Critical Incidence Policy

At all times,St.Malachy’s Girls’ School aims to protect thewell being of its students and staff by providing a safe and nurturing environment as defined in our Mission Statement. The Board of Management, through the Principal, has drawn up the following Critical Incident Management Plan as one element of the school’s policies and plans.

The aim is to establish a Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) to steer the development and implementation of the plan.

Aim

The aim of the Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) is “to help school management and staff to react quickly and effectively in the event of an incident, to enable them to maintain a sense of control and to ensure that appropriate support is offered to students and staff”. Having a good plan will also help ensure that the effects on the students and staff will be limited. It will enable the school to return to normality as soon as possible.

Definition of Critical Incident

The staff and management of St.Malachy’s Girls’ School recognise a critical incident to be “an incident or sequence of events” that overwhelms the normal coping mechanism of the school”.

Critical incidents may involve one or more students or staff members, their family members or members of the local community e.g.

The death of a member of the school community through accident, violence, suicide or suspected suicide or other unexpected death
An intrusion into the school
An accident involving members of the school community
An accident/tragedy in the wider community
Serious damage to the school building through fire, flood, vandalism, etc.
The disappearance of a member of the school community.

Creation of a Coping Supportive and Caring Ethos in the School

St.Malachy’s Girls’ School has put systems in place to help to build resilience in both staff and students through our SPHE/RSE programmes, thus preparing them to cope with a range of life events. These include measures to address both the physical and psychological safety of the school community.

Physical Safety

In the area of physical safety the school has put in place the following:

Evacuation plan formulated
Regular fire drills occur
Fire exits and extinguishers are regularly checked
Pre-opening supervision in the school on days of inclement weather e.g. frost, rain, snow
Secure doors accessed by bell only during school hours
General school rules under the school’s behaviour policy to ensure all pupils have a safe environment.

Psychological safety

The management and staff of St.Malachy’s Girls’ School also use available programmes and resources to address the personal and social development of students, to enhance a sense of safety and security in the school and to provide opportunities for reflection and discussion.

Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE)

It is integrated into the work of the school. It is addressed in the curriculum by including issues such as grief and loss; communication skills; stress and anger management; resilience; conflict management; problem solving; help-seeking; bullying; decision making and prevention of alcohol and drug misuse. Promotion of mental health is an integral part of this provision
Staffs have access to training for their role in SPHE
Staffs are familiar with the Child Protection Guidelines and Procedures and details of how to proceed with suspicions or disclosures
Books and resources on difficulties affecting the primary school student are available
The school has developed links with a range of external agencies e.g. HSE/Community Care/NEPS
Inputs to students by external providers are carefully considered in the light of criteria about student safety, the appropriateness of the content, and the expertise of the providers
The school has a clear policy on bullying and deals with bullying in accordance with this policy
There is a care system in place in the school
Students who are identified as being at risk are referred to the designated staff member (e.g. support teacher). Concerns are explored and the appropriate level of assistance and support is provided. Parents are informed, and where appropriate, a referral is made to an appropriate agency
Staffs are informed about how to access support themselves.

Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT)

A CIMT has been established in line with best practice. The members of the team were selected on a voluntary basis and will retain their roles for at least one school year. The members of the team will meet annually to review and update the policy and plan. Each member of the team has access to the schools Critical Incident Management Folder which include all of the following:

A copy of the Critical Incident Management Team/and the Key Roles
An emergency contact list/school staff contact list
A copy of the duties of each team member
A copy of the Board of Management members & contacts
An Action Plan Template.

Key Roles and Responsibilities of the CIMT

Team Leader: Bríd Galligan
Garda liaison: Sabrina Maguire
Staff liaison: Karen Tuite
Student liaison: Michelle Duffy
Parent liaison: Bríd Galligan
Community liaison: Karen Tuite
Media liaison: Bríd Galligan
Administrator: Maria Quigley

The Following are the Key Responsibilities of Each Role

Team Leader

Alert the team members to the crisis and convenes a meeting
Co-ordinate the tasks of the team
Liaise with the Board of Management; DES; NEPS;SEC
Liaise with the bereaved family.

The Deputy Principal will assure this role in the absence of the team leader.

Garda Liaison

Liaise with the Gardaí
Ensure that information about deaths or other developments is checked out for accuracy before being shared.

Staff Liaison

Lead briefing meetings for staff on facts as known, give staff members an opportunity to express their feelings and ask questions and outline the routine for the day
Advise staff on the procedures for identification of vulnerable students
Provide materials for staff (from the Critical Incident Folder)
Keep records of students seen by external agency staff
Look after setting up and supervision of ‘quiet’ room where agreed

Community/Agency liaison

Maintain up to date lists of contact numbers -members of the Parents Council, emergency support services and other external contacts and resources
Liaise with agencies in the community for support and onward referral
Check credentials of individuals offering support
Co-ordinate the involvement of these agencies
Remind agency staff to wear name badges
Update team members on the involvement of external agencies

Parent Liaison

Visit the bereaved family with the team leader
Arrange parent meetings if held - Facilitate such meetings, and manage ‘questions and answers’
Set up room for meetings with parents
Meet with individual parents
Maintain a record of parents seen
Manage the ‘consent’ issues in accordance with agreed school policy
Ensure that sample letters are typed up, on the school’s system and ready for adaptation
Provide appropriate materials for parents (from their Critical Incident Folder)

Media Liaison

In advance of an incident, will consider issues that may arise and how they might be responded to (e.g. students being interviewed, photographers on the premises, etc)
In the event of an incident, will liaise where necessary with relevant teacher unions etc
Will draw up a press statement, give media briefings and interviews (as agreed by school management)

Administrator

Maintenance up to date telephone numbers of:
- Parents or guardians
- Teachers
- Emergency services
Take telephone calls and note those that need to be responded to
Ensure that templates are on the school’s system in advance and ready for adaptation
Prepare and send out letters, emails and faxes
Photocopies materials needed
Maintains records

Record Keeping

In the event of an incident, each member of the team will keep records of phone calls made and received, letters sent and received, meetings held, persons met, interventions used, material used etc. The school secretary will have a key role in receiving and logging telephone calls, sending letters, photocopying materials, etc

Confidentiality and Good Name Considerations

The management and staff of St.Malachy’s Girls’ School have a responsibility to protect the privacy and good name of the people involved in any incident and will be sensitive to the consequences of any public statements. The members of the school staff will bear this in mind, and will seek to ensure that students do so also. For instance, the term “suicide” will not be used unless there is solid information that death was due to suicide, and that the family involved consents to its use. The phrases, ‘tragic death’ or ‘sudden death’ may be used instead. Similarly, the word ‘murder’ should not be used until it is legally established that a murder was committed. The term ‘violent death’ may be used instead.

Critical Incident Rooms

In the event of a critical incident:

The Staff Room will be the main room used to meet the staff
The Assembly Hall for meetings with students
The Assembly Hall for parents
The Assembly Hall for media
The Staff Room for other visitors

Consultation and Communication Regarding the Plan

All staff were consulted and regard was given to their views in the preparation of this policy and plan. Students and parent representatives were also consulted and asked for their comments.Our school’s final policy and plan in relation to responding to critical incidents has been presented to all staff.Each member of the critical incident team has access to a personal copy of the plan.All new and temporary staff will be informed of the details of the plan by a Staff Liaison member.

The plan will be updated annually in the month of October.