Help please! Terrorist drill @ holiday club!!

[Justtryingmybest123]

Hi everyone

Hope you're doing well and surviving the holidays!

I need some help please!!

I just completely flabbergasted!

My daughter attends a well known holiday club in the west midlands. Today she came home, extremely upset, distraught and distressed. She mentioned that they had a procedure called the 'lockdown'. She went onto say that basically if someone comes into the garden etc, they will announce it's a lockdown and you need to hide and ensure something is over your head so you can't be found. She is 5 years old and is part of the 5-7 group at the holiday club.

This evening she's been so upset and distraught about the whole thing, she didn't manage to cover her head, so was worried about that, asking what would happen in that situation, she's worried there will be a lockdown at home, the door shook because of the wind as the windows are open, she was scared because of that, and also would not go to sleep as she's scared something will happen.

Furthermore she absolutely loves this holiday club after trying a different one, and is extremely excited to go even when it's term time, now she's sooo worried and scared about going back as apparently there's going to be another lockdown.

I honestly don't know what to even say or think! My initial reaction is what the you know what! I didn't know anything about this, I wasn't informed, I didn't provide consent or anything! She's absolutely shook, scared and worried for her safety and that something may happen to her.

I know about the awful tragedy that did take place and sadly little girls lost their lives, without the details I guess this is as a prevention for something like that occuring, but having this sort of impact isn't the right answer, surely they need to let us know about this and get consent?

I've emailed, text and rang the club as I had to do something.

Any thoughts on the matter or advise would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

So we should stop practising fire drills so that children aren't fearful of fire?

What if there's a factory incident near by and children all need to get inside quickly and close the windows? Or a man with a knife is spotted nearby? Or some teenagers in balaclavas break in to the playground?
Best just not to have a plan and practice what to do...

Mine are both grown up so this 15-20 years ago. Dunblane was nearly 30 years ago so it isn’t a ‘this day and age’ thing.

At a toddler club they did a fire drill and pretended the hall was full of smoke so they had to crawl to find the exits. “Get down low and go go go”

We lived overseas for a while when they were young primary and had earthquake drills, fire, bomb on site/ attack from another country (they were evacuated to a nearby church) lockdown.

Talk to her about it the same as you would if she was scared by a fire drill. It is very very unlikely to happen etc….

Just remembered we used to have bomb on site drills in my secondary school (IRA related then).

They will have done. I had no idea my children were doing them as they never mentioned it but I became a governor at School and it turns out they do one every term. Asked my kids and they were like yeah, we do the bull in the playground practice all the time and the fastest class room to hide wins.

All schools do them, they are required to. We did our uni one the other day. It’s just one of those things. I’d be pleased they are taking it seriously after what happened in Southport.

At our teeny tiny rural school they call
it something less scary but my 5 year old has done it. This is a school with less than 70 kids 4-11.

My school isn't in a rough area...

I don't think you know what you are talking about.

All the dozens of people stating that they did emergency lockdown drills at school but no, they're all lying and you're right. Consider, perhaps, that you're full of shit. It was referred to as protect and survive, then. Or hide and survive.

And wtf do you consider an air raid to be, if not a mass attack? 😂

I’m in my 50s and we never did them throughout my school, college and university life. Lockdown wasn’t even a word you’d hear back then.

No idea if our boys have done them (23 and 18), if they have, they’ve never mentioned it.

Yes all schools in the UK are supposed to have a plan for what to do if they need to get the children safely in to the building.
And what to do if they need to get them safely out of the building.
Moving 100s or even 1000s of children around as quickly as possible takes planning and ideally practice.

Terrorist attack is possible but rare.
More common is: fire/toxic smoke nearby
Animal in the playground
Parent kicking off and making threats in Reception
People breaking in to the playground
Reports of someone with a knife in the vicinity (loads of reports of these and schools locking down just in case)
One I hadn't considered - drones flying overhead.

Irate parent can happen anywhere.

Student bringing a knife in site can happen anywhere.

Thinking it is a rough area issue so I’ll be alright is just sticking your head in the sand.

I have a 19 year old and he had lockdown drills at primary. They don’t say it’s because of terrorist attacks though. When he went to secondary, the kids called it school shooter drills but the adults didn’t say this. Primary schools make up stories like a dog escaping from a nearby house - not bad men etc

Apparently there’s on average one school a month that ends up in lockdown because of incidents like an angry parent kicking off. A secondary school local to me went into lockdown when someone with a knife turned up. Nobody was hurt and the police took the person into custody which is how most incidents are resolved.

Covering heads and talking about a man entering does sound extreme. Schools have kids draw the blinds, stay quiet and hide under desks iirc

Its your job as a parent to make your child understand the world isn't some fairytale filled with rainbows and fluffy clouds but at the same time control your anxiety infront of her. Their are a tiny number of bad people in the world and we have to stay safe just like stranger danger, the pants rule, fire drills etc. You need to act calm and rational about it as kids model parents behaviours and feel their fears. Babies are born with 2 fears loud noises and falling everything else is learned behaviour.

DDs school did it for real because of a big dog that was running around the school grounds. They’ve also had classroom evacuations when a kid with SEN had a meltdown and started throwing desks and chairs so all of the either kids had to evacuate to the hallway while they helped him to calm down.

Practicing what to do in an emergency makes it more likely that in an emergency everyone will make it out OK. It’s good practice and recommended for every school and business.

My son went to school in Italy and he did earthquake drills from the age of 6. That was over 30 years ago. In fact we were caught up in an earthquake.

I have had 2 children go through 3 schools in the UK (plus a variety of clubs and activities) and they have never done a lockdown drill. I certainly wouldn’t be happy for it to have happened, unannounced, to such a young child, without my knowledge or permission. No way.

Is she’s in a holiday camp mixing with children older than her, it’s likely that the older children have been scaremongering.

Really

I am 60 and do not remember drills, at all at either primary or secondary school
I went to primary during the IRA attack years .

I remember that Day well.

My eldest DS was in Reception at that time and that Day, at Home time, it was so very quiet in the playground among the parents .
When our Reception Children came out they were hugged a tad tighter than normal
So absolutely sad, and may the Children and their Teacher Rest in Peace.

I’m in my 60’s and have never done them. My children are in their twenties and have never done them. Im not surprised op is shocked and flabbergasted. It’s a terrible thing for a sensitive child to b subjected to.

It is official government guidance, including risk assessment.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-security-and-preparedness-for-education-settings

I imagine in the 1950s/60s the drills were around nuclear attacks. Similar but different if you see what I mean. I’m 43 and we just had standard fire drills, coming after the frosty frosty Cold War, but before mass school shootings.

Never happened when I went to school in the 80s and 90s. And there’s no need to tell someone they are full of shit. That’s extremely rude.

I agree. I’m 48 and never did any lockdown drill. I asked my sister who is 54 and she says the same.

I think I’d tell her that it’s the rules that everywhere has to do them, but it won’t happen where she is - it’s more for dangerous places elsewhere.

All schools don’t do them.

Maybe they tell the kids and parents in the schools that do them, that ‘everyone’ does them.

It isn’t true.

Where I live a kid went into a local school with a knife many years age. It’s a rough area, a rough school. I would never have sent my kids there. It’s known that many criminals/drugdealers kids attend.

Another school was reported to have had a similar thing happen during the last year. It’s not near me but it is within 40 mins drive. Another notoriously rough area.

And a third incident I remember happened in the nearest city where a man randomly attacked a kid and adult as they went into the school. Again in a rough area of that city. The city itself is not safe in general despite a huge amount of funding going into cleaning it up.

Maybe those schools do them. I don’t know as my kids don’t attend and I don’t know anyone who does.

My child’s school had a real lockdown this year when an angry parent burst into the playground.

All schools do them - it’s government guidance. If they’re not they’re failing their pupils in terms of preparedness.