Academy Security – Update

Following the recent incidents in Manchester and London, we have - in common with other schools across London - been reviewing our site security and procedures for trips and educational visits. The following is an update on this. Trips and visits At the time of writing, all Academy trips are going ahead as planned. We will continue to review each trip on an individual basis. Chelsea Academy has signed up to the London Diocese Board of Schools “Safe Havens” initiative; this is a network of LDBS schools who will open their doors to students from other schools in the event of an emergency nearby. We will continue to communicate with you by text message when your child is taking part…

Following the recent incidents in Manchester and London, we have – in common with other schools across London – been reviewing our site security and procedures for trips and educational visits. The following is an update on this.

Trips and visits

At the time of writing, all Academy trips are going ahead as planned. We will continue to review each trip on an individual basis. Chelsea Academy has signed up to the London Diocese Board of Schools “Safe Havens” initiative; this is a network of LDBS schools who will open their doors to students from other schools in the event of an emergency nearby. We will continue to communicate with you by text message when your child is taking part in a trip or visit, to ensure you are kept up-to-date on timings etc.

Academy site security – Lockdown

The Academy has a policy which outlines what we will do in a range of emergency situations. This week I have reminded staff of this, specifically of what would happen should it be necessary to lock down the building; that is, if it was decided by the police or the Leadership Team that it was not safe for students to leave the Academy. This may be necessary if there was an incident nearby in the local community for example. Heads of Year have visited coaching groups to explain to students what messages they may hear over the Academy tannoy system, and what they will need to do in that situation.

If it is necessary to lockdown the building, we will communicate via Twitter. Please make sure you are following us on @chelseaacademy. We will of course communicate via text and phone as well if it is feasible. If the Academy is locked down because of an emergency, please do not come to collect your child until instructed to do so by staff. Similarly if we are forced to evacuate the building, we will gather in our usual evacuation point of Westfield Park and would ask that you do not take your child home before staff instruct you to do so. This is because we have to be able to register and account for all students in the event of an incident.

Working with the Met Police – invitation to an event

Chelsea Academy continues to be in regular communication with the Local Authority and Met Police and will follow any recommendations made by them regarding the safety and wellbeing of our staff and students. I have been asked to make you aware of the details of a Partnership & Community seminar being held by the Police on Saturday 17th June 2017 at Kensington Aldridge Academy. This event, which is exclusively for young people of secondary school age, and will cover a number of topics around the theme of “Am I Safe?”, including sexual exploitation and gang associated violence. If your child would like to attend please read the Letter from Met Police re Am I Safe seminar  and you will need to complete the Am I Safe Met Police consent form. Please note this event is run by the Police and no representatives from the Academy will be present.

Whilst I hope that we never have to put the above plans into practice, I hope it is reassuring to know that there are processes in place should it be necessary. If you have any concerns or feedback, please get in touch with your child’s Head of Year in the first instance.