Critical Incident
At Canterbury Road Day Nursery, we understand we need to plan for all eventualities to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all the children we care for. With this in mind, we have a critical incident policy in place to ensure our nursery is able to operate effectively in the case of a critical incident. These include:
Flood
Fire
Burglary
Abduction or threatened abduction of a child
Bomb threat/terrorism attack
Any other incident that may affect the care of the children in the nursery.
If any of these incidents impact on the ability of the nursery to operate, we will contact parents and carers via telephone or email at the earliest opportunity.
Flood
There is always a danger of flooding from adverse weather conditions or through the water/central heating systems. We cannot anticipate adverse weather; however, we can ensure that we take care of all our water and heating systems through regular maintenance and checks to reduce the option of flooding in this way. Our central heating systems are checked and serviced regularly by a registered gas engineer and they conform to all appropriate guidelines and legislation.
If flooding occurs during the nursery day, the nursery manager will make a decision based on the severity and location of this flooding, and it may be deemed necessary to follow the fire evacuation procedure. In this instance children will be kept safe and parents will be notified in the same way as the fire procedure.
Should the nursery be assessed as unsafe through flooding, fire or any other incident we will follow the nurseries Operational Plan and provide information for childcare facilities in the local area.
Fire
Please refer to the fire safety policy.
Burglary
The management of the nursery follow a lock up procedure which ensures all doors and windows are closed and locked before vacating the premises. Alarm systems are used and in operation during all hours the nursery is closed.
The manager will always check the premises as they arrive in the morning. Should they discover that the nursery has been broken into they will follow the procedure below:
Dial 999 with as many details as possible, i.e. name and location, details of what you have found and emphasise this is a nursery and children will be arriving soon
Contain the area to ensure no-one enters until the police arrive. The nursery practitioners will direct parents, carers and children to a separate area as they arrive. If all areas have been disturbed practitioners will follow police advice.
The Manager or Deputy Manager will help the police with enquiries, e.g. by identifying items missing, areas of entry etc.
A manager will be available at all times during this time to speak to parents and carers and reassure children and direct enquires
Management will assess the situation following a theft and ensure parents are kept up to date with developments relating to the operation of the nursery.
Abduction or threatened abduction of a child
We have secure safety procedures in place at Canterbury Road Day Nursery to ensure children are safe while in our care, including safety from abduction. Practitioners are vigilant at all times and report any suspicious behaviour on nursery property immediately. All doors to the nursery are locked and cannot be accessed unless practitioners allow individuals in. Parents and carers are reminded on a regular basis not to allow anyone into the building whether they are known to them or not. Visitors and general security are covered in more detail in the visitor’s policy.
Management ensure children will only be released into the care of a designated adult, please see Premises and Security Policy for more details. Parents and carers are requested to inform the nursery of any potential court proceedings or family concerns as soon as they arise so the nursery is able to support the child. The nursery will not take sides in relation to any custody battle and will remain neutral for the child. If an absent parent arrives to collect their child, the nursery will not restrict access unless a court order is in place. Parents and cares are requested to issue the nursery with a copy of these documents should they be in place. We will consult our Employment Law advisers with regards to any concerns over custody and relay any information back to the parties involved.
If a nursery practitioner witnesses an actual or potential abduction from nursery we have the following procedures which are followed immediately:
The police must be called immediately
The practitioner will notify management immediately and the manager will take control
The parents or carers will be contacted
All other children will be kept safe and secure and calmed down where necessary
The police will be given as many details as possible including details of the child, description of the abductor, car registration number if used, time and direction of travel if seen and any family situations that may impact on this abduction.
Bomb threat/terrorism attack
If a bomb threat is received at the nursery, the person taking the call will record all details given over the phone as soon as possible and raise the alarm as soon as the phone call has ended. The management will follow the fire evacuation procedure or lock down procedure to ensure the safety of all on the premises and will provide as much detail to the emergency services as possible.
Other incidents
All incidents will be managed by the Manager or Deputy Manager and all practitioners will co-operate with any emergency services on the scene. Any other incident that requires evacuation will follow the fire plan. Other incidents e.g. no water supply will be dealt with on an individual basis taking into account the effect on the safety, health and welfare of the children and practitioners in the nursery.
The Nursery Manager or Deputy Manager will notify Ofsted in the event of a critical incident.
Lock down procedure
The lock down procedure will be used when the safety of the children and practitioners is at risk and we will be better remaining inside the nursery building, with the doors and windows locked and blinds closed.
This emergency procedure will be implemented in response to a number of situations, but some of the more typical may be:
A report of an incident or disturbance within the local community (with potential to pose a risk to practitioners and children within nursery).
An intruder on the nursery premises (with potential to pose a risk to practitioners and children within nursery).
A warning being received regarding a local risk of air pollution.
A major fire or explosion in the vicinity of the nursery-as long as it is safer to stay within the nursery.
In this case the practitioners will be notified through communication from the Nursery Manager or Deputy Manager.
All individuals, including children will remain in the room they are in, if safe to do so. If the children are in the garden area, practitioners will promptly and calmly direct the children into the building, if this will not endanger them. Practitioners will make efforts to close and lock doors and windows, wherever safe to do so.
All individuals will keep away from the windows and doors and children will be occupied in the centre of the room, so they are not placed at risk or able to see any developing situations outside.
The Manager and Deputy Manager will ensure that all children, practitioners and visitors are safe and accounted for, before returning to the office or reception area to keep in touch with the current situation and any updates.
The Manager and Deputy Manager will manage any incidents dependent on the situation and the information available to them. If the nursery is in immediate danger of an intruder, the police will be called as a matter of urgency. In other cases where the information has been called through by the police or local authority, the Manager and Deputy Manager will await further instructions.
Once the all clear has been given externally the Manager or Deputy Manager will issue the all clear internally. After this time, the practitioner will try to return practice of normal to enable the children not to be disrupted or upset by the events.
Any children showing worries or concerns will be given time to discuss this.
Parents and carers will be informed about the situation at the earliest safest opportunity and will be kept update as information changes.
After the event the staff team will be encouraged to reflect on the incident and to ensure that each practitioner and children were supported fully and the procedure went as planned.
We recognise that parents and carers may be involved or caught up in some incidents. Here at nursery, we will ensure that all children continue their normal routine. The Nursery Manager and Deputy Manager will ensure strong communication is maintained with parents and carers during this time.
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This policy was adopted on |
Signed on behalf of the nursery |
Date reviewed |
Date disseminated to staff |
|
11.12.2015 |
Melanie Bolger |
11.12.2015 |
11.12.2015 |
|
11.12.2015 |
Natalie Bignell |
16.01.2017 |
16.01.2017 |
|
11.12.2015 |
Natalie Bignell |
05.06.2017 |
05.06.2017 |
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