School Lockdown Alert: Essex Primary School in Lockdown following sighting of knife-wielding man
After a man with a knife was spotted in the vicinity, Lincewood Primary School was put on ‘immediate lockdown’
The incident occurred around 8am on Wednesday 4th December, and as the lockdown was enacted, children attending a breakfast club were kept indoors as pupils arriving for the start of school were ushered into the main building.
Essex Police were alerted, and attended the scene. They later commented, ‘Officers attended and searched the area, before arresting a 53-year-old local man near to Lincewood Park Drive shortly after 8.15am’
Lincewood Primary School made the following statement:
“At 7.55am this morning a man was seen with a knife close to Lincewood Primary School. As soon as staff became aware of the situation, emergency safeguarding procedures were acted upon. As there were a small number of pupils in the school at this time, attending a pre-school breakfast club, the school was immediately locked down, all the doors were closed and locked and children arriving for school were taken directly into the main building.
“This is a scenario for which staff have trained and staff present in the school knew exactly what action to take. Essex Police were called and dealt swiftly with the matter. No pupils or adults were harmed during this incident.”
The last thing any school wants in the above incident is pupils misinterpreting a lockdown alert for a fire alarm, and streaming out onto a playground to assembly points when there is a potential violent intruder on the premises. Government advice from NaCTSO (National Counter Terrorism Security Office) recommends using a different system to broadcast lockdown alerts than your fire alarm, to reduce the chance of an incorrect response to an incident.
Bodet’s Lockdown Alert System can instantly broadcast a unique lockdown alert across your whole school, different to other emergency alerts such as fire and evacuation. These alerts can be triggered via a range of methods, such as a smartphone app, remote control and wired control box. The Lockdown Alert System can either be stand-alone, or part of a larger system which can also incorporate Class Change, Synchronised Clocks, PA functionality and music streaming as required.
We would be happy to visit your school for a free demonstration so you can see how our Lockdown Alert System can be tailored for your specific needs. To arrange this, please contact us.
