Keeping pupils and staff safe is a primary responsibility for every school. Yet, the unpredictability of terrorist attacks makes it difficult to devise a plan that can ensure that safety. However, despite this, every school should have in place a well-considered policy that sets out the terms for trying to manage an incident that might affect pupils, staff and/or the premises.
As part of this process, it is important to:
Identify the risk
- Is the school based near a high-profile building or a place where large crowds usually congregate?
- How secure are the school grounds from an intruder?
- Do you have CCTV that covers the main access points, and are they monitored?
And consider:
- Potential injury or worse to pupils and/or staff.
- Damage to a school’s reputation and/or adverse media attention.
- Formal investigation by the police or regulatory authorities.
Assess the risk
MI5 reviews the current terrorist risk in the UK and publishes the national threat level. It currently stands at “Severe”. To monitor the latest threat level, visit: https://www.mi5.gov.uk/threat-levels.
MI5 also provides general guidance on the relative risk at your locality, with the advice that: “Terrorists often try to attack official personnel and property, such as diplomatic missions and military forces... (They) target the police and military as they are easily associated with the state, and their public-facing nature makes them fairly accessible for low sophistication attacks. These could include locations where crowds gather such as social and retail venues, tourist sites and transport networks (rail, road and airports).” Do any of these apply to the locality of your school?
But probably the most useful resource for local risk can be found in your counter-terrorism local profile (CTLP), which can help you identify the specific, relative threat in your area. The CTLP is used by the police and others to understand a perceived threat and prepare for the associated vulnerability. They can provide recommendations to address any such risk. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118203/counter-terrorism-local-profiles.pdf.
Other useful sources include:
Communicate with school stakeholders
Take care with how you communicate with stakeholders and consider what content you provide in the content on the risk of terrorism, assessment of that risk, tests of emergency procedures and the management of any incident. The plan is likely to depend on the school and its location, of course, plus the age and ethnic origin of its pupils, and on parental views.
Managing the incident as it happens
Firstly, you should designate a core team to manage and respond to an incident. Key decision-makers must be available to deal with the immediate needs and staff should be clear about who is responsible for doing what. Issue regular briefings about what the plan is and make regular tests of your procedures.
Then staff who are on the scene of an incident first should seek advice from the emergency services as appropriate. They should then pass this on to designated staff in accordance with the school’s policy and procedures.
Communication is key: news from pupils and staff (usually via social media) can result in rumour and speculation, which promotes unnecessary alarm. Staff and pupils should be instructed not to use their mobile phones or email, other than when asked to. Communications to pupils, parents, staff and the wider school community, as well as media enquiries, should be managed by a designated individual.
Once you have responded to the immediate priorities, consider medium to longer term strategies to deal with the subsequent consequences for the school, its pupils, staff and the wider community, particularly if the threat proved to be real.
There has been a lot of focus in the education press recently about the lack of guidance from the DfE about terrorist lockdowns. For the time being, it is better to draw up your own plan that is specific to your school rather than wait. After all, you may be too late otherwise.
