuing to live life as usually as possible.

When considering the actions of the extremists on Saturday I took to pondering our ability to use reasonable force in defence of ourselves and others. This in the mix of fight, flight and freeze reactions if confronted with such events. If murder with weapons is clearly going to/happening, there is case law to confirm a lethal response is proportionate. While flight - the Run, Hide, Tell national message is sound, current and relevant, and certainly the priority action, if possible where looking after others, clearly taking action is the fight response. I, wonder if anyone would answer the question if a passing motorist intervened and used their vehicle to stop that action, is that reasonable force? I think it is.

The current threat level in the UK is Severe, this means an attack is highly likely. The threat level was raised briefly to Critical after the attack at the Manchester Arena on Monday 22nd May 2017.

Please again review your risk assessments for out-of-school trips, taking into account our advice. This does not mean that visits should not go ahead.

There are areas which may give greater cause for concern, and it seems that any crowded areas may be at risk. We must be well prepared not only with a pre-visit risk assessment, but with a readiness to undertake dynamic risk assessment in a pre-thought through framework, if needing to respond to an urgent and unfolding incident..

Children will certainly notice that there is heightened security in various locations which may include armed police and, on occasion, soldiers. For children unused to this, they may be worried by it.

In the event of a terrorist incident, there will probably be road and transport closures, and this may lead to delays being able to return home. Do now ensure that all adults and pupils have a reserve bottle of water, and a small snack in their bag in case of delays. There is no need to tell the children why, just say that they need to save it for the journey home. Don’t forget to take extra medication for any child who may need it.

Communications are essential. In a major event, parent/carers will be concerned and start to ring you for information. They could well know before you do via texts and social media posts from their children depending on their age, your control measures and autonomy they are allowed. Review your relevant items from the 3Cs policy in terms of the 'loggist' role and activate the communication plan element, remembering that regular output, even if there's nothing new to say, is essential to counter rumour, etc. Be the 'authoritative source'. 

Please be aware that some children may well become naturally more anxious. Their natural resilience and expectation that things will be fine could have been jolted and adults need to be able to offer reassurance. Although not intended to deal with terrorist events, here are three links to supporting children with anxiety. We have added content on our web site and twitter feed to link to BBC Newsround's very helpful item on this.

As usual, if we can be of support, do get in touch.

Bill