The intrusion of a knife-wielding man onto the premises of a school in Sydney's south-west last Thursday has prompted tighter security at the school, amidst the heightened tension around Australia's current high terror alert. The school affected, Al-Faisal College, is an Islamic non-government school and, and as reported by ABC News, the incident has prompted fear amongst the school community.

Last week we wrote about what the high terror alert means for your school and this incident demonstrates the importance of every school having a:

• Critical Incident Response plan,
• Risk Management program; and
• Business Continuity Management program;

in place which are up to date, available and understood by school administrators and all staff. Although this incident is not one of an 'act of terror', entry by an intruder on school grounds is still a real risk that can disrupt a school's regular activities and threaten the safety of staff and students.

In any case, your school should be prepared for any type of disruptive event. The introduction of a sound risk management program should contemplate a wide range of possible risk events and capture and prepare for different types of disruptions.

Al-Faisal College does not follow the normal NSW school holiday program and so its students were at school at a time when most other schools were on holiday. In this case, the intruder, who had a knife, apparently asked one of the staff members he confronted 'if the college was a Muslim school'. He apparently then 'continued to make threats', according to ABC News, which reported that he also was 'verbally abusive, yelling and saying all sorts of things'.

Although the intruder's initial question about the faith of the school suggests that he did not have a pre-meditated plan to attack Al-Faisal College in particular, his presence on school grounds nonetheless caused panic amongst those who saw him, including one student who reportedly ran into a prayer hall, 'absolutely hysterical and hyperventilating', to alert staff and students to the intruder. According to the ABC News report, the school implemented lockdown procedures, which minimises access to the school and secures staff and students in rooms until being instructed that it is its safe to emerge.

As discussed in last week's article, having a lockdown procedure is an important risk control which should be part of every school's Risk Management program.

How prepared is your school to response to critical incidents? When was the last time you tested your business continuity plans?