Firedrill and Evacuation Plan

Plans and Policies

Fire Drill & Evacuation Policy

Introduction

The fire drill/evacuation policy of Scoil Naomh Áine has been produced following a collaborative consultation process by the staff and the Board of Management.

Aims

This policy aims to:

Enable the school to provide for the immediate needs and safety of students, staff and visitors in the event of a fire
Have in place appropriate safety procedures which comply with the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act
Ensure a safe school environment for all

School Ethos

Scoil Naomh Áine is committed to the care of the whole school community and the provision of a safe and secure environment for learning and recreation. This policy is in keeping with those ideals.

Objectives

To utilize outside agencies (local fire station, fire officer and service providers) for training and staff development, so as to enhance safety procedures
To develop a tried and trusted framework which will ensure the safety of all school personnel in the event of a fire
To make all staff and pupils aware of the evacuation plan for the purposes of safety and efficiency.

Role and Responsibilities

All teachers are responsible for the safety and well being of the pupils in their care. The Principal and secretary will check that no child is left within the school building. The Principal, or in her absence, the deputy principal, has overall responsibility for ensuring proper procedures are in place.

Internal Procedures

In the event of a fire, the following steps must be taken;

Fire Alarm will sound to alert all personnel.
In all classroom/Special Education areas, children are to stand up, push their chairs under the tables, close windows where possible and calmly walk in a single file to the emergency door in the classroom or to the nearest exit if not in class.
Classes using the PE hall exit through the Exit door.
Classes in Halla Mór exit through the Exit door past teacher’s toilets.
Pupils and teachers in Special Education room exit through the Halla Mór Door.
Persons in the Staff Room will exit through the New Halla Mór Door.
All teachers must check the class toilets before vacating the room.
SNAs will evacuate the building with the class they are working with.
Each class is to assemble at the allocated fire assembly point.
Each teacher will take the class list of their individual class with them and call the roll on reaching the fire assembly point.
Pupils can only return to the classroom once permission has been given to do so.
The fire drill will be carried out once a term and recorded re time, date and duration of evacuation process.

Evaluation

Feedback from all staff.
Maintaining, and possibly improving, safety standards.
Achieving a coordinated and orderly evacuation in the shortest time possible
Yearly reviews

Implementation

Fire-drill has been taking place in Scoil Naomh Áine for many years. The written policy has been in operation since

December 2008.

Review

This policy was reviewed in February 2015.

This Policy was reviewed in August 2020.

Ratification

This policy was ratified by the Board of Management:

Fr. Sean Devereux

Chairperson, Board of Management

References: (i) Fire Safety in the Home. (ii) Fire Safety in the School. National Safety Council

Appendix 1

Extract from Safety Statement

FIRE SAFETY

The Principal is responsible for Fire Safety. She organises;

(a) Fire Drill at least once per term.

(b) Sees that the Fire Alarm System and Fire Extinguishers are in working order.

(e) She has prepared the following Fire Drill Organisation Plan after consultation with the other members of

the Teaching Staff.

Fire Drill Organisation

1: Assembly Point: The basketball court. Assembly points are numbered.

2: Fire Drill Warning: When fire alarm sounds there should be Silence.

3: Evacuation: The teacher is in sole charge of his/her class. The pupils stand up, push in their chairs, close windows where possible and each class exits in single file in silence. The teacher checks the class toilet before leaving the classroom.

The teacher leaves last, ensuring all windows and doors are closed.

Teacher should bring their class list with him/her.

4: Exit Routes: Each class exits through their own exit door.

Classes using the PE hall exit through the Exit door.

Classes in Halla Mór exit through the Exit door past teacher’s toilets.

Pupils and teachers in Resource room exit through the New Halla Mór Door

5: Assembly: When pupils arrive at assembly point, they should line up, class by class.

The teacher will then call the roll and report the findings to the Principal. If a child is missing the class teacher will notify the Principal who will then look for the child.

Pupils who had been attending the Resource Room at the time of the evacuation will be returned to their class groups by the Sepcial Education teacher and the class teacher will be notified.

SNAs will exit with the class they are working with at the time of the evacuation.

Room Fire Point on basketball court/back yard

1 Basketball court

2 Basketball court

3 Basketball court

4 Basketball court

5 Basketball court

6 Back yard

7 Back yard

8 Back yard

9 Back yard