From Class Change To Lockdown, How Efficient Are Your School Bells?
Is it time to update your emergency alerts with distinguished sounds to ensure maximum safety for your pupils? Does your lockdown system take time to communicate across the school?
Many educational settings are currently using the same systems when it comes to communicating vitally important alerts such as a fire, lockdown or evacuation. Have you recently assessed how efficient your systems are? Are pupils clear on which emergency is being communicated with your alerts?
How did bell systems start?
The first bells are believed to have been made from pottery and date back to the 3rd Century BC. It is thought that school bells were implemented during pre-industrial times to acclimatise pupils to the routines and structure of factory work. The day became dictated by periods of time whereby a response was required on command.
Bells to signify the start and end of lesson time, and not just the start and end of the day, were introduced much later, in 1908, when a school superintendent in Indiana created a bell system for class change and moving to different rooms for reading, writing, arithmetic and time outside for play.
It was only in the 1960s when schools moved to automated PA systems so teachers no longer had to watch the clock for the end of the lesson ...to the relief of pupils unintentionally kept later than the end of the school day!
Modern day bell systems
Today, gone are the times of a hand-held bell on the playground or manual pull down rope to signify the school days events. In modern times, much more complex solutions are needed. A bell is more
than just the start and end of the day and class change but also a vital tool to communicate emergency situations. The good news is that these solutions exist.
Whilst there is still a place for the traditional bell sound, bells can also be modernised by playing music rather than the classic ringing sound. Bodet Time’s Harmonys solution enables different melodies to be chosen for class change and different events, including emergencies. Why not be creative and add calming tunes to encourage a less chaotic corridor full of pupils or something livelier to signify the end of the school day? Or play music between lessons where the expectation is for pupils to get to their next lesson before the music stops?
Why you need a comprehensive bell and alert system
The role of the bell system is continuing to expand over time, particularly with the inclusion of much needed emergency procedures. The safety of pupils is paramount; therefore, schools need to account for different types of bell alerts; these may include alerts for medical emergencies, bomb threats, intruders on the premises, gas leaks, flooding, violence between pupils or attacks against staff. All of these scenarios require distinguished lockdown or evacuation alerts and procedures put in place, while still needing to signify different alerts for class change and communicating messages across the premises.
Bodet Time provides different alert melodies which can be triggered in different ways adapting to the type of emergency; either in a fixed location or remotely. Messages can be broadcast through Bodet Time’s PA system, reaching multiple buildings on the premises simultaneously.
Lockdown and evacuation
In the event of a lockdown, timing can be critical. Ensuring your staff and children are communicated to effectively can be a serious matter. This is of particular importance with distinguishing the fire alert bell sound from a lockdown alert. With Bodet Time’s lockdown alerts, a text display, flashing strobes and audio alert can all be broadcast protecting everyone across the premises, accounting for children with SEND. Messages can be live or pre-recorded to guarantee clear communication in a stressful situation.
Never has there been a more prevalent time to put effective solutions in place with Martyn’s Law likely to come into force later this year. Lockdown procedures may soon become the law, please read our blog for more details.
Reasons to upgrade your bell system
Keep up to date, using Bodet Time’s solutions, improving efficiency of the school day and increasing safety for staff and pupils. Here is how you can improve:
- Clear and efficient communication reaching staff in separate zones or across the whole premises
- Synchronised clocks to ensure class change times run efficiently
- Different types of alerts to notify staff and children of different events, including class change, evacuation and lockdown
- Auditory and visual alerts to account for different disabilities
- A choice of melodies to modernise class change
- Emergency procedures triggered from anywhere on the premises and maximising safety
