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Business Continuity Plan

1

Lessness Heath Primary School

Written: July 2018

Review date: July 2020

To be reviewed: Biennially

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Contents

Introduction: Purpose & Scope of this document

Section 1: Incident Management

Section 2: Threat Response Plans

Section 3: Key contact information

Section 4: Key documents

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Business Continuity Management

Introduction: Purpose & Scope of this document

The purpose of this document is to assist Lessness Heath Primary School to define an incident

response structure that would be required in the event of an incident occurring at the school.

In doing so it outlines the key roles and responsibilities in responding to and recovering from

an incident.

The Business Continuity Standard BS 25999 states:

“In any incident situation there should be a simple and quickly-formed structure that will

enable the organisation to:

Confirm the nature and extent of the incident

Take control of the situation

Contain the incident, and

Communicate with stakeholders”

This plan is not intended to be a prescriptive list of actions to take to manage an incident and

as such is divided into the following sections:

Section 1: Incident Management

This is an overarching plan template which includes information that would be required by the school in its response to any type of incident. Key sections include:

The Incident Management Structure e.g. key people responsible for overseeing the co-ordination of a response and where they would meet

The process for escalating an incident and for invoking the Plan

A checklist of actions for senior managers

An incident assessment form template

An incident log template.

Section 2: Threat Response Plans

This section includes checklists of actions required for responding to the following key threats:

1. Loss of the site – page 12 2. A significant incident on or off site – page 15 3. Loss of IT / loss of telephones - page 17 4. Significant loss of staff - page 21 5. Health Incident - page 23 In doing so these plans are designed to be easily accessible and provide a framework for a co-ordinated / consistent response to the most commonly experienced types of incident.

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As well as including a checklist of response actions these plans also include information on plan owners and deputy owners, potential triggers, which critical activities would be affected and mitigation actions in place to reduce the likelihood of the incidents occurring or the impact should they occur.

Section 3: Key contact information

This section includes contact details for all relevant staff. In doing so it includes a public section with work landline and mobile numbers and a confidential section with home and private phone numbers.

This section also includes contact information for third parties who may need to be contacted quickly in the event of an incident occurring.

Section 4: Key documents

This section includes information on key documents that may need to be accessed / salvaged in the event of an incident occurring and also the location of these documents e.g. Business Continuity Plan, personnel information, contract and supplier documents, key financial and legal documents etc.

It may also be relevant to attach copies of documents that may need to be accessed quickly with the Plan e.g. communications strategy, site drawings and building plans etc.

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Review and Change Control

Please detail all reviews made even if document is not amended. All members of the

Incident Management team should receive the latest version of this document when it

is updated.

Version By Date Comments

Test Record

Date Description of Test Exercise Parties Involved in Test

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Section 1: Incident Management

Incident Management Team structure

The Incident Management Team is made up of the Head Teacher (and Senior Management

Team), School Business Manager, Premises Manager and IT Co-ordinator. The team needs to

form and react as soon as possible to the incident. On forming, those present can take

decisions to apply appropriate resources to deal with an event as it occurs (ideally to prevent

it becoming a crisis).

The key roles of the Incident Management Team are to:

Provide strategic direction, especially at a local level

Hold ultimate responsibility

Represent the public face of the School

Assume responsibility for co-ordinating incident management Provide direction / support as required to staff and students and outside agencies

to effectively manage the incident at an operational level.

The table below shows the members of the Incident Management Team.

Name Role Deputy

K. O’Connor Head Teacher

L. Shields Deputy Head Teacher

D. Cox Premises Manager

EiS IT Co-Ordinator

Incident Management Team Meeting Room

First Choice Second Choice (offsite option)

Nominated Meeting Rooms

Head Teachers Office / IT Suite

Trinity Church of England School

Capacity 20 20

Computer Equipment Held in Room

1 / 18 1/20

ICT Network Points in Room

1 / 18 2/20

Other Specialist Equipment Held if Necessary (e.g. TV, radio, internet, fax)

All All

Status of Meeting Room (Red, Amber or Green)

Green Green

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Incident escalation and invocation of the Business Continuity Plan

Incident escalation process

It is vital that the school has a clear and simple method by which it can quickly recognise a business continuity threat and act accordingly. It is better to over-react to serious incidents and then stand down members of staff than to under-react.

The agreed escalation and invocation framework to be adopted and understood by all is set out below.

Diagram 1 – Escalation and Invocation

The Headteacher has the authority to compel all members of the SMT and other managers as relevant to meet as soon as is reasonable as the Incident Management Team to discuss an incident, or the threat of an incident, which could force the Business Continuity Plan to be invoked.

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Headteacher takes decision to

invoke BCP / informs SMT

Example actions for the Incident Management Team

No

Action Completed

Yes / No

1.

Determine nature of incident and extent of impact on the School (see Appendix A – Incident Assessment Form: p9).

2.

Ensure priorities have been identified.

3.

Identify which Threat Response Plan is to be invoked.

4.

Decision taken to invoke Business Continuity Plan.

5.

Decide on location of meeting room.

Call up other members of Incident Management Team as relevant and get them to come to the meeting room.

6

Open an incident log (see Appendix B: p11) to record key actions and decisions taken.

7.

Consider implementation of Communications Plan (internal and external).

8.

Agree a time for next meeting and follow on meetings and briefing and reporting into incident log.

Agree monitoring process for plan implementation and frequency of reports to Headteacher.

9.

Consider the plan for recovery – (focussed on Mission Critical Activities and non- critical activities).

10.

On conclusion of incident stand down Team and instigate the lessons learnt review.

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Appendix A – Incident Assessment Form The Mission Critical Activities (MCAs) listed below support the School’s aim of providing a safe secure environment in which pupils can achieve, preparing them

for the opportunity and responsibility of adult life and citizenship. This matrix is to be used by the Incident Management Team for completing an initial assessment

of which MCAs have been impacted and the likely duration of the impact.

Pri

ori

ty

Ord

er

Mission Critical

Activity (MCAs)

MCA Accountability

Description of impact

Impact over time on the School (1=Insignificant; 5 = Extreme)

4

Hrs

24

Hrs

24 –

48

Hrs

1 W

eek

s

2 W

eek

s

1 m

on

th

1

Assessment leading to certification of students (at exam time)

Adverse impact on students

Staff and students frustrated / criticism of the school

Reputation undermined – potential future pupils go elsewhere

5

5

5

5

5

5

2

Site security management (Including health & hygiene)

Unable to manage site, utilities etc. effectively

Risk to safety of staff and students

Potential litigation

Impact on reputation

3

5

5

5

5

5

3

Communication with key stakeholders

Unable to receive calls and communicate effectively

Misinformation spreads Impact on reputation

2

4

5

5

5

5

4

ICT (including: Telecoms / Email / MIS)

No (or restricted) access to teaching materials

Staff / students unable to work online or use online resources

Potential impact on performance of staff and pupils

1

3

5

5

5

5

10

5

Financial management

Impact on ability to manage finances

Impact on day to day operations and ability to do longer term planning

Potential long term financial implications

1

4

5

5

5

5

6

Provision of teaching facilities e.g. classrooms, school hall, canteen

Unable to provide key facilities

Impact on quality of teaching

Potential impact on results and attainment

Impact on reputation

1

3

3

4

5

5

7

Payroll (off site) at critical point in the month

Unable to pay staff

Criticism from staff

Loss of goodwill in responding to the incident Impact on reputation

1

1

2

2

5

5

8

Leadership team Lack of clear direction

Ineffective incident response

Incident escalates / takes longer to recover Reputation undermined

1 1 1 1 1 1

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Appendix B – Incident Log

Entry No.

Date Time Description of action taken / decision made Costs incurred

Completed by

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Section 2: Threat Response Plans 1. Loss of Site Plan Owner

Owner: Headteacher Deputy Owner / Plan Maintainer: Deputy

The key person who should have confidence in the plan Should also have confidence in the plan, although is perhaps less senior. Responsible for maintenance of the plan.

Risk Description

Risk

Potential Triggers of the Risk Risk width

(i.e. critical activities that will be affected )

Current Mitigation

Loss of site Fire, explosion, terrorism, adverse weather, power cut / utilities failure, incident in local area affecting access to the site, flooding, transportation incident shutting down the area, arson / sabotage, mass health incident

All activities Fire risk assessments

Health and safety policy and reviews

Regular checks of fire alarms / security alarms / extinguishers

Fire drills

Electricity check

Gas appliances checked

Monthly check on emergency lighting

Maintenance contracts in place

Staff training e.g. how to mitigate fire risks

Ward - Security contract (alarm call included)

Zurich/PortaKabin Disaster Plan **

**Work underway

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Response Plan

No

Action

Responsible

Tick when complete

Actions required in the event of the incident occurring out of hours.

1 Fire alarm / security alarm system triggered – alarm receiving centre would then contact the on- call Premises Manager

Premises Manager

2 On-call Premises Manager would contact emergency services if necessary. Premises Manager

3 On-call Premises Manager to make judgement as to whether Headteacher / Deputy need to be contacted.

Premises Manager

4 Depending on severity of incident, decision made whether Incident Management Team need to attend site.

Premises Manager

5 If necessary Headteacher to co-ordinate meeting to agree strategy with appropriate personnel, including:

longer term alternative accommodation if required

decision made as to whether to send pupils home or use emergency accommodation consider Zurich/PortaKabin Disaster Plan

SLT

6 SLT to notify all building users including staff and pupils (Teachers2Parents/Website) to say school will be closed. Update website (if accessible).

SLT

7 Allocated staff to stand at the gates and inform pupils and other staff of the situation and where they can get updates from – this will include either sending pupils home or directing them to alternative accommodation.

SLT

8 Headteacher to deal with relevant media enquiries. HT

9 Headteacher / Deputy to inform Chairman of Governors about incident and decisions taken. SLT

10 Contact insurers. SBM

11 Premises Manager to provide regular updates to the Incident Management Team on ongoing basis as appropriate.

PM

Actions required in the event of the incident occurring in hours

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1 Alarm triggers evacuation (in line with fire drill / evacuation procedure). PM

2 Premises Manager/School Business Manager to contact and liaise with emergency services. PM/SBM

3 Members of Incident Management Team to liaise with Premises Manager to identify nature and extent of incident.

SLT

4 If necessary Headteacher / Deputy Headteacher to co-ordinate meeting to agree strategy with appropriate personnel.

SLT

5 Notification to all building users to say school will be closed. Update website/Teachers2Parents (if accessible).

SLT

6 Decision made as to whether to send pupils home or use emergency accommodation. Consider Zurich/PortaKabin Disaster Plan.

SLT

7 Headteacher to deal with relevant media enquiries. SLT

8 Headteacher / Deputy Headteacher to inform Chair of Governors about incident and decisions taken

SLT

9 Contact insurers SBM

10 Premises Manager to provide regular updates to the Incident Management Team on ongoing basis as appropriate

PM

11 SLT to consider impact on neighbouring properties and inform them accordingly. SLT

12 Consider longer term alternative accommodation if required SLT

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2. Significant Incident on or off site Plan Owner

Owner: Headteacher Deputy Owner / Plan Maintainer: Deputy Headteacher

The key person who should have confidence in the plan. Should also have confidence in the plan, although is perhaps less senior. Responsible for maintenance of the plan.

Risk Description

Risk

Potential Triggers of the Risk

Risk width (i.e. critical activities that will

be affected )

Current Mitigation

Significant incident on or off site.

Bus crash, stabbing or fatal incident, incident on a School trip, terrorism incident, violent intruder.

All activities Regular liaison with the police

Internal CCTV (back up on own server)

School Visits policy

Risk assessments

Sufficient staff with emergency first aid training

Staff trained in Child Protection

Fire Marshalls

Proactive staff

Gate closure procedure during school day

16

Response Plan

No

Action

Responsible

Tick when complete

Actions required in the event a significant incident occurring (including visits)

1 Headteacher / nominated emergency contact (if not available then other member of SLT) informed of all significant incidents in person / by phone / via email.

SLT

2 SLT to have emergency meeting if possible and agree relevant strategy. SLT

3 SLT to liaise with emergency services or relevant authorities and assess impact of incident. SLT

4 SLT make decision as to whether appropriate to attend site of incident and who should attend.

SLT

5 Communicate agreed message with staff and pupils (reminder to staff on no account to talk to the media).

SLT

6 Headteacher / Deputy Headteacher to consult with Governors and deal with media enquiries and produce a press statement where necessary.

SLT

7 Arrange counselling as appropriate. SLT

8 Contact insurers for support as required. SBM

9 Liaise with local police, social services, governors or other agencies if relevant, particularly around parent contact.

SLT

10 Ongoing communication with staff, pupils and parents. SLT

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3. Loss of IT / loss of telephones Plan Owner

Owner: Headteacher Deputy Owner / Plan Maintainer: IT Director

The key person who should have confidence in the plan. Should also have confidence in the plan, although is perhaps less senior. Responsible for maintenance of the plan.

Risk Description

Risk

Potential Triggers of the Risk

Risk width (i.e. critical activities that

will be affected )

Current Mitigation

Loss of IT Server Room or contents

Fire, flood or event rendering Server Room unusable or inaccessible

All Limited alternative hardware via ATS Limited

Remote access for Server Administrators

Backups to remote NAS and carried off-site daily

Externally hosted Exchange and Web servers

Loss of external internet access

Virus, cyber attack, sabotage, theft, cable damage on or off site, commercial or technical failure of ISP or BT.

Email, web-based services (except school’s main web site)

Diverse routing with new Virgin fibre laid

Out-of-reach cable routes

Firewall and AV software

18

On-site equipment failure

Hardware failure, loss of power or cooling.

All Supplier warranties and maintenance contracts for IT strategic assets

Air Conditioning maintenance contract

Uninterruptible Power supplies – 30 minute graceful shutdown

Transfer of Roles between Virtual Servers

Data backup and recovery disciplines

Externally hosted Exchange and Web servers

Qualified technicians on site 0700-1700 daily in term time, 0800-1500 during holiday periods

Server Administrators have remote access Out of hours monitoring/alerts

Loss of wired telephone service

Sabotage, theft, fire, flood, failure of PABX or cabling on- site, off-site cable fault, commercial or technical failure of BT, action of third party

Admin, safety, parental contact

Telephone system maintenance contract

Local contractors able to effect emergency cable repairs

Fall-back analogue lines

Key staff have mobile phones

Outbound communication by externally hosted website, OpenCheck, mobile services, Teachers2Parents

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Response Plan

Critical systems for the School:

Finance

Management Information System (attendance etc…)

Staff and Pupil Resources

Managed Learning Environment

Internet

Email

Access control

Remote access

General applications

Human Resource systems

Actions required in the event of a loss of IT service Actions required

No

Action

Responsible

Tick when complete

1 IT Co-Ordinator to be notified – verbally of incident / or identifies a problem through system alerts.

All

2 IT Co-Ordinator undertakes local assessment of incident and options for recovery. IT Co-ordinator

3 IT Co-ordinator communicates with SLT via phone or email if available – scope of problem and how long the system will be down / anticipated recovery time.

IT Co-ordinator

4 Other staff would be informed via telephone, email, on-site voice announcement, SMS text as available or appropriate. Reception staff to relay messages as required.

Administration Team

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5 Admin Manager to ensure key staff hold encrypted flash drive storing key contact details of all staff taken from MIS and updated at regular intervals.

Admin Manager

6 IT Co-ordinator to liaise as appropriate with Headteacher / Deputy Headteacher depending on severity of incident.

IT Co-ordinator

7 Implement other manual procedures as required. ATS Limited

Actions required in the event of a loss of telephones

1 Notify Admin team. SBM

2 Admin team would then notify staff by putting message on intranet/website. SBM

3 Admin team to contact BT if necessary for support with resolving the problem. SBM

4 If phones down for more than half a day then review analogue lines available for emergency use and involve BT in diverting incoming/outgoing calls as necessary.

SBM

5 If website available – information to be put on this to notify all stakeholders of the situation. HT, DHT, AHT, SBM

6 Headteacher to assess situation if all lines of communication are down and determine best course of action.

HT

7 IT Co-ordinator to undertake regular review of situation and communicate this to the Headteacher who would then update other staff if necessary.

IT Co-ordinator/HT

4. Significant loss of Staff Plan Owner

21

Owner: Headteacher Deputy Owner / Plan Maintainer: Deputy Headteacher

The key person who should have confidence in the plan. Should also have confidence in the plan, although is perhaps less senior. Responsible for maintenance of the plan.

Risk Description

Risk

Potential Triggers of the Risk

Risk width (i.e. critical activities that will

be affected )

Current Mitigation

Significant loss of key staff Flu pandemic, significant illness, strike, weather, transport problems.

All activities Agency arrangements / temporary staff – HR processes (Randstad: 02074006022) (Protocol: 02084618900) (Engage: 03338007800) (Tempest: 07960505956) (Capita: 02072020010)

Early detection of possible severe weather / transport problems

Remote access

SLT phone network

Opencheck system

Proactive SLT and capacity to intervene

22

Response Plan

No

Action

Responsible

Tick when complete

Cover in place for key staff:

E.g. Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, SLT, Teaching / Support Staff, Directors, IT Staff, Premises Manager etc…

Actions required in the event of a significant loss of key staff

1 Staff contact absence line to say can’t get in / not coming in – information gathered by Admin team Admin team

2 Deputy Headteacher to define minimum staffing requirements and decide on cover needs / groupings / timetable and would liaise with Headteacher

DHT

3 If appropriate contact agency staff with staffing requirements – book if meet minimum requirements DH/Admin team

4 If minimum requirements can’t be met Deputy Headteacher to liaise with Headteacher to decide on necessary action

DHT/HT

5 Headteacher to advise Chair of Governors HT

6 If necessary identify if alternative teaching provision can be provided in the longer term SLT

7 Implement communications strategy to inform all staff, parents and pupils of any changes in arrangements

SLT

8 IT contingency plan put in place EiS

23

5. Health Incident Plan Owner

Owner: Headteacher Deputy Owner / Plan Maintainer: Deputy Headteacher

The key person who should have confidence in the plan. Should also have confidence in the plan, although is perhaps less senior. Responsible for maintenance of the plan.

Risk Description

Risk

Potential Triggers of the Risk

Risk width

(i.e. critical activities that will be affected )

Current Mitigation

Health incident Legionella, meningitis, TB, other virus, food poisoning

All student activities Regular legionella check

First aid policy

Environmental health check on catering

Absence monitoring

Poster / information to SLT and all relevant staff – recognising the signs and what to do

Liaison with local health authority

24

Response Plan

No

Action

Responsible

Completed By

Actions required in the event of a health incident occurring

1 Headteacher / Deputy Headteacher informed of all significant health incidents in person / by phone / via email

HT/DHT

2 SLT to have emergency meeting (including identifying vulnerable staff and students) SLT

3 SLT to liaise with emergency services or relevant authorities and assess impact of the health incident

Includes reporting of incidents to relevant authorities e.g. RIDDOR

SLT

4 SLT to determine appropriate strategy in liaison with relevant health authorities SLT

5 Communicate agreed message with staff, parents and pupils SLT

6 Headteacher to deal with media enquiries and produce a press statement where necessary HT

7 Reminder to staff on procedure for dealing with enquiries e.g. from the media and parents HT

8 Monitor situation and review options e.g. School closure HT

9 Ongoing communication with staff, parents and pupils HT / SLT

Section 3: Key contact information

Public Section Name and Role Mobile No. Work No. Email

Head Teacher

Deputy Head Teacher

Assistant Head Teacher

Premises Manager

School Business Manager

CONFIDENTIAL Section Name and Role Mobile No. Work No. Email

Head Teacher

Deputy Headteacher

Assistant Head Teacher

Premises Manager

School Business Manager

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External Communication

Organisation Contact Name & Address

Title Contact Telephone

Number(s)

Key External Stakeholders

Local Media

News Shopper

Editor

01689 836211

Key Contractors: Catering

Pabulum

Area Manager Angela Clark

07884588764

01252819991

Key Contractors:

1. Optyma 2. RGE Services

1. 02083048635

2. 02085598686

Key Contractors: Electricity / Gas

Npower - Gas Kent County Laser - Electricity

0800111999

08000280247

Council

Bexley Council Civic Offices

2 Watling Street Bexleyheath DA6

7AT

Director of Education

02083037777

Primary First Trust The White House

Clifton Marine Parade Gravesend

Kent DA11 0DY

Justin Smith

01474565903

Insurance RPA Insurance

01132462040

Taxi Firm

Threes and Fours 24 hour taxi

services

01322333444

Emergency Services

Fire Brigade

Bexley Fire Station 172 Erith Road DA7 6BY

Borough Commander

02085551200

Ext: 32601

Local Police Bexleyheath Police

Station 2 Arnsberg Way DA7 4QS

Duty Officer 101 Routine

999 Emergency

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Section 4: Key documents

Document or File Name

Location

Format

Document Owner

Business Continuity Plan

Head Teacher’s office / School

office – Lessness Heath Primary

Hard copy files in filing cabinet

K O’Connor Headteacher

Key contract documents

SBM’s office Hard copy files in

filing cabinet

K O’Connor Headteacher

Personnel information

School Office

Hard copy files locked in filing

cabinet

Office Manager

Site drawings

Premises Manager’s office

Hard copy files locked in filing

cabinet

K O’Connor Headteacher

Building deeds

London Borough of Bexley

Hard copy files

London Borough of Bexley

IT Network

EiS

EiS

Key legal and financial documents

London Borough of Bexley

Hard copy files locked in filing

cabinet

London Borough of Bexley

Signed:………………………………............. K’OConnor, Head Teacher Date:……………………

Signed:………………………………………... Linda Thomas, Chair of Governors Date:…………………….