Kids doing 'lockdown' exercises in school

[cantsleepwontcry]

1st day back yesterday for my year 12

Comes to tell me they did a lockdown exercise.... teacher blocked the door with chairs and they basically had to hide under desks, behind furniture until the threat was over

I'm quite surprised and upset that they feel the need to teach this in UK schools now.

The schools have had fences built around them to lock unwanted people out, it’s not as if there’s no threat at all.

This has been taught in the UK for years.

And quite right too.

As above, most schools have been doing lockdown drills for years. Recommended by Ofsted etc.

Can be needed for something as simple as a cow wandering across school premises in rural areas.

We've only ever had a real one once, about 15 years ago. A drunken nutter on the roof of one of the buildings. Thankfully the kids had done drills and knew what to do.

PS, I'd be questioning why in yr12 it's their first one tbh.

They have done this for at least 10 years if not longer.

My kids are 19 and 12. Both have always done this regularly. It’s not they thinks there’s a high chance of a school shooting. It’s there’s a small chance of many things happening and being prepared is always best.

This is totally normal and while its very very unlikely for a uk school to have a live shooter situation, the same procedure applies to 'angry parent with no access to kids trying to get to them' or even 'dangerous dog in playground'.

I’m 35, we did this in school, I would find it more odd that this is their first lockdown drill.

Our school had to enact the lockdown procedure recently when a swarm of bees found its way inside. It was safer to get all of the children to stay in with their doors closed, being quiet and dark, than to have them all shrieking and fleeing the school. Our head had used it previously when a sheep wandered in! So it's not all serious, dark scenarios OP.

I think it is relatively standard these days.
Lower down they tend to do something like 'pretend a dangerous dog is in the playground'.

We never did this in school 30 years ago but I remember being in the school field during a drill. We’d usually line up in the playground but this time they put us a lot further away in the field. Turned out to be a bomb scare.

When I was teaching, we had to use it several times when members of a rival gang would enter the school grounds looking for certain pupils who were a member of that local gang.

I thought that it was standard after Dunblane 1996? I remember Dunblane and our total shock of it all unfolding. I was out food shopping having left my toddler and baby with my DH. But with the dog attacks and stabbings, let's face it, it isn't out of the question that it would be needed.

At my DS 6th form they had to go into lockdown last year as a pupil owed a drug gang money, and the gang came to college to look for him and they were armed with knives

and this is a “naice” leafy area

Honestly, I’ve never known this and I’m a teacher! Only ever had fire drills

My DD's school was doing this when she was in primary.

I went to school near a military base at the height of the IRA bombing campaigns in the 80s. I remember doing a drill for a bomb scare. Must have been about 12 or so....looking back, it's incredible how blasé all the kids were about it. I can't imagine having that conversation with my kids now....

Honestly, I’ve never known this and I’m a teacher! Only ever had fire drills

How long have you been a teacher?
The school I'm a governor and we stopped doing them during Covid but they've started again now.

All the local schools do them. They can be used for a variety of reasons not just for American shooter scenarios

Someone with a knife being chased by the police around local streets got onto our local secondary school grounds and onto the roof of the building - school went into lockdown but most kids had no idea what to actually do.
I don't think a few practice runs in the hope it's never needed are unreasonable.

You're a teacher who has never done evacuation or invacuation drills?

That's very worrying and not at all normal. Schools should be practicing many times of drills not just fire drills.

I suspect OP your son has done these many times before but not realised what they were as it was never as drastic as lock the door and barricade with furniture it's normally a lost dog in the playground etc.

DDs primary do them, they think it's fun to hide from the Head teacher while he hams it up stalking around the corridors and peering through the windows trying to spot them.

They have had to invoke for real when some dimwit decided to fly their drone into the school grounds and around the fields.

Never heard of this except in America! None of my children or friend’s children’s schools do this.

@TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon A cow? You wouldn’t need to barricade a classroom door and hide under desks because a cow has wandered into the playground. Simply going back inside the building and closing the door normally would be more than adequate!

Surprised and upset? Would you rather your child hadn't the slightest idea what to do if this actually needed to take place?