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This is a very good question, and an extremely important one. It is absolutely essential that the children are evacuated quickly and safely. One key to this is that you as the teacher are very calm and very firm, but that you appear to be in control of the situation and confident of a positive outcome – the children will pick up on that. They need to be clear that this is a serious situation, but that they are safe with you. As soon as the situation arises, you need to start instructing and telling the students what is happening, what they need to do now, and that moving forward they need to follow your instructions immediately. Keep communicating, praising students who are getting it right, and firmly correcting any who are not. After the evacuation, it won’t hurt to discuss with the children what happened, how they responded and how that led to a safe evacuation.
This can be very scary and stressful, even for experienced teachers. The important think is for you to know what you should be doing. Your school will have policy documents for things like evacuations, so you should check these to make sure you are clear what the procedures are. If you are unsure about anything, you could ask a question via the Teacher Training Program in Google Classroom or speak to your teacher mentor or Deputy Head of EY. Do not be afraid to ask questions, especially about important things like this.
This is a specific question that could be applied to several circumstances that might create anxiety in you and in your students. To ensure that anxious feelings do not get in the way of human safety, it is worth considering the importance of practising routines and responses to any kind of evacuation. Once you are absolutely clear on the school policy and procedures for evacuation, perhaps find a time to practise those routines under less stressful conditions with your students. This will enable you to stop and start the process; highlighting what the students are doing well and how they might be able to improve their responses. It will also help you identify students who may need a ‘buddy’ or greater support when responding to a real-life evacuation. This should give you and your students a feeling of readiness and some sense of familiarity when an evacuation is needed in real time.
Firstly, ensure that the children are aware of the evacuation procedure in advance. The leadership team should share this important information with you and will expect you to run through it with the class. I always recommend rehearsing it in advance of a real event so the students know what to expect and what you expect of them if ever there was an evacuation. An evacuation is an unexpected and unfamiliar event, which can cause the students to become dysregulated, in turn escalating behaviour issues. Stay calm and assertive at all times. Ensure that you are clear in your directions and project your voice so that all the students can hear you clearly. Remember that you are the ‘flight attendant’ in this situation, so the students are looking to you to understand how they should react in this situation. Your main goal is to ensure everyone follows the plan and, therefore, are kept safe. If you remain calm, but assertive, you will appear in control and the children will feel safe and follow your instructions. Ensure you have a follow-up discussion after a rehearsal or a real evacuation to check in with how the children are feeling (it can be scary for them) and address any concerns you had about students not following the plan.