When the safety of the pupils is threatened, we will be guided by the emergency services, and will work closely with them. We do have emergency lockdown and evacuation procedures in place, in case there isn’t time to take advice. We are satisfied that these procedures are appropriate, but in the light of past events, they are under review, and we are taking external advice to ensure that we have procedures that are workable and fit for purpose. We are working closely with our partner schools on this.

In emergency situations, we will keep you updated as promptly and as often as we can, via the website, text messages and/or Twitter, depending on the facilities available to us. You can help us in three ways:

• Keep this in perspective, and don’t spread any fear to the children. We are putting a lot of work into making sure our procedures are suitable, but it is highly unlikely we will need to use them – and even if we do it is most likely to be just a precaution. If you do hear a message that something is going on, please don’t panic!

• In the event of a lockdown, evacuation or other emergency situation, please do not come to the school. In a lockdown, we will not be able to open the door to let you in, and you may put yourself in danger; and in an evacuation, we won’t be here! If you see us walking up the road, please don’t approach your child, or try to take them home. This will make it hard for us to keep the children calm and make sure they are all accounted for.

• Likewise, please do not try to phone the school. We will need to keep our lines free to communicate with emergency services. We understand that it will be a worrying time, but we will keep you updated as much as we can via the website, Twitter and text messages. If we are not able to update you via those media, it is unlikely we would be able to answer the telephones either.

Once again, to reiterate, the possibility of danger to your child is very, very small. We just wanted to reassure you that we do have plans in place to take appropriate action in the unlikely event it is needed.