Greenbank High School Enacts Shelter Mode in Response to Hoax Email

You may have seen a report that Greenbank High have gone into “lockdown” this afternoon due to a hoax email received to the school.

The schooldid notenact a lockdown - however it did enter a shelter state as is completely normal in circumstances like this. This is substantially different to a lockdown as, unlike in a lockdown, education continues as normal and there is minimal disruption to pupils or staff.

All parents and carers were informed of this immediately and were told in direct correspondence that this was clearly understood to be a hoax.

Please see below a statement from the Head Teacher of Greenbank High confirming this

Ms Davina Aspinall, Head Teacher at Greenbank High School said:“Like other schools in the region we received email correspondence today of a concerning nature.

“While both Merseyside Police and the Southport Learning Trust believe this correspondence to be a hoax, absolutely no risks were taken and we immediately enacted our shelter mode policy.

“During shelter mode all education continues as normal with added security measures including the locking of all internal doors and windows. Any pupils taking lessons outside were brought indoors as a precaution.

“We immediately contacted parents and carers to alert them to this matter and have maintained communication with them throughout the afternoon.

“The swift support from both Merseyside Police and our dedicated Safer Schools Officer has been fantastic and we would like to place on record our thanks to them.

“Thanks must also go to our staff and pupils for their calm and measured behaviour during this incident and we are incredibly proud of their response, We look forward to welcoming pupils and staff back to school on Monday to resume education as normal.”