Page 6 | Does your primary school have lockdowns drills?

Frostythesnowman1 · 2025-01-28T16:23:30+00:00

I have twins in year 1 10 minutes before pick up we get a message to say they have carried out a lockdown drill no warning, no context, no letting parents know how they explained it to 5 year olds so parents can do the same. apparently they have it every year but “missed” last year so this is our first experience

Octavia64 · 28/01/2025 18:19

We did actually have a dog loose in the playground once.

The head posted on the village Facebook group to try to find out whose it was and some of the teachers herded it away form the main school buildings.

The kids were fascinated.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 28/01/2025 18:18

Frostythesnowman1 · 28/01/2025 16:30

Well every day is a school day - pardon the pun

I was just taken a bit back by it - don’t disagree at all, makes me a bit sad but better to be prepared

Yea and it isn’t a new thing either.

TheVeryHungryTortoise · 28/01/2025 18:16

I asked my 6 year old (in an age appropriate way) whether his school did this recently and he confirmed they did. I'm glad that schools are taking the necessary precautions, although I acknowledge that it's sad it is necessary. We have never been informed by school though.

MrsPeregrine · 28/01/2025 18:16

My son said they do “animal alarms” and hide under the tables. Semi-rural setting. How sad that they have to do this type of thing.

fitnessmummy · 28/01/2025 18:13

I remember when I found out my kids did this as school and I felt so incredibly sad! It's so amazing that they do it but so sad that they need it 😞

TakeMe2Insanity · 28/01/2025 18:12

London zone 3. Yes it happens in an age appropriate manner. Parents are not involved.

TwentyTwentyFive · 28/01/2025 18:11

CaptainCaaaavemaan · 28/01/2025 18:09

Not jumping on you but in my experience parents will tell their children all kinds of things if they get a warning making the situation seem much much more scary. Hence why they don't tend to warn the parents to prevent turning it into a big drama where one is not needed.

I think a lot of parents would be surprised at just how capable children are at school compared to at home. Carrying lunch trays and doing up their own zips and all that jazz.

Indeed I'm often amused at parents who are surprised of what we expect from even the youngest children.

Midlifecrisisxamillion · 28/01/2025 18:10

Sassybooklover · 28/01/2025 16:32

All schools by law have to have a lockdown drill per school year.

They really don't

CaptainCaaaavemaan · 28/01/2025 18:09

Not jumping on you but in my experience parents will tell their children all kinds of things if they get a warning making the situation seem much much more scary. Hence why they don't tend to warn the parents to prevent turning it into a big drama where one is not needed.

I think a lot of parents would be surprised at just how capable children are at school compared to at home. Carrying lunch trays and doing up their own zips and all that jazz.

FofB · 28/01/2025 18:07

Yes, and our school triggered it as a massive swarm of bees landed in the tree that is in the entrance of the playground. Didn't call it a lockdown- I can't remember what they called it; maybe a safety shutdown? Kids loved it.

MyNameIsErinQuin · 28/01/2025 18:06

buffyajp · 28/01/2025 16:36

No they don’t. My children’s primary schools and secondary schools didn’t. Whether they should another matter but they didn’t practice them.

Show quote history

I think the recommendation is that schools “should” do it which is usually interpreted as do it unless we have a good reason not to.

DonningMyHardHat · 28/01/2025 18:06

Never heard of this. It makes sense I guess but equally it would cause my ASC 6 year old a lot of anxiety so I would want to be able to talk to him about it in advance, even if he didn’t know exactly when it was going to happen.

crumblingschools · 28/01/2025 18:05

@WalkingonWheels I would be questioning my school why they didn’t do them if they didn’t

XxSideshowAuntSallyx · 28/01/2025 18:05

tonyhawks23 · 28/01/2025 17:49

Ours doesnt but we live in a very safe area.

I'm sure the parents in Dunblane said the same thing about their town.

WalkingonWheels · 28/01/2025 18:04

It's been a thing for decades. I'd be very concerned if a school wasn't doing them! I've never been a pupil at, or taught at a school that didn't.

Bigfellabamboo · 28/01/2025 18:03

I just asked my daughter who is in reception. She said they play hide and find every week and the whole class has to hide. I can't quite work out if this is a game or a drill though!

CaptainCaaaavemaan · 28/01/2025 18:03

crumblingschools · 28/01/2025 18:01

The majority of actual lockdowns in school in England probably don’t involve some armed person coming on site, they are probably much more innocuous like bee swarm, chemical spillage, cow in the playground so doesn’t really matter what area of the country you are in and whether it is ‘safe’

And marauding dads.

crumblingschools · 28/01/2025 18:01

The majority of actual lockdowns in school in England probably don’t involve some armed person coming on site, they are probably much more innocuous like bee swarm, chemical spillage, cow in the playground so doesn’t really matter what area of the country you are in and whether it is ‘safe’

TwentyTwentyFive · 28/01/2025 18:00

a bit of warning would have been appreciated

Not jumping on you but in my experience parents will tell their children all kinds of things if they get a warning making the situation seem much much more scary. Hence why they don't tend to warn the parents to prevent turning it into a big drama where one is not needed.

springskais · 28/01/2025 17:57

The school I work at does, it’s an inner city school so I suppose more likely to need a lockdown

AtomicBlondeRose · 28/01/2025 17:57

At DD’s school they said it was practice for if something happened like the church next door was on fire or if the air ambulance had to land on the playground! Which at least made it seem a bit exciting rather than scary.

CaptainCaaaavemaan · 28/01/2025 17:56

We've just had one. I was in EYFS and the children were told what was going to happen and where we were going to go and that it was a practice for if there was something like a dog loose in the playground.

crumblingschools · 28/01/2025 17:55

@Frostythesnowman1 in my experience the parents get more upset/agitated by these drills than the children do. I assume you don’t want a heads up before a fire drill. Children take them in their stride even when it’s a real one and not a drill.

One local school initiated one as a child became seriously disregulated and started to damage property in the playground so all other children were kept inside. Some parents were beside themselves when they heard there had been a lockdown and unfortunately showed their upset in front of their DC. Whereas the DC hadn’t been bothered up until that point.

MadmansLibrary · 28/01/2025 17:53

tonyhawks23 · 28/01/2025 17:49

Ours doesnt but we live in a very safe area.

We also live in an extremely safe area (any violence is front page news) and we've had lockdown drills. They framed it as an animal being in the yard. It was quite heart-wrenching to hear DD describe how they had to stay away from the windows and be as quiet as possible.

Original poster

Frostythesnowman1 · 28/01/2025 17:50

I’ve spoken to the teacher who was lovely. She said the children were told yesterday that they would be having a practice, not that the kids mentioned it 😂 they weren’t traumatised at all and actually thought it was a hoot. In fact one of my girls asked if we needed to have a lockdown drill at home

I understand everything that’s been said, but as we’ve not experienced this and had no idea it was done on a yearly basis (albeit missed last year) a bit of warning would have been appreciated - but before everyone jumps on I know they don’t have to let parents know.

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