Thunderstorm Season:
Advice regarding School Protocols
Especially during Terms 1 and 4 in Central Qld, we sometimes experience an afternoon thunderstorm. Thunderstorm warnings from the weather bureau may be heard through the media. Follow Murphy’s Law, many of these storms occur around the time students are preparing to leave school at the end of the school day!
Because of our serious concerns for the safety of our students at all times, we would like to inform you that the following principles will guide our actions should a storm threaten:
· Please trust the school. Safety of students is our prime concern and this may mean we may delay the exit of students briefly. We are very mindful that exiting may be more dangerous (e.g. a student walking out to a car, or travelling home in car or otherwise, during a thunderstorm) than to wait inside a cyclone-rated building.
· Should the Principal decide a delayed exit is required, the school bells will be used in a similar way as to a “lockdown” - bells will pulse on and off five times at 3.05pm. This will indicate to teachers that they are to keep their students in their classroom until the bell rings again. We would anticipate that this would be only for a short time as the storm front passes.
· Parents are asked to wait for the school body to be released. Parents are invited to access the school's Performance Centre should they need to get out of the storm.
· In the past, our school office has received a flurry of requests near the end of the school day to find students in classrooms to enable early collection with an impending storm. This has been a most difficult task, sometimes requiring our staff and subsequently students and their parents to venture outside as the storm passes. Unfortunately, we will be unable to meet similar requests if safety of staff or students is threatened. Similarly, staff may be instructed, for safety reasons, NOT to answer the phone during an electrical storm. Our default position will be to leave students in classrooms, rather than leave early.
· Parents should also understand that should you make direct contact and arrangements with your child via mobile phone, such actions do not “include the school in the loop.” Again, this means that our Office Team could be swamped tracking who is leaving, and this in turn makes it more difficult for us to respond to safety issues. Wherever possible, please leave the school principal to make plans for the safe and timely exit of students. Wherever possible, we suggest you delay travelling until after the storm has passed, as it can be dangerous to travel during heavy rain.
· In some circumstances parents have advised us they will be collecting another student from a second family. Whilst another parent may or may not have given their consent, the school must also receive this consent. This is difficult to verify during these sorts of episodes due to time constraints. Please note that, unless the “other” parent has given their consent directly to the school, not via a third party, we cannot release students into someone else’s care.
· During wet weather, we have also noticed an increase in parents who call their children across the road in wet and slippery conditions rather than using the underpass. Please consider the safety of all students and follow our normal expectations to avoid a serious incident.
· With regard to buses, we will operate under the guidance of bus companies, who have responsibility for the safe travel of students home. Sometimes, bus companies ask to collect students early to avoid imminent flooding; if this happens, students will be directed to the Performance Centre for an orderly exit. As far as possible in the times we have, we will endeavour to ensure that students have had a chance to contact parents about early departure.
· Lastly, please be assured the school consults with the Bureau of Meteorology, the police and other authorities during severe weather events. We find this provides more accurate information than “word of mouth”, rumours or text messages. We will always have the safety of students as paramount.
· In short, please trust the school: we have everyone’s safety to the forefront. We will use flexibility and best judgment as required.
If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback about these protocols, please contact me on 49799777 or via . Yours sincerely, Heather Moller, PRINCIPAL
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