Fire Evacuation Procedure

If you hear the fire alarm sound, evacuate the building immediately. The nearest fire exit is clearly signed wherever you are within the school building, and the priority is to exit the building in a safe manner. The school is open to staff and (accompanied) students from 7am to 6pm, and this Fire Evacuation Procedure has to cover that period. Because the number of staff and students onsite changes considerably during this period, the Fire Evacuation Procedure breaks the school day into 3 distinct parts: before 8.25am, 8.25am – 3pm, and 3pm onwards.

If the alarm sounds before 8.25am

Staff are permitted onsite from 7am, and students are permitted onsite from 7.30am, however Tutor time does not begin until 8.25am and lots of support staff do not begin work until 8.30am. Because there are fewer staff and students onsite before 8.25am, a different procedure is required to that in place during lesson time, when the school is full. The main problem is both staff and students will be entering the building from 7am onwards, but the majority do not need to be onsite until 8.25am. If the fire alarm sounds before 8.25am and either staff of students are not onsite, it is not safe for them to enter the school building. This plan therefore draws a distinction between whether staff and students are either onsite or offsite if the fire alarm goes off before 8.25am.

Staff and/or students that are onsite

If any staff and/or students are already in school when the alarm goes off, head directly to the assembly point on the Muga area (details of the location are shown below). It is important that staff follow the nearest fire exit signs, which are clearly indicated throughout the building, and will direct them to the closest fire exit. When the alarm sounds the priority is to get out of the building in a quick, calm manner. Please be aware that your nearest exit changes depending on your location, and it is rarely via the central agora area. If staff are in the staff room or their faculty office, the priority is to evacuate the building via the nearest exit. If staff are in their tutor base or accompanied by students (either in another classroom or part of the school), it is their responsibility to ensure the tutor base is empty or the students with them are accounted for before evacuating. Staff must then accompany their students out via the nearest fire exit, and ensure they behave in a calm and controlled manner. Because the number of staff and students onsite before 8.25am is unknown (and varies depending on the time), the procedure once staff and students have evacuated is different.

All staff and students should still line up in the designated area on the outdoor Muga area shown below, but Tutors and co-tutors will not be required to take a register. Galileo House and King House will line up in the smaller section of the MUGA area, situated on the left of the playground (Area 1). Hawking House, Shelley House and Da Vinci House will line up in the larger section of the MUGA area, situated in the centre of the playground (Area 2)

Area 1 Area 2

Tutor groups must line up in their House area by their tutor group sign, which is located on the back fence in the MUGA area. Students must line up facing away from the school

building, and those members of staff who are in school will make sure each House group is well behaved.

The allocated Fire Marshalls will check the area of the building they are responsible for, and report back to the Fire Co-ordinator. It will only be safe to return to the building once the Fire Brigade have attended the scene and given the all clear, and the Headteacher has instructed staff they can go back inside.

Staff and/or students that are offsite

If the fire alarm sounds and staff and students are not already onsite, it will not be safe for staff or students to come on to the school site to then assemble on the Muga, as this could place them in danger in the event of a real fire. If the fire alarm sounds during this period, a member of the Leadership Team will go to the front of the school to prevent students entering via the student or visitor reception, until the fire brigade arrive and confirm the site is safe to enter. The Staff and Students who are not allowed to enter the school site should line up in an orderly manner on the tarmac area in front of the school building, away from the road. 2 identified members of the Leadership Team will head outside to ensure that students are assembling in the designated area, and behaving in a calm and orderly manner. Once the Fire Brigade have attended the scene and given the all clear, and the Headteacher has instructed staff they can go back inside, those members of staff and students outside will be allowed on to the school site.

If the alarm sounds between 8.25am and 3pm

As soon as the fire alarm sounds, teaching staff should accompany their class out of the building. Before leaving their tutor base or classroom, staff should ensure that all students have left the room, and they are the last person out of their room. Staff should then accompany their class out of the building via the nearest fire exit, ensuring they leave quickly and calmly and there is no pushing, running or bad behaviour.

It is important that staff follow the nearest fire exit signs, which are clearly indicated throughout the building, and will direct them to the closest fire exit. Depending on your location in the school, this could lead you to the playground or an outside area, which is not necessarily close to the assembly point. When the fire alarm goes off, the priority is to get out of the building. After exiting via the nearest fire escape, if necessary make your way around the building to the assembly point, which is situated in the large playground at the back of the school. Please be aware that your nearest exit changes depending on your location, and it is rarely via the central agora area. After exiting the building, classroom based staff should go to the assembly area with the class they were teaching, and only join their tutor group once their class is inside the Muga. Once they are with their tutor group they should ensure that they are lined up in an orderly fashion. The new MUGA area and the assembly points for staff and students are shown on the diagram below. The green outline shows the new MUGA area, located at the back of the school in the playground.

Lining up inside the MUGA

Galileo House and King House will line up in the smaller section of the MUGA area (Area 1), situated on the left of the playground. Hawking House, Shelley House and Da Vinci House will line up in the larger section of the MUGA area (Area 2), situated in the centre of the playground. Area 1 Area 2

Tutor groups must line up in their House area by their tutor group sign, located on the back fence in the MUGA area. Once Tutor groups are lined up, the Tutor and/or Co-tutor will take the register. Students must line up facing away from the school building, and the Head of House and the Pastoral Manager will make sure their Year group are well behaved.

Members of the Admin team attached to each House have been assigned to deliver a register for the tutor groups in their house. It is the responsibility of each House team and the tutors to ensure the students are lined up in an organised manner. Support staff, visitors and RM staff will gather in the right hand corner of the larger MUGA, where the Office Manager will take a register to check on site staff are accounted for, and the Front of House will check all visitors are accounted for.

There are 17 Fire Marshalls, who have been assigned to check a specific area of the school.

Inside the school

When the fire alarm sounds, each Marshall will check the area of the school they are responsible for has been vacated (including the toilets). When they are sure it is clear they

will report back to the Fire Co-ordinator located in the Agora, before joining staff and students on the MUGA.

The Fire Brigade are automatically called when the fire alarm goes off, and should arrive within 5 minutes. Once they arrive they will check the fire alarm system and liaise with the identified member of Mitie staff, to establish whether there is a real fire, or whether it is a false alarm. Only when the Fire Brigade have given the all clear and the School Fire Manager (Anthony Wilson) has given the instruction will staff and students be able to re-enter the building.

Members of the admin team assigned to each house will be required to collect completed registers from the Tutors/Co-tutors in their house.

Staff and students must return to the lesson they were in straight away, where the teacher will take the register to ensure that all students are accounted for and no-one is truanting. A message should be sent immediately to the Year Leader (via reception) if any student who was present before the fire evacuation is absent after it.

If the alarm sounds after 3pm

Students are permitted onsite until 3.30pm, and the school site is open to all staff until 6pm. If students are onsite after 3.30pm they must be accompanied by a member of staff, either for revision classes, extracurricular sports activities etc. If the alarm goes off after 3.30pm, all staff and students that are onsite must head straight to the Muga area to line up, taking the nearest fire exit to leave the building.

After school hours the students and staff onsite will not be easily accounted for, so a register will not be necessary. Instead, it is the responsibility of the teacher or member of staff leading any extra curricular session to ensure all their students are out of the room and accounted for before evacuating the area themselves.

The designated Fire Marshalls will perform a sweep of their areas to ensure no-one is left in the building, before reporting to the Fire Co-ordinator and evacuating.

After 3.30pm a number of support staff who are Fire Wardens are no longer on site, and teaching staff who are Fire Wardens may or may not be onsite. There should be no unaccompanied students onsite after 3.30pm, so the smaller number of fire wardens who remain onsite after school should be able to check their areas of the building quickly and easily, before evacuating to the fire assembly point.

A full list of Fire Marshalls for both before and after school hours and during the main school hours is listed below.

Area

Fire Marshalls

Location Name Role

Ground floor

Agora 1. Carla Colquhoun Student Behaviour Supervisor

Reception 2. Nina Foster Deputy Head Teacher

North Wing

- ICT - D&T

3. Emma Bruton Creative Arts Technician

4. Aisha Varachhia Behaviour Support Assistant

South Wing

- Learning Support - Humanities - LSC - Staff Room

5. Prabha Patel

LSC Manager

6. Christine McDermott

Assistant Head Teacher

West Wing

- Sports Hall - Changing Rooms - Dance Studio

7. Asifa Ullah Behaviour Support Assistant

First floor

North Wing

- Humanities - Art - H&SC

8. Kerissa Johnson Behaviour Support Assistant

9. Nick Smith Assistant Head Teacher

South Wing

- English - Humanities

10. Charles Snyman

Assistant Head Teacher

West Wing

- IER - Office area - Old Staff Room

11. Linda Green

Reprographics Manager

- Music - Media

12. Segun Haughton

Behaviour Support Assistant

Second floor

South Wing

- Maths - MFL - EAL

13. Jo Tupman

Assistant Head Teacher

14. Julie Burman Science Technician

North Wing

- Science

15. Vijay Pilai Senior Science Technician

16. Gurmeet Chaggar

Admin

West Wing

- Counsellor - SSC - Training Room

17. Noli Angeles Science Technician