Fire Safety & Evacuation Procedures

When the alarm goes, you have one job: get every child you're responsible for to the assembly point, safely and calmly, then account for them.

The JLK fire response sequence:

1. Hear the alarm. Continuous siren = full evacuation. Intermittent / test tone = no action (we'll always pre-warn for tests).
2. Stop what you're doing. Don't tidy. Don't finish the nappy change. Don't put on shoes. Coats, blankets and shoes are not the priority — we have spares at the assembly point.
3. Gather the children you're responsible for. Babies are carried (max 3 per adult). Toddlers walk in a "train", holding hands or the rope. Pre-school children walk in pairs.
4. Room leader sweeps the room and the toilet area. Behind doors, under tables, sleep room cots. Last out closes the room door.
5. Manager (or senior on duty) grabs the daily attendance register and visitor sign-in book. Both leave the building with them.
6. Take the nearest safe route — you'll know which one from the drill. Never go back for anything.
7. Assemble at the JLK assembly point — Croydon: front car park · Lewisham: on the green at the back of the centre · Bromley: car park.
8. Roll-call. Manager calls every child name from the attendance register. Each room leader confirms "present" or "missing — last seen in [location]". Visitor sign-in checked separately.
9. Manager calls 999 if the alarm wasn't a known false trigger. Manager stays at the assembly point until the fire service confirms it's safe to re-enter.

⚠️ The non-negotiables: never go back into the building for anything. Never carry more than 3 babies. Never close the door to a room you haven't swept. Don't break ranks at the assembly point until the manager confirms roll-call is complete.

• I know the sound of the continuous siren = full evacuation
• I can list the 9 steps of the JLK fire response in order
• I know the assembly point for my site
• I will never go back into the building for anything once I've left

Prevention is half the job. Fire equipment that hasn't been checked isn't equipment — it's wall decoration.

Daily checks (room leader's job, recorded on the daily H&S sheet):

• Fire exits clear and unlocked from the inside.
• Fire doors not propped open.
• Corridors clear of obstructions.
• Cot rooms accessible — nothing blocking the sleep-room door.
• Plug sockets not overloaded, no exposed wires.

Weekly checks (manager / deputy):

• Fire alarm test — same time, same day every week so staff and parents know it's a test. Log it.
• Visual check on extinguishers — pressure gauge in green zone, seal intact, last service date current.
• Emergency lighting works (manual test button if available).
• Fire blanket in the kitchen still sealed.
• Emergency contact list at reception is current.

Termly: practice drill. One full evacuation drill per term, at varying times so different staff and child cohorts experience it. The drill is logged, and any issues that come up (slow route, missing register, locked door) get addressed before the next one.

What to do if you notice something out of order:

Tell the room leader or manager immediately. Don't wait until the end of the day. Don't write it on a sticky note. Fix it on the spot if you safely can (e.g. unprop a fire door); escalate if you can't.

📋 JLK practice standard: if you walk past a fire door propped open with a wedge, you remove the wedge. No conversation needed.

• I know what the daily fire safety checks include
• I know fire doors are never to be propped open
• I will report any fire safety concern immediately, not later
• I know my site runs a fire drill at least once a term

Scenario: a child won't leave / hides under a table.
Crouch, calm voice, name them, lift them if you must. Don't argue. If they're physically blocking, carry. Speed matters; the conversation doesn't.

Scenario: route blocked by smoke or fire.
Don't push through smoke. Use the alternative route from the drill. If both routes are blocked, retreat to the nearest room with a window, close the door behind you, call 999 from your phone (now is the time), tell them where you are. Stay low. Wait.

Scenario: a baby is missing at roll-call.
Manager does NOT send staff back into the building. Manager tells the fire service who is missing and where they were last seen. The fire service goes in. That's their job; ours is to know exactly who's where.

Scenario: a parent is in the building at the time.
They evacuate with us — treat them like a visitor, walk them out, account for them via the sign-in book at the assembly point. Don't lose track of them.

Scenario: a child needs medication / has a medical device.
Their epi-pen, inhaler, etc. lives in a labelled bag at the room exit and goes with the room leader on the way out. Never left behind. Refresh the location each time you're on shift in a new room.

Scenario: the alarm goes during outdoor play.
Move children to the assembly point directly — no need to re-enter the building. Manager checks the building from outside and accounts for everyone by the same roll-call process.

After the event:

• Children get water, blankets, calm staff. No questions, no debrief in front of them.
• Parents are called by the manager — not by individual staff.
• Incident is logged on the JLK incident form, including time, alarm trigger, evacuation duration, roll-call result.
• If real (not a false alarm), Ofsted is notified within 14 days.
• Staff debrief at the end of the day — what worked, what didn't, what changes for next time.

🎯 The point of practice: the more you've drilled it, the less you have to think when it matters. Drills aren't a tickbox — they're rehearsal for the day we hope never comes.

• I know to carry a child who won't move, not argue with them
• I know never to push through smoke — use the alternative route
• I know children's emergency medication lives in a labelled bag by the room exit
• I know parents are called by the manager, not by individual staff, after an evacuation

Scenario: It's 11:15am at JLK Croydon. Sade is mid-nappy-change in the toddler room. The continuous alarm goes off. The room has 12 toddlers; staff present: Sade (changing), the room leader Folake, and apprentice Maya.

What happens in the next 60 seconds:

1. Sade stops the nappy change immediately — pull-up not pinned, but the child is safe. Picks them up.
2. Folake calls "Train time — line up at the door, hold the rope" — her practised drill phrase.
3. Maya counts heads: 12 toddlers, all accounted for visually.
4. Folake grabs the labelled emergency-medication bag from the hook by the door.
5. Folake leads the train to the rear fire exit, Maya at the back, Sade carrying the half-nappy child.
6. Folake does a final sweep of the room and toilet area before pulling the door shut.
7. The manager, Ade, meets them at the front car park assembly point with the attendance register. Visitor sign-in book in her other hand.
8. Roll-call: Ade reads names. Folake confirms each child present.
9. It turns out to be a false alarm — smoke from the kitchen toaster. Ade still calls the fire service to confirm, then waits for their say-so to re-enter.
10. Back in the room, Sade finishes the nappy change. The children are offered water and a few minutes of calm sitting. No alarm-related conversation in front of them.
11. Ade logs the event. Staff debrief at end of day: the train technique held up, the medication bag was correctly grabbed, but the sleep-room cots weren't visually swept — one baby could have been missed. Drill that next week.

What this team did right: stopped the nappy change without finishing. Used the practised phrase ("train time"). Grabbed the emergency-medication bag. Did the room sweep. Followed the route without back-tracking.

What was the learning: sleep-room cots weren't checked. Fixed by drill the next week. That's what drills are for — finding the gap before it matters.

Reflection prompt: When did you last walk the evacuation route from your usual room? Do you know which is the alternative route if the primary is blocked?

• I've recently walked the evacuation route from my usual room
• I know the alternative route if the primary is blocked