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safe guarding at after school events


Alwal

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at my setting they currently have nothing in place in the way of policies for events that happen out side of school hours and I feel a little uncomfortable with the lack of safeguarding procedures.

 

I have identified that:

 

theres is no active list of which students are on site (often post 16 students will go off and get food etc...)

theres no active record of how many audience members are onsite in case of a fire these are very concerning!

 

but also, we are inviting anyone on to the school site, and as long as they pay for entry we aren't bothered who they are... where as in the day, visitors would have to sign in.

 

so what do you have in place to record number of audience members, which students are in/out AND does anyone take additional steps to take names of the audience members?

 

I have look at selling tickets online, so that audience members have to give a name for each party, and scanning them in/out would give accurate audience numbers... and paper based signing in and out for students involved in the show.... but open to ideas and suggestions

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I think you've got a couple of issues that need to be separated:

 

a) the issue of child safeguarding, which I'm not an expert in beyond my own DBS check

b) evacuation methodology and policy with relation to fire safety.

 

Let's deal first with b), as it's easier. No theatre, and probably no public building, should ever assume that you 'know' how many people are in the building at any time, and you should be making no attempt to 'tick' members of the public off against a register of ticket sales or similar. It's an utterly pointless waste of time in my opinion for all the reasons you mention and more - even if you use tickets with barcodes and scanners on the door (my venue does) you only have to look at the stewards doing it for a few minutes to know it's far from foolproof. Then you have the box office and bar, where anyone can just wander in off the street and sit down, and you've got absolutely no formal record of their existence. Equally you've got no idea if a member of the audience has gone to the toilet or has left midway through. Instead it is standard practice in the case of an evacuation for the staff/stewards/ushers/fire wardens/whoever your evacuation policy says to sweep the public areas of the theatre to ensure no one has been left behind. You should definitely know approximate numbers ("hmm, house of 186 on the door, only 50-60 people standing on the pavement when the alarm is going, better find out what's going on" etc.) but I don't think it would be sensible for an evacuation policy to attempt any sort of register on the public areas of the building. You should know how many tickets have been sold and how many were actually taken on the door for that reason, but you're not then attempting to cross reference that exactly with the evac later.

 

However - think about the backstage areas of the building during a show. It's much easier to know who exactly is in these areas - access is normally controlled, and most theatres make you sign in at stage door for exactly this reason. Backstage there are far more places where someone could be hiding - are you going to think to check the fly floor? etc. - but the SM or whoever is responsible should be able to call a register of cast and crew from the sign in sheet. You may however assess that a basic sweep of these areas is needed as well as a backup - we do.

 

But all this is just advice from someone on the internet - as a venue you must have in place a written risk assessment and evacuation policy with respect to fire and other incidents that may occur. It is not acceptable to be unclear on what you would do in the event of the fire alarm going off. A school must surely have some sort of policy - is it appropriate ie. was it written with a school day only in mind and not public performance? Who is in charge during a performance and responsible for public safety - a caretaker, a duty manager? Do they directly manage the evacuation, or do stewards do that while the duty manager coordinates? These are questions you must have answers to, as if the worst were to happen a) you will be unprepared and will panic b) it will not end well for the school and anyone involved in court. I cannot believe that a school wouldn't have this sort of thing on paper (they usually love paperwork) but perhaps I'm being naive... If it isn't, this needs to be sorted, now, by someone that knows what they're doing.

 

 

With regards to safeguarding of children, I'm much less knowledgeable on the requirements, but I would imagine knowing where everyone is at once is pretty important (coming back to that register backstage again!), and there are special requirements imposed in performance for example with regards to quick costume changes in the wings: obviously you need to think carefully about that sort of thing (though not sure chaperoning applies in the same way to actual schools as it does when we have children performing in our non-school venue).

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theres is no active list of which students are on site (often post 16 students will go off and get food etc...)

 

In the primaries I look after, this is well enforced, they have staff members at the entry/exit points, governing entry and exit.

In the secondaries I look after, I have exactly the same issue as you - especially as there is a 6th form, and they come and go as they please! (also presents an issue of "where has timmy gone who was supposed to be running those cables?! - Very frustrating). So, I feel your pain, and I have to reside myself to the fact that it is the schools problem, not mine, and I have "done my bit" (or passed the buck?) by highlighting this problem to the faculty on a number of occasions, and accepting the fact that the students are in their care, not mine! (doesn't stop me keeping an eye open though).

 

theres no active record of how many audience members are onsite in case of a fire these are very concerning!

 

We are blessed in the secondary. There is one entrance to the lobby (with toilets), one entrance to the hall, and the doors going off to the rest of the school are locked on show nights. The main hall has 2 further fire exits which are alarmed. In the event of a fire, we have, from a member of the public perspective at least, a minimal area of search - backstage is controlled though, so we know who is in there.

As for "anyone attending the show", well that again is a "problem" for the school, I get the feeling they just want the entry charge, and would let anyone (the manson family?) attend to get the sales up (The drama dept is self funding?!) That is a moral/ethical question which I fear there is not a reasonable answer - is it wrong to let a non family related member of the public attend if the show interests them? If they want to support their local school? I dunno - hard one, isn't it.

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Looking at your fire accountability - I feel that even if you had accurate numbers of public inside your venue, unless you have a secure area that everyone will exit into, people may wander off, thinking that's the show over, let's get some food or something else. This will make accounting for numbers near impossible. You can't run it the same way as a school, and IMO the only foolproof way is to sweep as part of the evacuation and ensure the building is empty.

 

Safeguarding - first if you feel this is a problem stop talking about it on the internet and talk to your safeguarding officer. You will have one, they will take this seriously. My old safeguarding officer had the approach that if you got the feeling "something wasn't quite right" then you should have a chat. I only did it twice during 2 years in a secondary, with successful outcomes both times. No more discussion needed I feel.

 

I understand school shows are a nightmare, and in terms of organisation a world apart from professional theatre shows. There are areas that could be improved, but unfortunately the culture is definitely "not broken so don't fix". If child safety is an issue definitely flag it up and don't let it be dismissed, otherwise I'd be inclined to say email it all off to your H&S dept (so you're covered) and let them deal with it.

 

But I'm just a guy on the internet - so don't listen to a word of my advice!

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Answering as a school tech also - have you had safeguarding training??? it is compulsory so it should have occurred. This will tell you your designated person to speak to, to raise those concerns.

As to members of the public coming to watch performances - they don't have access to the pupils, especially not unaccompanied access so that isn't an issue as such.

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some very valid points.

I am meeting with the site manager to revise the fire evac policy, to include out out hours performances.

 

I have insisted that the SM and ASMs of each production produces a cast and crew register to be used as a signing in/out document... they had to make lists of casts for wardrobe anyway... so this shouldn't increase anyones workload too much, and will mean that they can find their name... time in... then time out to make things quick/easy.

 

might purchase a few tally clickers for the steward on the doors to get an audience count in addition to public area sweeps.

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The best helper you have is the keyholder. Hopefully the caretaker/premises person will lock lots of doors to retain members of the public in places where they need to be to see the show whatever it is (drama, concert, exhibition etc). The pupils involved in the performance should be back stage and supervised by SM ASM DSM etc who should have their head count in case of evacuation. The members of the audience are the FOH manager's responsibility, that person needs a headcount to tally possible evacuees and an assistant to actively search for anyone who has NOT evacuated. If you have evacuated then the fire service will have been called and the stage sweep person and the FOH sweep person must be out at the assembly point when the first pump arrives -let them search with Breathing App if needed.

 

Safeguarding children from the adults in the audience starts with a locked door.

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Ticketing is the way to do part "b" Lots of online ticket sales, you can see numbers names etc as needed and I think contact info for "up selling" in the future. Personally I wouldnt worry more than just numbers, because you also have a number of seats you can sell for fire regs so its good to know if your under that.

 

Assuming its a school (profile says) I guess you have some teachers FOH to assist and teachers backstage also.

 

FOH should know how to evacute and where to go. This would be helped by something like a opening information message about "no phones , in case of emergency" etc etc.

 

Backstage it might be easier to imagine it like a club and you have to have staff on the doors that you would have to the outside, of course you don't want to lock doors that are fire exits (unless they are auto unlock / crash doors)

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Safeguarding children from the adults in the audience starts with a locked door.

 

But in the event of an evacuation, is there a safeguarded area for children to evacuate to, and can it be controlled so they all go there instead of some running off to find mummy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In most shows the cast and crew are the only known number, so IMO cast and crew need to be counted out before they run away from the count and put someone's life at risk looking inside for someone who has gone home safely.

 

Even with interconnecting doors secured there needs to be separate exits for both FOH and stage.

 

Locked interconnecting doors is only one part of blocking unknown adults getting into backstage areas.

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Are your SMs and ASMs members of staff? If they are not, then why would they have the job of keeping track of who is in and who is not? Surely as the purpose is safety related, this MUST be done by somebody who has real responsibility and not 'pretend' responsibility or titles. In real life, this isn't anything to do with the production team, as whoever is in charge of the fire safety needs the info. In pro theatre, sign in sheets usually are coordinated by the Stage Door people for the primary reason of knowing who is in the backstage areas, and possibly including FOH staff too - and while the visiting company make use of the info to check everybody is present, the purpose of the signing in sheet its a bit different. The company could have their own of course, but that would be in addition to, not in replacement of, because ultimately somebody is responsible for the safety of the people in the building.

 

In schools and colleges, safeguarding is something so important and regulated, surely this can't be anything to done by the kids? If the performance venue is in the school, then the normal in-house policies work fine, you just need to have staff controlling access to the non-public areas. In an outside venue, usually they get around performance licences, and the chaperone issues by extending the school's premises temporarily to include the theatre they have hired.

 

However - this does mean that it's rarely then done properly. Backstage in a pro venue, the school rule about no adult being left alone with individuals doesn't work - it's dark, and venue staff suddenly find they ARE in one-to-one with a youngster because the others suddenly run away, or go on stage, leaving the poor technician in the wings with a 15 year old. In the real world, this happens. The technician might not even be aware of the potentially dire situation they are now in. In all my years I've never had any issues, or been aware of any with other people, but nowadays this is not sufficient - just being in that position is quite worrying. Looking back I've been in some very dodgy situations where today I'd be very worried. I suspect most back stage people see things they perhaps shouldn't and they develop professional blindness - but the kids thing really worries me now, and when we do school stuff, I make sure that I, with my DBS and history am always on stage to make sure my people are protected. They don't even realise why I'm all eyes and ears.

 

In my humble view, safeguarding in a school is a totally internal process. In an external venue, if they want safeguarding, then they do it properly with licence chaperones who know how to do it - and frankly, a venue full of kids cannot do it properly like we do in the professional world - how do you manage just the toilet rules?

 

In school it's controlled. Add outside people and the only proper answer is segregation, but again, the schools rarely do it properly. In a school all visitors should sign in, get ID badges and be signed out. How can a school's normal safeguarding cope with a hundred strangers? It can't, but if the staff take sensible precautions their charges will be safe - but it has to be staff in charge, not students. People being safeguarded cannot have a part in the process apart from bringing issues to the proper person's attention, and the very nature of school systems means that your event has to have the appropriate person there, and they never are!

 

I think you are making the thing too much of a concern. Do you believe that the students are at risk from the audience? Are they allowed to come backstage? Your idea of selling tickets on-line doesn't actually help because if there is a pervert out there who will buy a ticket and come to school - how do you know?

 

Simply make sure there is a senior person present who's remit is to be backstage and be nosey, and don't get yourself involved in anything yourself. I know it's often good to accept extra responsibility, but in this case, I'd run a mile and look for people with more pips on their epaulettes.

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In the case of point one you must have a strictly enforced signing in and out system. The best way to make it stick is to chose a time when you suspect a number of unauthorised absences and have a fire drill! The follow up interviews should be rigorous with no tea and biscuits.

 

In the case of the second you simply and routinely lock anywhere the public are not supposed to be and police all pass doors. This should not need saying. In the case of an emergency stewards must check the toilets, cloakrooms etc., there must be a stewarded muster area, stewards do not leave their area until they are sure it is clear. Cast members should know where their muster point is and be indoctrinated to go there and nowhere else. Backstage adult staff should know exactly what to do. One designated person should do the roll call.

 

On the matter of minors in non school settings Paul covers all the bases. It really is only a matter of indoctrinating staff with a few simple rules for their personal safety.

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One event a couple of years ago, I was a visitor at a school, and the fire alarm went off during the rehearsal (in the school day) and nobody looked after us visitors at all. We followed signs to find a padlocked exit gate to the playground. Helped to the right place by a 12 year old, we fond complete chaos, and as it was cold after a few minutes the teachers went back inside with their classes, on their own decision - gradually the playground emptied. I voiced my opinion and got taken to an office by a 'suit'. Asked to explain myself by the head. I did, quite forcibly and gave him the benefit of my experience - ending with ".... remember Hillsborough? Who paid the penalty? The man who made the wrong decision and the people who died". He said he'd only been in post a few days, and I told him that perhaps safety should have been his number one function then. This school made the press the other day as the worst in the country, and have a new draconian rule book, that secretly most of the staff and students really like, because it works for everyone's benefit, and I hear their fire drills are now effective and excellently policed.

 

Anybody interested in radio? Driving along in my van, I heard locally some interesting things on the free, unpoliced PMR446 system. I've been recording it and typing the content up. I've tracked down the source, identified the staff, and have a big list of private data about the kids. Which ones will be alone at home until their parents return, which houses are currently unoccupied because the parents are away and the kids staying with granny, which kids have medical issues, which kids have social problems and the names of those who have behavioural issues. One is unable to tae part in activities that can be photographed, but I missed her full name. I've nearly got enough to present to the head of safeguarding. I probably shouldn't be doing this, but the school clearly believe their communications are private, yet they are clearly readable here a mile away. They are also totally unaware they share the channel with a Whitbreads eatery and a local motorcycle driving school - who even use the same CTCSS tones, so the people under instruction will be hearing the school chat when they are in the area, while the instructor won't! The school has a very well thought through safeguarding policy on their web site.

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So why is so much of this sensitive stuff being discussed on the radio?

 

Presumably because they don't realise that someone outside the organisation can listen in!

They will use it as a quick means of communication, such as finding little Johnny stood at the school gates expecting to be picked up. Duty staff would radio reception who will explain mum rang to say he needs to go to the afterschool club.

Using the radios is quicker than a runner or having to leave the child or move the child whilst leaving others.

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