Fire Drill

The Fire Drill occurs twice a year; one time it is announced in advance to all students, the other time is a "secret" which only the staff know about. However, it always occurs ten minutes into a lesson, and a tell-tale sign is the fact the teacher will ramble on about something irrelevant for far longer than usual to bide time.

Once the fire alarm sounds, students proceed to the Astroturf where registers are taken and people are shouted at through an ineffective megaphone. The previous procedure was that years 7-11 lined up on the courts, in close proximity to the potentially burning building.

It is rare that the fire alarm is set off by a real fire. One occasion involved someone burning down Room 7 in 1998 after a rather vigorous thermite reaction. Another occurred when a heater in the Food Technology room starting smoking a bit. Both resulted in 137 fire engines appearing within six minutes, in accordance with government overreaction policy.

On other, more recent occasions, the fire alarm has been set off by a student leaning against one, students being pushed against the one by the Canteen entrance, a chair being thrown into one, someone soldering plastic in an electronics lesson and the kettle in the Staffroom boiling underneath a smoke detector. 08's have been criticised with setting off fire alarms and informing Year 7's of myths regarding Fire Drills. This year group is also known as the most melo-dramatic but truthfully calm (yet annoyed) during fire drills.

In 2009, a fire drill was held on the second or third day of term, at lunch time, which led to many Year 10s running around screaming "We're all going to die!!!" and consequently startling many Year 7s who were wondering if it was the end of the world.