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Witham: Parents unhappy after school fire drill

4:00pm Friday 10th February 2012 in News

Witham: Parents unhappy after school fire drill Witham: Parents unhappy after school fire drill

Parents have complained to a primary school after children were forced outdoors for a fire drill without coats.

The fire drill took place on Thursday at Powers Hall Infant School, in Spa Road, Witham.

A parent, who did not want to be named, said that she was led to believe teachers were wearing coats but the pupils were not.

She said: “I rang the school on Friday morning and stated that me and my husband were not happy.

“We were quite disturbed by it - our daughter has just had a cold and was standing out in that temperature.”

Headteacher Claire Edwards said: “I can confirm that a fire drill took place on Thursday last week.

“This parent did phone the school on Friday morning and as I was unable to speak to her directly at this time, I wrote to her to reassure her that fire drills take place in a variety of different situations to ensure that children know what to do in an emergency.

“I also spoke to her when she came into the school office after school on the same day to further share her concerns, although I am aware that she was unhappy with my response.

“I can confirm that neither children nor staff stopped to collect their coats when the fire bell sounded as this would not be appropriate in the event of a real fire.”

Comments(6)

Bhudeeka says...
4:27pm Fri 10 Feb 12

oh how stupid have they nothing more important to worry about it is a fire drill held in realistic situations personally iw ould rather my child got out safely concnetrating on that rather than thinikng about hteir coat!

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pierre-pierre says...
6:00pm Fri 10 Feb 12

on my records in Braintree, the temperature at say 11:00 was only 2.5 C

no trouble holding a fire evacution, but if done correctly it will take at least 30 mins to verify every one is accounted for

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Rayning says...
12:33pm Sat 11 Feb 12

30 minutes??? Good Lord, It should take approx 1-2 minutes to evacuate the building, and certainly no more than 3 minutes to check everyone is accounted for in a school with 150 pupils.
No idea how many are at the aforementioned school, but 30 minutes is excessive to say the least!

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kelliep1970 says...
3:46pm Sat 11 Feb 12

if it were a REAL fire would the same woman have complained that her child wasnt able to get her coat or would she have just been pleased her child got out alive... the moaning will now make her daughter think twice about leaving the classroom upon hearing the firebell as if she doesnt take her coat 'mummy will be angry'...as the first comment said fire drills are done in all situations and all weathers to ensure the children know what to do in case of a REAL emergency. just be happy they are teaching yr children the safest thing to do... rather a cold than a dead child im afraid xx

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robin wilkins says...
12:53am Sun 12 Feb 12

some people get all fired up over nothing!

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montygirl says...
12:35pm Mon 13 Feb 12

How ridiculous, the point of fire rills is to teach kids to leave the building immediately if there is a fire and the alarm sounds.Therefore no coats as in a real situation the priority is for the children and staff to get out safely and alive not go searching for their coat and put the lives of others at risk. A drill is to show kids what happens not ask them to decide if its a real fire or not and whether they get their coats or anything else.Cold or no cold.Some parents need to get a grip and think about their childs safety and the safety being taught.Kids can recover from a cold unfortunately they cant recover if they perish in a fire in order to get a coat !

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