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!

Is it a city thing as my kids have never done lockdown drills?

All schools should be doing them, regardless of location.
It’s not just about a potential terrorist attack. It’s about any situation where staff need to get the children inside. It could be an animal on site, a car accident outside the school, an angry parent turning up …
The vast majority of kids don’t even notice. I only know they happen at DS’s school because I’m a governor and they feature in the headteacher’s report.

I bet you’d be the first to complain to the school if they did find themselves in a situation where lockdown procedures were needed and they were totally unprepared!

I’m a governor at two schools. Both rural and in very affluent areas. One of the schools had to implement lockdown procedures last term due to an email threat against the school.

I’ve also heard of schools having to do this due to an angry parent turning up threatening staff.

The kids barely even notice the drills, they’re certainly not cowering in fear 🙄

We run a holiday club and there is absolutely no way we would do this with the children ... we wouldn’t spend part of the day on a paid for activity doing this for an extremely rare event.

I've worked at holiday clubs and we always, ALWAYS, do a fire drill in the first morning. The staff have all practiced lockdown drills, even though we don't generally do them at the holiday clubs. Apart from a couple of years when there were specific threats directed at the organisation that runs the holiday clubs. In those years we told the children we were going to do lockdown drill, and did it about half an hour after the fire drill.

Parents are always informed that we will be doing the drills on the first morning. Each drill takes maximum 5 minutes. If a child attends who wasn't present on the first morning, they've all done these drills at school, so they're familiar, and there are enough of their peers doing what's expected so the newer children can confidently follow along.

Unfortunately this is something that has to be done. It’s not actually a requirement but it’s recommended by the DFE. It’s better to practice it and never need it.

I call bullshit on people claiming this has been done for years. I attended numerous military schools and we never did these ever in any of them up and down the country. I then went on to become a TA in a major city working in different primary schools weekly and none of them ever did this. My stepsons 8 and his school has never done this. In fact none of my friends kids schools have ever done this.

Im not saying some schools haven't or haven't started this im just saying its not as widespread, common or been happening as long as mumsnetters are trying to claim it has.

First one I did was 10 years ago, I don't know if they were done before that.

How do you know they aren’t done in your step son’s school or the schools your friends children attend?
I know for a fact they are done at my DS’s school but he has never told me about them even when asked.
Schools tend to manage them well, they don’t call them lockdown drills and half the the kids don’t know they’ve even happened!

I’ve been a school governor for 12 years. 4 different schools. They’ve been done at all of them.

I also work in an education faculty at a university and have had dozens of students mention lockdown procedures at the schools where they’re on placement.

@AutumnFoxe we definitely did them in my London school in the 90s

Yes, I understand fully in my senior role within education.

A big focus planned in my LA, is checking the risk assessment, provision, practice and curriculum around protective security as part of the safeguarding focus with leaders and governors.