A critical incident review lets your school’s emergency response team talk about:

• how the school managed postvention
• their perceptions of the school culture:
  • at the time of the student’s death
  • as it is now.

The team will need to collect relevant information from all staff.

It might help to use a facilitator for the review.

Use the discussion topics to reflect on your critical incident review.

Example questions for the review

• What worked well?
• What could we improve?
• How could we have done it differently?

Think about using these questions in an anonymous staff survey

One way to collect staff opinions is a written or online survey. Make sure staff can complete it anonymously if they prefer.

Collate the responses. Keep the names and roles confidential.

Purpose of the review

The review makes sure there is time for ideas for improved emergency responses or school practices. It means these ideas can be:

• shared
• thought about
• included in school policy and planning.

It is also an opportunity for you to acknowledge the:

• commitment and efforts of your school’s emergency response team
• impact of their work
• lessons learnt.

Information needed

Before the review collect:

• data from the staff survey
• a summary of documented actions so far
• a reflection journal
• any other feedback received.

What makes an effective review

Reviews are most effective when all participants:

• have had time to think about and reflect on the above material
• have organised their thoughts ahead of time
• can share their main thoughts without being interrupted
• know their ideas will not be debated in the review
• believe the review will refine and improve school processes
• feel the school community’s achievements will be acknowledged.

Let people read from prepared notes if they want.

Record what was shared

You should record and collate all contributions. Use these to determine:

• agreed actions
• people responsible
• how to communicate the outcomes of the review with the school community.