Summary
Warwick Schools Foundation consists of Warwick Preparatory School, King’s High School, Warwick Junior School, Warwick Senior School, and The Kingsley School. The purpose of the Foundation is to enable the best education in the country for girls and boys aged 3-18, with the aim of developing responsible, resilient, and compassionate individuals, equipped to succeed and bring about positive change in an evolving world.
With over 1,000 employees to support the ethos of the Foundation, staff training is of paramount importance so in January 2025, the FPA delivered an onsite Fire Safety Awareness training course at the Foundation’s premises to ensure all staff would know how to respond in the event of a fire emergency.
Challenges
In addition to the requirements set out by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Foundation has both a legal and moral obligation to ensure all persons who attend the Foundation’s schools are safe. Health and Safety Manager at Warwick Schools Foundation, Karl Rooke explained “the first challenge was to understand the basic needs for fire safety training within the school environment and amongst staff, as well as the most appropriate format in which to deliver the training – for example online, or in person either at our premises or at the training provider’s premises. Then we needed to identify the best training provider to help take our health and safety culture to the next level.”
Karl admits that the Foundation explored the option of online fire safety training but felt that it wasn’t the right delivery method given the number of staff they wanted to train and the fact they wanted to ensure the training was relevant to the context of school premises. As a result, the Foundation decided that an onsite training course customised to their needs would be most appropriate, particularly as it offered both convenience and reduced costs as all staff remained on school grounds so there was no travel expenditure.
Karl added “an onsite training course also assists with team building as it enabled us to bring together staff from different departments with a common purpose – to ensure the safety of the children, our colleagues, and parents and visitors when they come to the school. It also provides a consistent approach as staff received the same training, at the same time, and in the surroundings they are familiar with so they would be comfortable talking openly to the trainer.”
How the FPA helped
The FPA provides onsite training for a range of clients from varying industries such as construction, education, and care homes, and can tailor the course content to suit specific needs as required.
Karl said: “I already had a professional relationship with the Fire Protection Association so I understood the company’s ethos and knew of their standing in the fire safety world. They were the obvious choice when it came to choosing an efficient and cost-effective training provider to deliver onsite fire safety awareness training for our staff and I was confident they could meet our needs.
“The FPA Trainer took the time to walk around the school to understand the setup we have here and our processes so that the training could be customised to our specific environment meaning staff could relate to it, rather than an off-the-shelf e-learning training product.”
Results and future plans
As a result of the training, Warwick Schools Foundation staff feel more comfortable with their responsibilities when it comes to fire safety.
Katy Bull, Assistant Head of Boarding said: “It's the second time I've done fire warden training, and both times I’ve found it really useful, especially doing it as a team of colleagues as we can bounce questions off each other. The trainer familiarised himself with our site and our buildings and facilities so when we were learning about evacuations, he could tell us where to take students, rather than giving us generic instructions. Everyone's safety is paramount so this is really crucial for us, particularly in boarding. Obviously we are here 24/7 so we need to be confident in what we are doing when there aren’t many other people around.”
PE Teacher, Vicky Carvell added: “The training was really important for us as a Foundation and as a group of colleagues to make sure that we all know the same thing and that we're all going to handle different scenarios in the same way. We learned a lot about the different fire extinguishers for different fires and we've now got an understanding of the classification of fires to support us in our day-to-day environment.”
Speaking on future plans, Karl summarised with: “Going forward, we really do hope to continue the relationship that we've built up with the FPA, and for them to keep assisting us with our fire safety delivery. It's key that we get the fire safety message out to every single person that we possibly can.”
Kelly Donoghue, Head of Training surmises: “Onsite training for our clients is often a cost-effective solution where our qualified and experienced trainers can support organisations with fire safety training solutions. We can tailor courses to meet specific requirements as generic approaches do not always address the nuances faced by different sectors. We are delighted to work with the Foundation and look forward to continuing our relationship over the forthcoming years.”
You can find out more about onsite training opportunities with the Fire Protection Association here.