!Emergency Information for Beaconhills Families

Beaconhills has a Critical Incident Team (CIT) whose role is to coordinate actions in the case of any emergency including fires. The Team will meet and coordinate any emergency procedures, take advice from relevant authorities and take appropriate action to ensure the safety and well being of the students in our care. The College will monitor appropriate websites for up to date information, liaise with authorities where necessary, and communicate to parents via the College website. As a matter of priority, please continue to monitor the College website in cases of emergency, including bushfire, since the authorities have listed outer eastern communities including Cockatoo, Dandenong Ranges, Gembrook and Upper Beaconsfield as areas at risk in the case of a bushfire.

Parents are encouraged to put in place appropriate fire safety plans for home and family.

College plans for bushfire emergency

Since the new guidelines for fire danger have been announced, the college will take the following precautions:

In the event of a weather alert of Code Red (catastrophic), schools will receive up to three days notice, where possible, that buses will not travel. This decision will be confirmed by noon the day before the planned cessation of bus services and this decision will not alter regardless of changes in the weather forecast. Those responsible for bus services will make the decisions regarding cancellation of services and Beaconhills will cooperate fully with the authorities.

If circumstances arise where a bus has left the College grounds and encounters conditions which make it dangerous to proceed, the driver will keep all students on the bus and return to the assembly area at the College where parents are required to collect students, sign and advise the destination on leaving the College grounds. Only students related to that parent or authorised person will be permitted to leave the assembly area. These measures have been introduced by the authorities after assessing incidents in previous years. Beaconhills will cooperate fully with these implementations.

Information regarding bus routes and cancellations can be accessed via:

Beaconhills College will continue to operate all campuses under these conditions enabling parents to deliver students to the school in private vehicles. Should conditions become such that students are unable to be collected at the end of the school day, then responsible staff members will move the children to an assembly area at the college. For the Valley Campus, students will be held in the Human Movement Centre, Toomuc Valley Road, and at Village, the Performing Arts Auditorium, Kangan Drive. Children at the Little Beacons Learning Centre will remain in the Centre with their leaders. Students will be contained in these areas until collected by a parent.

Additional emergency information

A number of organisations have websites to access updates and information regarding weather conditions, bushfire information, fire readiness and other important information:

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