School Newsletter 1: Running Drills in Schools

Thank you for registering to participate in the ShakeOut. I hope the journey will be one of purposeful learning for you and your students. If you can encourage your staff and students (with their families) to register as individuals or families that will be fantastic. They will receive different information in the run up to the ShakeOut, and in all probability the most important stuff. An earthquake is more likely to occur when people are not at school. That said, it is important for schools to have procedures for dealing with a major event, such as an alpine fault earthquake because it could happen in school time.

This is the first of five e-mails prior to the ShakeOut and the topic for today is

RUNNING DRILLS IN SCHOOLS

Running regular drills for fire and earthquake are essential for younger students. They can enjoy the practice and learn by repetition. Most schools and pre-schools do regular drills and most students at high school remember the drill from their earlier years. As children get older they often need a reason for doing things and at this stage the drill can be even more effective, or potentially totally ineffective! The problem is that at high schools, and upper primary school, children mature at different rates. Some will need repetition when others will need rationalisation. For those who require rationalisation the drill must be part of a broader educational programme and there must be some purpose to the drill itself.

Students can be asked to help do a hazard inventory for their classrooms as part of the drill. An example of such a worksheet can be downloaded here. The lowest level that you can get people to buy into safety matters the easier it is to develop safe strategies in your school. If it is the responsibility of only the health and safety manager, the task is beyond reckoning. Incorporating drills into class programmes can be the most effective. Most learning areas have stuff that will relate to natural hazards in their programmes, and it is a matter of using this to promote good practice at the time of the drill.

Sometimes a little humour is helpful to convey the message.

Chris Manuel
West Coast ShakeOut Coordinator
www.shakeout.org.nz

The information in this e-mail is the opinion of the author, after significant research. If you are making decisions based upon it, please take the time to follow the links and check up on the details that will affect your decision.