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Important Information
Important Information
If it is certain to be a day in which the school is going to be in the path of a major bushfire, please keep children home. It is likely that Bush Fire Authorities will communicate this via the News, including the RFS website.
If a “Catastrophic” fire weather warning has been issued for the Blue Mountains for the subsequent school day, the school will be closed to all students, parents, staff and visitors. In the event of such a declaration students should not commence their journey to school or be transported to the school site.
It may be necessary to order a school closure for Wycliffe Christian School, for weather conditions that do not reach the “Catastrophic” declaration. This decision may come from the RFS or it may be made independently by the school on its assessment of risk. If in doubt please check both RFS and school sources of information.
During a fire emergency, parents should be aware that students at school are still under the school’s duty of care. This means that any student movements MUST be made known to the correct staff members.
Under certain fire weather conditions, the Principal may direct a “shelter in place” to the multipurpose hall or other on-site venue. In this case, parents are not necessarily going to be contacted by the school as a first priority, although we will attempt to notify parents by SMS, Facebook, or website. Any parent who comes to school to collect their child during a “shelter in place” event will be required to stay at school until advised it is safe to leave. Once directed that they are safe to leave they must report to the assembly warden prior to leaving. The school will always comply with the directions of the Bush Fire Authorities or other emergency service personnel.
Under an extreme (worst case) fire emergency, the school may have been directed by emergency authorities to evacuate. In this extreme case it is imperative that parents cooperate with directions from Emergency authorities.
Where to get emergency updates
Where to get emergency updates
In the event of an emergency, Wycliffe will endeavour to communicate with parents either directly (Compass notification and/or email), and/or via our official Facebook page.
Evacuation Policy
Evacuation Policy
Should the RFS declare a significant fire risk and order an evacuation, the most likely procedure will be transport by bus to a declared evacuation area, dependent upon fire weather conditions. Such decisions are not made by the school and all logistics for such as evacuation are organised by the relevant combat agency [i.e. Police]. Parents would then collect students from the relevant evacuation venue (after informing staff or emergency personnel allocated to that task). Written authorisation is required for anyone other than parents to collect children. Information, including any variation to the above, would be given through SMS messages, on the school website, on the official school Facebook site and/or local radio station announcements. Parents are encouraged to listen to media advice as this is often the earliest notification they will receive. In extreme circumstances procedures to protect lives are vital; therefore it is not possible to prescribe the specific action to be taken in every circumstance.
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