Bushfire Awareness
Bushfire Awareness at Upwey High School
Upwey High School is surrounded by magnificent eucalypts and native vegetation which house kookaburras, possums, echidna and other native wildlife. Unfortunately, this beautiful, natural environment puts us at a high level of bushfire risk.
There is a long history of bushfires in the Dandenong/Yarra Ranges which over the years have resulted in significant loss of life and property loss. Looking at bushfire data in Victoria we can see fires this century are becoming more frequent and more severe, so bushfire awareness and preparedness are essential.
Bush Fire Preparedness plan
We have an extensive bushfire preparedness plan which is reviewed and updated annually in line with Department Guidelines and Emergency Services advice. An essential aspect of this plan is preventative and includes ensuring our plantings and gardens are not going to create hazards, guttering is clear of debris and overgrowth is managed.
We are rated as a category 3 fire risk on the Department of Education risk register. This means on days deemed catastrophic in our area (Yarra Ranges Council Area in the Central Zone for the Bureau of Meteorology) Upwey High School will take pre-emptive action and will be closed.
Our prime concern on catastrophic bushfire days in the protection of human life. On these days the safest place for students and staff is with their families implementing their own fire safety plans. Families will be notified the day before via email and Daymap when this occurs. There will be no school buses on these days.
As we respond to local conditions, there may be days during the fire season when our fire weather district, Central Fire Weather District, is forecast as a Catastrophic fire danger rating, but our LGA (Yarra Ranges) is at a lower level of fire danger. On these days our school operations will continue as normal, however we will be taking action in line with fire services advice by:
- checking our Emergency Management Plan and taking any necessary preparedness actions
- actively monitor our local conditions and warnings
- having plans and procedures in place for if a fire starts to support us to take immediate action.
While our school will continue to operate, we encourage our school community to consider their own bushfire survival plan and reassess any travel through bushfire risk areas. We encourage you to follow your family bushfire survival plan and the advice of emergency services.
Shelter in Place
When students are at school, we will implement of shelter in place procedures if there is an observable bushfire or a bushfire within 2km of the school. The stadium is our designated Shelter in Place building. It has been recently updated by the Department of Education to make sure it meets all fire standards and is ember resistant. It is well equipped to support the school community for extended periods if needed. The building has toilets, water and is large enough to comfortably accommodate everyone.
Should we need to shelter in place our communication with parents will be via email, text message or Daymap. We ask that parents do not try to phone to school or arrive onsite. The focus of our staff will be on ensuring our students, staff and visitors are secure and safe. Once the Principal has received the all clear from emergency services and the Department of Education parents will be contacted via email and Daymap. We understand how terrifying a shelter in place would be for parents, however we ask that they follow all directions from the school, so they do not hamper the work of emergency services or put themselves at risk. To avoid congestion or the potential for further risk the collection point for students on dismissal will be the lower carpark accessible by Chosen Avenue.
Family Fire Safety Plans
Victoria is one of the most bushfire prone places in the world. It is important to know how you are going to plan for and respond to a fire if an emergency arises. Planning when you will go, how you will go and who you will take is a key to being able to act pre-emptively and ensure your survival. There are a range of useful resources online that can help you plan. We ask that you involve your teenagers in the planning so they are aware and can implement the plan should you not be home when danger arises. There are a lot of useful resources line to assist with this.