Dangerous person in school?

[WhinnieThePoohHead]

I’ll preface this by saying I know it’s not a AIBU, I just want to use the voting option :)

Met Friends for dinner today. One friend, a teacher, mentioned that her school does ‘lockdown drills’ as well as fire drills. I asked what they’re for and she said in case someone dangerous gets into the primary school. They lock the classroom door, shut the blinds, turn the lights and screens off and hide under their desks silently. My friend told me that all schools do these drills the same way they do fire drills. this is in the U.K.

YABU- yes all schools do this, you’re out of touch
YANBU- schools in the U.K. don’t do lock down drills

I presume you haven't read the thread.
Even Dunblane Primary doesn't do them

@Iliveditwizbit If there was an active shooter, a drill once a year does not prevent kids crying or screaming. That takes the kind of intensive training that certain armed services do.
None of us actually know how we would react until it happens.

to be honest, I always thought the Montgomery drill was fairly pointless, as we would be very unlikely to get any warning.

But there was a genuine Montgomery alarm given once, because a foreign person, who clearly didn't understand the warning signs around the wreck, decided that sitting in the masts that protrude above the water was a good place to settle down and do some fishing.....

It wasn't a school day though, so we didn't get to put our bags on our heads!

All Schools in the U.K. - if you teach at a school that doesn’t have them, as a staff member you should be questioning that. We’ve recently had OFSTED and this was checked as part of Safeguarding.

Was it really neccessary to be so rude?

I don't care if my kids do these drills. I just don't think ot really achieves anything. They call them dangerous dog drills and my DD does not take it seriously as she just says all that needs to happen is the external doors locked with everyone inside. Lots of kids are not stupid.

Do you mean all schools in England? As Ofsted guidelines don't cover Scotland/NI/Wales...

LadyPenelope68. You're wrong

I teach in the UK and ofsted has absolutely no relevance or jurisdiction over what we do

yes, ofsted would automatically fail any school found not to be conducting annual lock down drills

I'm a teacher and we do drills (secondary)

@DistantSkye So many people think what happens in England applies to the while of the UK.

I might be wrong in that I’ve used U.K., but not wrong about the Lockdown Procedures and OFSTED checking these as part of safeguarding in England.

We had Ofsted just over a year ago and they didn't fail us for not doing lockdown drills.

Thanks @Nimbostratus100, I think some posters are just being pedantic as I’ve used U.K. rather than England.

Then please try hard to differentiate in future, it's infuriating being treated like everything that happens in England is the default for the rest of us who are actually in the UK too.

So @LadyPenelope68 it's not all schools in the UK

Just like it's not "law" as some other poster said

Good idea for schools to have them though

They would have done if they had found out

Schools in Scotland do this. Could be due to Dunblane?

Or maybe you're just talking shit?

@LadyPenelope68 It is not being pedantic. How would you react if I said all services in the UK and all leaflets need to legally be available in Welsh?

It's not pedantic. The UK and England are different. Education is a devolved issue so mentioning Ofsted/DfE guidelines/safeguarding is not relevant to a large number of posters.
It's understandable to make the mistake, as an English person, seeing as youre used to being in the majority. But just own the mistake rather than accusing others of being pedantic.

Also my point is that these drills seem like a box ticking exercise rather than having any kind of demonstrable use. So Ofsted might well fail you... But can they actually show that they've improved outcomes? I've asked the question several times on the thread but noone seems to know the answer.

I know - and to then be called pedantic for pointing out that education is a devolved issue and England/UK are not synonymous... Depressing!

Nobody can really say if the drills would help the outcomes in certain situations , as the situation could be anything ?
But from my experience upthread, the drills help with ensuring children stay relatively calm during a lockdown, which is important.
In my schools case, (not Uk), the school had to be fully searched by special armed forces, who had to drive from a city 1.5hours away. It’s a long time to sit under tables. As the children were locked quietly in class rooms with closed blinds, and trained staff, they were pretty oblivious to the emergency vehicles waiting outside, or to the armed police in the corridors, or distressed crowds of parents outside. Given that they’d done drills before, they were more concerned with the discomfort and boredom rather than fear, and this must be better, surely.

There is lots of research into how people react in crisis such as school shooters. Only very carefully designed procedures that take account of the research can help, these procedures are not that.
People do not react how "common sense" might dictate they will.

@Iliveditwizbit But the children did not have to face anything difficult. They heard noises outside that was it.