Government engagement with NASUWT on Emergency Response Preparedness

The Government considers that it enjoys an excellent working relationship with NASUWT and welcomes their engagement in matters arising from the incident at Westside School last week. It is important, regardless of how robust plans and protocols may be, that we learn from such incidents and improve as a result.

It is important to share information regarding Emergency Response preparedness in Westside School:

Emergency Response Preparedness:

• February 2024: Whole-school INSET training was delivered on civil contingencies, and each Subject Lead and their Department was tasked with planning their response to a lockdown situation.
• Staff were then invited to complete a Google Form audit on their lockdown needs. The results were used to inform the revised Emergency Response Policy.
• June 2024: The updated Emergency Response Policy was uploaded to the staff handbook.
• March 2025: A staff member streamlining the handbook for their Masters dissertation began transferring documentation to a new, more user-friendly format on a revised platform.
• Following the incident, it was noted that the Emergency Response Policy had not yet been moved to the updated version. It was then uploaded on the new platform, but it had already been available on the old platform. The Anti-Bullying Policy, which had been missed in the same transfer, was also uploaded then.
• Fire evacuation procedures were revised this academic year and are published daily on the staff cover sheet.
• A Whole School Fire Evacuation drill was conducted on 19th March 2025, one week before the incident.
• A Yr 7 Evacuation Fire Drill was held on 5th February 2025. In addition to the actual evacuation practice, a PowerPoint was shared with all year 7 classes during their PSHE lesson to ensure staff and students were clear on the procedure.

The school has worked closely with the Department of Education's Strategic Health Lead over the past year. The school's Emergency Response Policy was discussed with him in May 2024, and collaboration on issues including access control were ongoing. A site meeting was held in May 2024 to review practical safeguarding arrangements, including the side-door access points which were specifically reviewed.

Following the event last week, the Minister was approached by NASUWT by email on Thursday 27 March and replied within 30 minutes. The following morning the Minister supplied NASUWT with a link to the protocol and with a list of measures that were being introduced to enhance security, the outcome of a meeting held that very morning. NASUWT replied with helpful comments and the Minister undertook in reply to meet the Union as soon as he had received all the information necessary to provide a full response. The date of the meeting had not yet been communicated to the Union, so that the impression, no doubt unintended, given in the NASUWT Press Release was that there was no response on behalf of the Minister or Director. This is not the case, and a meeting will be held next week to discuss these matters in full.