Lockdown Procedure

Promptly and unobtrusively raise the alarm by stating “It's Hammer Time" through the phone intercom system, reaching every staff member.

Upon hearing the alert, staff members are required to immediately relay the message to other staff.

Upon hearing the codewords "It's Hammer Time" or "Lock Down", it is imperative for all educators to swiftly and discreetly take action. The steps to be taken include securing all outdoor areas and directing both children and staff towards their designated studios. It is crucial to ensure that all doors and windows are securely shut.

If the threat is internal:

• Use main corridors sparingly.
• Nursery staff are to safely move infants via the internal pathway that leads through the toddler/nursery bathroom and prep rooms.
• The staff responsible for the Kindy (K3/4) Studios must guide their children through the external doors and into a Single Studio.

In an external threat scenario:

• All outdoor areas must be avoided.
• Babies in the nursery should be safely settled into evacuation cots and transported through the hallway.
• The Kindy children are to be guided quietly and orderly to the Kindy studios via the indoor hallway.

Regardless of the nature of the threat, the front-of-house team must gather all necessary medications, such as EpiPens, from the first aid cabinet for immediate and easy access.

Ensure Security of All Areas: Secure all sections of the building, including those not in active use. This includes staff rooms, laundry rooms, and offices. Lock all windows and external doors.

Medication Collection: The front-of-house staff is assigned to gather individual medications for each child.

Emergency Equipment: Fetch necessary emergency equipment, such as mobile phones, EPI Pens from accessible locations for instant use.

Verify that all educators and children are present and accounted for. Conduct a headcount to ensure that every child in your care is safely with you. Additionally, use the SmartCentral system to cross-check and confirm the presence of both children and staff members.

Relocate to a secure location within the studio that is away from glass doors and windows. Ideally, this location would be centralized within the studio for maximum protection, however, use your judgement to determine the safest location given the situation.
As a suggestion, the area in front of the toddler sink tends to be the least visible and, therefore, could be a suitable choice for a safe spot as example.

In an event of an emergency, the School Director, or the Responsible Person (RP) in their absence, will make the decision to alert the police, taking into consideration the specific context of the situation. It is essential that all educators stay in their respective studios with their groups, ensuring their own safety as well as that of their co-workers and the children in their care. In the circumstance where the building's phone lines are cut, educators are permitted to use their personal mobile phones to maintain communication and manage the situation effectively.

Ensure everyone remains calm and quiet, enabling clearer hearing of any noises or activity outside the building.

Stay in the lockdown situation inside the studio until such a time that you receive a clear communication stating it is safe by the pertinent authorities, which include the police, or the school supervisor or manager who has been elected for this circumstance.

Keeping a record of every lockdown incident using the Earlyworks platform is a critical procedure. Guidance on how to do this can be found in our detailed video tutorial, available at sweetprocess.com/video/rLK1cyG2.mp4. 

Consideration of the seriousness and specific details of each incident should be given, as it may be required to submit a formal report to ECRU through NQAITS. Furthermore, it is of utmost importance to keep open lines of communication with our families, notifying them in a timely and transparent manner about such events.