to Manage Critical Incidents Supporting Schools to Manage Critical Incidents Alison Crossick Principal Educational Psychologist

Providing Children’s Services for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

What is a Critical Incident (CI)? A critical incident may be defined as any sudden and unexpected incident or sequence of events which causes trauma within a school community and which overwhelms the normal coping mechanisms of that school. An event in one school might not be deemed to be a 'critical incident' because the school feel able to manage it and respond to it without the need for outside support - in another school it might be responded to as a critical incident.  Just as a similar event in the same school might require a different response depending on the resilience of the school at that time.  We are very much lead by what school are asking for and what they think they need rather than going in 'regardless'.

Support for schools Local CI booklet for schools on RBWM website https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/info/200168/schools_and_schooling/1016/educational_psychology_service/4 Department of Education general guidance https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/de/guide-to-managing-critical-incidents-in-schools.pdf

Critical incident A 17 year old young man took his own life at the end of the summer term What support did his school require?

Initial Response to the CI The response is based both on the type of CI and where it happened Following the suicide of the young man, the school contacted the EPS for immediate guidance and to help plan the re-establishment of normal routines. The EPS supported the school to: Gather accurate information Ensure the safety of staff and students Check in on the emotional support for the adults managing the CI Speak with the police and family Determine what information was to be shared and how (staff, students, parents, community, media)

Next steps… Next steps… General principles: Hold meetings for students and parents Arrange meetings and provide support with those staff directly involved with the incident Arrange daily briefing meeting for staff to inform and discuss intervention plans Agree referral procedures for staff and students for individual support For this CI we: Met with the Head teacher and senior staff following the phone call Supported the school to make a plan and manage the situation Helped to understand what information could/couldn’t be shared Helped school to respond sensitively to family Provided containment

“Containment is thought to occur when one person receives and understands the emotional communication of another without being overwhelmed by it, processes it and then communicates understanding and recognition back to the other person. This process can restore the capacity to think in the other person” (Douglas, 2007, p.33). It is fine to ring up and talk through a situation/ the school response without needing us to go in and 'do' anything.  Also the importance of support and containment for the person/people who are managing the incident in school - we can do this by meeting with key staff or just through a 'checking' in phone call. 

Next steps… Longer Term – 72 hours plus Attend / organise condolences, memorials, visits to families / hospitals etc. Continue to monitor staff and students for signs of stress Evaluate crisis response “Debrief” critical incident response team Review School Emergency Plan and procedures Key times of vulnerability for staff and students. E.g. Coroner’s inquest, anniversaries, exam times etc. Key times of vulnerability for staff and students in the following months/year - in this instance there was the coroner's inquest a few months afterwards which resulted in further press coverage.  Also; young person's birthday, anniversary of his death, and times when the students would be more vulnerable anyway - future exams.

Future support & training As a result of this particular CI the following actions were agreed: Link with Samaritans, Daisy’s Dream etc. Educational Psychologists available in attendance in school on the day of the exam results Educational Psychologists invited to speak to all staff on the first day of the new term Central training session offered to all staff in RBWM schools on Suicide Prevention Other examples…. As a result of a previous suicide at a different school the pupils requested support to set up a peer mentoring programme. Counselling service manager and myself trained a group of pupils

Thank you for listening