How often do you need to do a fire drill?

[MUM2BLESS]

Good evening!

Childminder, how often do you do a fire drill? do you need to let the parents know you are doing this. Have you got a book or do you use a sheet. Any suggestions. Thanks

You should keep a record, yes. Most schools do one every half term I think.

I do them about once a month, because the children are only little. I make sure I do them at half term (when the school children are back) and if a new child starts. I make a note of it in my CM diary and I tell the parents when they have done one.

Yep you should do one fairly regularly, mine are about every month, I also log which mindees were present, how long it took to evacuate the premises and which carers were their also.

This came up at my Ofsted inspection. The Inspector's view was that half-termly would be appropriate.

I don't put any names on mine, just the number of children and the number of adults, time it took to evacuate and there's a box at the bottom to note any issues/comments. Also date & time of course.Its easier to show Ofsted if you have a specific sheet or notebook for fire drills, rather than sifting through your diary to find the dates.

There's no requirement to notify parents, but I usually mention it when the children are collected.

You should do one :
when there is a new child in the setting
if there are significant changes ie: a non mobile child, a child who has recently started walking
changes in the layout of the home - ie an extension
reguarly

you should practise at different times of day

on your fire log you should record:
children/others present and child ages
how long it took you to evacuate the home
reactions
where you gathered

none of this info is mandatory but 'good practice'

you should test your alarm once a week and its a good idea to let children hear it so they know what to listen for/expect (it can be a scary noise)

you should reguarly talk to children about evacuating the building

A CM friend was recently telling me the value of doing a firedrill - her 3.5yr old mindee woke in the night because of the fire alarm (at her own home) and got the rest of the family up - parents slept through the alarm - and in a nutshell saved them all! The minder had talked to the children about not hiding or being scared of the noise and of course doing drills. What a clever attentive LO.

That was very clever indeed, shocking that parents can sleep through the alarms though, it's a horrible thought.

I have a 4m/o, a 15m/o and a 17m/o and I am always on my own - I take it I still need to do drills even when I'll be the one carrying all three out?

Yes lollipop. May seem pointless, but in a real emergency the exit won't be smooth or calm if you encounter any unforeseen issues. By practicing, even if you're the only one who understands what's going on, you'll compile a record to satisfy Ofsted and improve on anything that slows you down, like toys in doorways or putting the door key in the wrong place. And you'll become an expert at managing the difficulties of carrying 3 children at once!

Recommend that people do make a note of any issues/changes they make, such as changing where they store the key, or new rules about tidying up/shoe storage etc. Ofsted like to see that you've made improvements, it tells them much more than a ticklist without notes that anyone could fill in without actually having done the drills.