Business Continuity Plan

Cheadle Primary School

The Avenue Cheadle Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire ST10 1EN

School Business Continuity Plan

The school Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is in place and will be used during any incident within the school which threatens to disrupt education at the school.

In the event of an emergency situation during the school day, then the appropriate support will be obtained from the emergency services and Staffordshire County Council as appropriate. There is a school Incident Management Team in place who will manage the situation and impact of a major incident in order to minimise disruption to the operation of the school and the education of its pupils.

Personnel with roles and responsibilities under the BCP are properly trained and the plan is tested at regular intervals. The BCP is reviewed on an annual basis by the Headteacher and the Governors and any appropriate amendments are incorporated.

In the event of an emergency situation, the safety of staff and pupils is paramount and the school will be evacuated if appropriate to either the playing field or The Cheadle Academy with access restricted to any affected areas.

Parents and carers will be contacted by text message as soon as possible to advise of the situation and arrangements in place and information will be included on the school website.

Following the incident, the school site will be inspected and assessed and decisions made for the short and long term continuation of the education of the pupils and parents and carers notified as soon as possible.

Comprehensive communication between the school and parents and carers will be maintained throughout the incident and following the incident.

Emergency Closure of the School (pupils not present)

It may be that the school needs to be closed prior to the arrival of pupils, e.g. heating failure, water failure, gas leak, etc. In such circumstances, the following actions will be taken:

· A text message will be sent to parents if at all possible to advise parents of the situation and the need to keep children at home until further notice

· Nominated staff will be at the school gates to speak to any parents or pupils arriving at the school and to ensure that no-one attempts to enter the school site

· Notices will be posted around the perimeter of the school detailing the reason for closure, possible date for re-opening (if known), information providing advice to parents, carers and pupils on how they will be kept informed of progress regarding re-opening of the school, e.g. local radio broadcasts, website, etc.

Any pupils who arrive at school unaccompanied will be taken to a designated assembly area (depending on the incident) until parents or carers can be contacted and arrive to take them home.

If for any reason there is no designated assembly area on site, then pupils arriving unaccompanied will be taken to The Cheadle Academy and these pupils will be accompanied by a member or members of staff.