Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Lockdown drill at daycare

89 replies

kmmr · 25/05/2018 13:46

My DS is 3 and goes to a daycare which posts little updates online during the day about what they are doing. Yesterday we got one showing them doing a lock down drill.

Photos of the kids going to the store cupboard, and then hiding quietly until there was a knock on the door and they were allowed out. It was just, weird.

I'm very Hmm about it. I can see in theory it may be needed, but surely its more likely to just make them fearful of things that are so so very unlikely.

I've tried to hide my fear of spiders and generally not build phobias into my son, and I just feel this is a bit off. I don't know what they said to the kids and I don't want to ask my son so I won't know until next week.

Is it weird? Or am I over thinking it. I'm in Australia for full disclosure. No gun problem and in a secure building with card only access for parents.

OP posts:
Ethylred · 25/05/2018 21:20

If I were one of those children I'd be having the time of my life.

DevilsAttic · 25/05/2018 21:24

My kids primary school has a nursery attached. They went into lock down because someone was running around with a knife outside a few months ago! All the kids were unaware, they were brought in quickly and told it was snowing

Autocorrectible · 25/05/2018 21:37

I had to stop myself crying when my dd (age 3 at the time) told me about the lockdown drill they did at school. So scary that the schools have to do this, but I’m glad they do as it would save lives in the unlikely chance it was needed. Sign of the times sadly

stopstalkingmee · 25/05/2018 22:02

All 3 of my kids schools and preschools have a lockdown procedure, which I believe is practiced termly, but like fire drill they are so used to it it doesn't get mentioned.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at DS special school doing a lockdown drill, it's hard to keep DS in a classroom let alone under a desk!

agnurse · 25/05/2018 22:14

I teach at a college and we have lockdown procedures. Now, the only drills we run are fire drills (everyone out of the building; if you can't get out safely go to the stairwell and wait) but we have lockdown procedures posted in many if not most of the classrooms and offices. Sadly it's never too early or too late to begin practicing safety these days.

Original poster
kmmr · 26/05/2018 00:17

In hindsight I suppose we did have one bomb scare a very long time ago when I was at school so there are reasonable risks. The website is visible to all parents and anyone they have invited to view it, ie grandparents etc. But you can just invite anyone, as it's an online process not something checked by the centre.
I'll just politely raise the photo issue and also ask what was said so I can make sure I talk to my son about it. Thanks for the perspectives

OP posts:
Original poster
kmmr · 26/05/2018 00:20

P.s. the store cupboard isn't a little cupboard. More a store room - long and narrow so they were sitting in the floor in a row. Not squished into a cupboard which I may have made it sound like!

OP posts:
agnurse · 26/05/2018 00:25

For kids that young you could make it similar to "Sardines". (This is a variant of hide and seek where one person hides and each child that finds them has to hide with them, so you end up with all the kids in the same hiding place together.)

NapQueen · 26/05/2018 00:29

Id like think my dcs school has a plan if a parent/teacher goes rogue.

Cant say id be too impressed with them dramatising it on FB though.

Why hide under a desk though? They dont have sides....wouldnt a shooter just duck down to under desktop level?

Pretenditsaplan · 26/05/2018 03:49

We had a local high school and a local primary go into lockdown due to someone with a weapon nearby this week. Id rather my child knew what to do calmly and confidently then panic in a real situation. If it makes you feel better watch kindergarten cop with arnie in. Sure thats technically a fire drill but same theory applies.

MaitlandGirl · 26/05/2018 04:24

DD2 is in high school and they have regular lockdowns - it can anything from someone in the area has been spotted with a knife to a nasty accident in the playground.

By starting early (they do them at the local preschools too) it’s not such a big thing when it needs to be done.

It’s confrontational as parents but the teachers handle it very matter of fact lay which helps the children.

thebewilderness · 26/05/2018 04:26

If they are teaching the children to hid in the cupboard they better hope there is never a fire, fer crying out loud.

lljkk · 26/05/2018 04:27

It IS weird. And sad that it happens. Maybe necessary. Still shocking.

anothermalteserplease · 26/05/2018 04:40

My kids are sadly used to the drills now they practice them often in their school. It’s not just a human threat though, they had a real one when an off-leash dog got into the playground and was acting aggressively. They hit the lockdown alarm and the kids were all safe in the school.

anothermalteserplease · 26/05/2018 04:42

My children have done the drills since they were 3/4 years old and it’s not a cause for panic for them. It’s been handled in an age appropriate way. It’s like fire drills to them. They take it seriously but don’t overly worry about it.

90sBrows · 26/05/2018 04:54

In Australia particularly, they have found we are bloody good at evacuating and assembling in a wide, open spaces. The exact opposite of what you should do in an active shooter situation. There was a shooter on a uni campus in Melbourne that changed how drills are practised over here now. Making run, hide, tell second nature is just one of many scenarios my kids and workplaces now run. So important.

habibihabibi · 26/05/2018 04:55

My children's school(MIddle East) has lockdowns from nursery age up. The staff read the same script and it's just as much part of the routine as fire drills.
At some point they must have explained they are hiding from a wild animal as my children relate this frequently.
Considering there have been a few lions/cheetahs escape from private zoos the idea they are hiding from an animal isn't completely far fetched.
Unfortunately the concept of gunmen and terrorists is part of ever younger children's vocabulary these days.
I would be absolutely terrified to have kids in a US school.

slashlover · 26/05/2018 07:09

Surely if you found out from the school posting pictures and not from DS mentioning it then he couldn't have been that bothered about it? He probably didn't even know it was happening other than "Let's all play hide and seek and hide in this cupboard so Teacher X doesn't find us. We need to be really quiet though. Isn't this silly and fun?"

Tink2007 · 26/05/2018 07:15

My DD came home from secondary school yesterday and said they were doing a lockdown drill after half term. It was all explained to them yesterday - hiding under desks, in cupboards etc.

I must admit it was out of the blue and I did wonder if a threat had been made against the school and they hadn’t divulged anything to parents so am a little relieved to see others having done this in school this week.

BeyondThePage · 26/05/2018 08:13

In this country they hold the lockdown drills and fire drills so infrequently that they are not an automatic response, it scares the hell out of me -

"What do you do when the alarm goes?",
"hide in a cupboard and keep really quiet"

Auntpetunia2015 · 26/05/2018 08:17

Lock downs are now a requirement in all uk schools and nurseries and if you don’t have your procedure visible you can fail ofsted. It can be used for anything from a dog on the yard to angry parents or police incident outside the grounds.

karigan · 26/05/2018 08:25

Last year we had to bring all our kids (secondary and college aged in an SEND school) inside at lunch as one of the adults who live in the adult provision on the same site came onto our playground holding a few half bricks. Because it was something we'd never practiced a few of the students stood arguing with staff and refusing to go inside.
We've had practises since.

RexManning · 26/05/2018 08:31

It's government advice and good practice. Surely PP don't actually think that the children have been told that they're doing this in case a bad person comes in with a gun? It will have been framed as a game. Primary schools tell younger children that it's in case a dangerous dog comes on site. Even in secondary we are careful about how we frame it.

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 26/05/2018 09:01

Schools and nurseries in the UK have to have a lockdown procedure now. They have to have drills in order to identify any potential issues with the policy and to ensure that staff know what to do in the event of an incident. They would be well and truly hauled over the coals if something happened and they weren't prepared. I work in a school and despite a lot of people moaning that the lockdown drills were "scaremongering", "a waste of time", "it'll never happen here" etc etc we have actually had to initiate the lockdown procedure last year due to a parent who had a court order preventing access to his children turning up on site with a weapon making all sorts of threats. The incident was dealt with quickly and calmly as he left willingly as soon as the police arrived but it was reassuring to know that staff and students were confident about what to do.

lostinsunshine · 26/05/2018 11:34

My Y6 dd knows why it is done. She told me. She also told me that they tell the younger ones it's about protecting them from dangerous dogs who might stray into the playground.
There are also solid gates that no dangerous dog or other could get through without clearance.

Swipe left for the next trending thread