KENT Police has taken key steps to improve the way it deals with reports of serious incidents at schools.

The move follows a force inquiry into how police responded to four phone calls about an intruder at St Stephen’s Junior School in Canterbury last September.

No one was hurt in the incident but the Chief Constable Mike Fuller ordered an immediate investigation and review of policy because a patrol did not attend after the school called police.

The inquiry recommended the force introduce new measures to improve the police response to calls from schools.

As a result a new agreement has been drawn up and signed by Kent Police, Kent County Council and Medway Council that builds on a protocol that was quickly put in place after the incident at St Stephen’s to deal with serious or immediate threats at schools.

The agreement is designed to keep pupils and staff safe while ensuring police respond to calls for help appropriately.

It sets a formal framework for the actions and responsibilities for both Kent Police and schools when dealing with incidents.

It also defines what the police need to know from school staff so officers can respond correctly. It also gives information on what schools can expect from police.

Kent Police has also implemented:

Changes in the way calls are dealt with at the Force Communication Centre at police headquarters. Procedures for dealing with calls from schools and how they are processed have been clarified, as have the criteria for providing a police response.

In addition, written words of advice have been issued to six police staff who were working at the Force Communication Centre when the calls were made by staff at St Stephen’s Junior on 27 September.

Assistant Chief Constable Adrian Leppard said: "Kent Police has learned lessons from this. The Chief Constable ordered an inquiry and a review of our methods because we take these matters very seriously and all incidents at schools should be treated as such.

"As a result of the investigation we have reviewed procedures and we’ve put measures in place to improve our service.

"Kent Police deals with more than 850,000 calls each year and the majority are dealt with to a very high standard. We should have responded to the calls from St Stephen’s. We didn’t and that was not acceptable.

"We want people to be confident in Kent Police, which is why we’ve taken steps to build on the procedures we already have.

"We’ve also taken the opportunity to forge a new agreement with Kent County Council and Medway Council and this formalises and expands on the protocol we use for dealing with calls from schools – it also clearly sets out what schools can expect from the police."