Fire Drill, advice please (thanks)

[MUM2BLESS]

Hi I have done fire drills before, just wanted to ask firstly do you tell the kids its a fire drill? If yes, what do you say to them about what is happening?

Thanks lovely people!!

I say
'What is that loud noise, I know it's the smoke alarm when it goes off we......'

Joyce Grenfell style narration down to the bottom of the garden and back

It works fine

It's not a fire practice, it's an evacuation practice. You may need to get the kids out fast for other reasons.
I never say the word "fire". I've had experience of the highly emotional child who gets distressed and can't be convinced it's a pretend fire. Never again!
We call it "Everybody Out!". We sing a song and march out. One of the lines is "Leave your...." and we fill in the blank with any word we can think of: toys, bed, sausages, sofa, fridge - whatever. They are so distracted trying to think of another word, they don't worry about the evacuation itself.

Concentrate on the getting out process rather than the reason, is my advice.

I don't inflict that horrible screeching noise on the kids, either! I test it when they're not around.

GREAT ideas, THANKS everyone.

I had to do an evacuation whilst an assessor was present yesterday. Kinna got a bit wordy with what I was trying to say.

Got to do another one next month.

Much appreciated........

If you don't check you smoke alarm during a drill remember to check & record the check regularly

Thanks.

How often do you guys check your smoke alarms? How often do you do an evacuation, and what do you have written down on your records?

Thanks

6 weeks

Date
Who is present (adults/children)
Matters arising (& how they are resolved this is apparently important)
Smoke alarm tested (which one)
Date of next fire drill

Thanks KatyMac!!!

Just done an observation of a fire drill as a of this thread

It mean a biggish observation in 7 folders - plus I will repeat for the other children in this week and cover 15 of them with 1 piece of paperwork

[lazy]

Mum2Bless, thanks for the original post.
KatyMac, thanks for the words of wisdom.