Yahoo News Quick actions praised after Devon school water alert
A Devon primary school has been praised by its trust for the 'calm and swift' actions staff took after an issue arose with its tap water. Starcross Primary School said a member of the kitchen team noticed on Wednesday, June 19, that its water was not running clear after lunch having previously been fine.
School leaders are said to have acted swiftly to notify South West Water (SWW) of the issue and ensured that there was hand sanitiser available around the school for hand hygiene and that children and staff had bottled water to drink for the remainder of the day.
The trust said leaders and staff followed the advice of SWW. A site visit was made by SWW early the next morning with the headteacher Tara Trail to check that water across the school site was running clear and fit for use.
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Paul Cornish, Ivy Education Trust's executive director of education, said: "The trust is very proud of the way school leaders ensured that all staff and pupils were safe and the learning was not interrupted, and all was well in such a short space of time.
"Calm and swift thinking was the order of the day. Thank you to South West Water for their support too."
The school sent an email to parents on Wednesday headed 'important information regarding water supply at school'. It informed them of the issue with its water supply, what action had been taken and assured a further update would be given.
In a second email to parents sent on the evening of Wednesday, Ms Trail shared the news that SWW had confirmed the water was safe.
In the correspondence, she said: "Just to update you on the situation with our water. We have been told by South West Water that the water is safe and we were advised to run some of the taps for an hour. I did that and the water was running clear before I left school.
"Some local homes were also affected and they received the same advice from SW Water. I will check it again first thing tomorrow and run the taps again to be sure. We have brought bottled water and will have it available in the classrooms in case it is needed. We also have hand sanitizer readily available in all classrooms and in all toilets.
"Please be reassured that we take the safety of your children and our staff very seriously. We responded as soon as we discovered the problem and sought advice from South West Water. Thank you for your continued support."
A statement issued yesterday, Thursday, June 20, by SWW stated there had not been water issues anywhere else in the area.
A SWW spokesperson said:“We were informed of discoloured water at Starcross Primary School yesterday afternoon and advised the school to run their taps until the water ran clear.
“We have fully investigated the network to confirm there are no wider issues and have confirmed with the school that their water is now clear.”
