Last updated: April 2026

Review date: April 2027

Introduction

At Paint Pots nursery we understand the need to plan for all eventualities to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all the children we care for. With this in mind we have a critical incident and emergency planning policy in place to ensure our nurseries are able to operate effectively in the case of any critical incident.

In the event that an incident causes long term disruption to our services and/or provision, we will endeavour to relocate the children and staff to nearby Paint Pots settings to ensure continuity of care.

Definition of a Critical Incident.

A critical incident can be described as events or circumstances that cause normally stable and healthy people to experience unusually strong emotional or psychological distress which has the potential to interfere with their ability to function either at the time or later.

A critical incident may include:

• Flood
• Fire
• Burglary/Vandalism
• Abduction or threatened abduction of a child
• Bomb threat/terrorism attack
• Extreme Weather
• Loss of power or communication
• Loss of water
• Road Traffic Accident
• Open Days, events (ie nativities/leaving ceremonies)
• Food Poisoning
• Death of a child due to an accident, serious illness, or murder