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Updated as at 1st Feb 2013

THE LIGHTNING WARNING SYSTEM

Standard Operating Procedure

ST. ANTHONY’S PRIMARY SCHOOL

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ST. ANTHONY’S PRIMARY SCHOOL THE LIGHTNING WARNING SYSTEM

Contents Page 1) Introduction 3 2) Lightning Warning System 3 3) Objective 3 4) School LWS Structure 4 5) The School LWS Administrator 5 6) The School LWS Users 5 - 6 7) Teachers in charge of outdoor activities 7 8) Conclusion 7 9) Annex A - Lightning Warning Zones 8 10) Annex A2 - 37 Lightning Warning Zones 9 11) Annex B - Places of Interest & their Zone Names 10 - 11

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ST. ANTHONY’S PRIMARY SCHOOL STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

THE LIGHTNING WARNING SYSTEM INTRODUCTION 1 Singapore has one of the highest rate of lightning activity in the world. It has an average of 171 thunderstorm days per year. Being close to the Equator, Singapore’s climate is hot and humid all year round and the conditions are generally favourable for the development of thunderstorm with lightning. In thunderstorm days, lightning may strike and cause death, brain damage and severe burns to the victims. 2 NO PLACE OUTSIDE THE BUILDING IS SAFE FROM LIGHTNING. In thunderstorm days, the best protection against lightning is to avoid exposure to lightning and remain indoors when a thunderstorm occurs. 3 For the safety of the staff and pupils, MOE collaborates with NEA Meteorological Services Division and introduces the school Lightning Warning System (LWS) to all schools in April 2007. In the Lightning Warning System, appointed school staff will receive the Lightning Risk Alert warning messages through SMS and alert those who are having outdoor activities to cancel the activities or to change the activity to an indoor programme. LIGHTNING WARNING SYSTEM 4 Lightning Warning system works on 3 levels, i.e.

Level 1 – System Administrator from Meteorological Service Division; Level 2 – one School Administrator for each school; Level 3 – two users from each school.

5 Meteorological Service Division divides Singapore into 37 zones (Annex A). Lightning Warning System will capture the weather information from satellite images and send the message to the users through the SMS Gateway automatically. Any user requesting for the Lightning Risk Alert message for any zone during any time-slot will be able to receive the SMS on LRA message automatically if lightning is expected at the particular zone during the particular time-slots.

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OBJECTIVE 6 The objective of this Standard Operational Procedure is to lay down the steps for the school staff to optimise the use of the Lightning Warning System and to ensure its operational effectiveness. SCHOOL LWS STRUCTURE 7 To minimise the frequency of changing the users and their handphone numbers on line, St. Anthony’s Primary School implemented the system with the following structure:

8 Operations Manager will act as the school LWS administrator. In consultation with the school leaders, he is responsible for submitting the particulars of two school staff for registration as school LWS Users.

9 The two LWS users will be the SH PE/CCA & Aesthetics and PE Co-ordinator. Their duties are as follows:

a) Although all two users are able to receive the SMS on LRA (Lightning Risk

Alert) message within the school zone, Teacher in charge of carrying out activities within school compound, upon seeing the flashing of the strobe light, is required to cancel or postpone the activity.

b) SH PE/CCA is in charge of CCA outdoor activity in other zones. Teacher in

charge of any CCA activity is to inform SH PE of the activity one working day in advance for him to submit the request. During the time of activity, if SMS on LRA message within that particular area is received, it will be his duty to contact the teacher in charge to cancel or postpone the activity;

School LWS Administrator Operations Manager

ALRAS

(System is installed @ level

3, St. Gregory’s Block)

SH PE/CCA &

Aesthetics

Simon Lee Kee Khiang

PE Co-ordinator

Christopher Sagaram

School Premises Outdoor

Activity co-ordinator

CCA (outside school)

Activity co-ordinator

Non-CCA (outside school)

Activity co-ordinator

School LWS Advisers School Leaders

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c) PE Co-ordinator is in charge of non-CCA outings in other zones. Teacher in charge of the outings is to inform him of the activity one working day in advance for him to submit the request. During the time of outing, if SMS on LRA message within that particular area is received, it will be his duty to contact the teacher concerned to cancel or postpone the activity.

THE SCHOOL LWS ADMINISTRATOR

9 The duty of the school LWS administrator is to log on to the website www.weather.gov.sg/lws with the school ID and password to set the default, to add or to cancel any user’s particulars. The steps are as follows:

Login ID 5259 (School code)

Passcode ? (Password)

11 To add or change the particulars of the users, school administrator may click under “Handphone Management” and key in the particulars of the appointed users:

Name ? (User’s name)

Handphone No. ? (His handphone no.)

Passcode ? Assign individual user with a password, e.g. Saps1, Saps2, etc Confirmed Passcode ?

12 He may also click the “Default Configuration” to set the default time for appointed users to receive LRA SMS within the school zone during school opening hours:

Start time 0630 Preferably school opening time

End time 1830 Preferably after last session

Name ? (Name of the individual user)

Handphone No. ? (Handphone no of the user)

THE SCHOOL LWS USERS 13 As soon as the school administrator registers the appointed persons as LWS users, the users will receive an SMS which reads as “School Admin has registered you as Lightning Risk Alert subscriber. Your web access code is xxxxxxxxx. The users may then log in to the website www.weather.gov.sg/lws anytime with his handphone no. and the given password:

Login ID ? Handphone no.

Passcode ? (Password)

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Weekday setting 14 In the web page, user will be able to see the default time setting within the school zone. However, if he wishes to set his own default time for himself to receive LRA SMS within the school zone on weekdays, he may do so under the heading “Weekday Setting” as follows:

Start time ? Preferably school opening time

End time ? Preferably after last session

Set ? (Click to confirm)

Specific Day Setting 15 Teachers are expected to inform the SH PE users of any outdoor activity to be conducted outside the school zone. On receipt of such information, the SH PE user will have to log in the LRA webpage to submit the request for LRA SMS for the specific zone at the specific date and time under the heading “Specific Day Setting” as follows:

Start Date ? (Click to select the date of activity)

End Date ? (Click to select the last day of activity)

Start Time ? (Click to select the staring time)

End Time ? (Click to select the ending time)

Zone ? (Click to select the area of activity)

Place of Interest ? (Click to select the place of interest)

ADD ? (Click to “add” the request)

Making Request through SMS 16 The SH PE user may also SMS to 77877 to add, delete or check any LRA (Lightning Risk Alert) request, however, he is expected to key in the correct zone names for the request (Annex B). The commands for the requests are as follows:

REQUEST SMS COMMAND TO 77877 (∆ = Space)

Add Zone/Time

LRA ∆ ADD ∆ (Zone name) ∆ DDMMYY ∆ HHMM-HHMM, e.g. LRA ADD SENTOSA 300407 1300-1700 The returned message will be “LRA activated”

Delete Zone

LRA ∆ DEL ∆ (Zone name) ∆ (DDMMYY), e.g. LRA DEL CLEMENTI 300407 The returned message will be “LRA deleted”

Check Zone

LRA ∆ CHKZONE ∆ (Zone name) ∆(DDMMYY), e.g. LRA CHKZONE BUKIT TIMAH 300407 The returned message will be LRA ∆ zone name ∆ date ∆ time

17 If the LRA user wishes to make a LRA request through SMS and forgets the command, he may key in LRA_HELP and SMS to 77877. The reply will probe him to select from one of the three commands, the message will be read as:

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LRA SYNTAX ADD, LRA SYNTAX DEL, LRA SYNTAX CHKZONE

18 After receiving the SMS, the user may key in one of the commands and send SMS to 77877 if he wishes to know the full command further, he will be able to receive the full command in seconds, e.g. if he sends in LRA SYNTAX ADD, the returned message will be LRA ADD (Zone Name) DDMMYY HHMM-HHMM TEACHERS IN CHARGE OF OUTDOOR ACTIIVITIES 19 The roles and responsibilities of the teachers in charge of any outdoor activities are as follows:

a) For CCA outdoor activity outside school zone, teacher in charge of the activity is expected to inform SH PE/CCA & Aesthetics one working day in advance;

b) For non-CCA outdoor activity outside Bukit Batok area, teacher in charge of

the activity has to inform PE Co-ordinator one working day in advance;

c) For outdoor activity within the school vicinity, it is not necessary for the teacher in charge of the activity to inform the SH PE as it has been set as default that all the three co-ordinators are able to receive all Lightning Risk Alert messages within the school zone during school opening hours;

d) At the time of outdoor activity, if any Lightning Risk Alert warning message for a particular zone is received by the SH PE, teacher in charge of the activity within the particular zone will be informed to have the activity cancelled or postponed, and it is the duty of the teacher in charge to cancel the activity and make sure that all staff and pupils involved in the activity seek shelter as soon as possible.

CONCLUSION 20. Safety of the staff and pupils is of utmost importance to the school. To ensure operational effectiveness of the procedure and strict compliance by the staff, the school leaders will review the school LWS structure and procedure periodically. Submitted by: Operations Manager Vetted by: Vice Principal Endorsed by: Principal May 2007 Last Updated on 1st Feb 2013

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Annex A1

(Image from - http://www.weather.gov.sg/lws/doc/zone.gif)

Lightning Warning Zones

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Annex A2

LIGHTNING WARNING SYSTEM – 37 ZONES

No. ZONE NAME ZONE NAME FOR SMS

1 Ang Mo Kio ANG ∆ MO ∆ KIO

2 Bedok BEDOK

3 Bishan BISHAN

4 Bukit Batok BUKIT ∆ BATOK

5 Bukit Panjang BUKIT ∆ PANJANG

6 Bukit Timah BUKIT ∆ TIMAH

7 Changi CHANGI

8 Choa Chu Kang CHOA ∆ CHU ∆ KANG

9 City CITY

10 Clementi CLEMENTI

11 Holland Village HOLLAND ∆ VILLAGE

12 Hougang HOUGANG

13 Jurong Industrial Estate JURONG ∆ INDUSTRIAL ∆ ESTATE 14 Jurong East/West JURONG ∆ EAST ∆ WEST

15 Kallang KALLANG

16 Katong KATONG

17 Kranji KRANJI

18 Lim Chu Kang LIM ∆ CHU ∆ KANG

19 Macpherson MACPHERSON

20 Macritchie Reservoir MACRITCHIE ∆ RESERVOIR

21 Pandan PANDAN

22 Pasir Panjang PASIR ∆ PANJANG

23 Pasir Ris PASIR ∆ RIS

24 Punggol PUNGGOL

25 Peirce Reservoir PEIRCE ∆ RESERVOIR

26 Pulau Ubin PULAU ∆ UBIN

27 Queenstown QUEENSTOWN

28 Seletar SELETAR

29 Sembawang SEMBAWANG

30 Sentosa SENTOSA

31 Serangoon SERANGOON

32 Tampines TAMPINES

33 Toa Payoh TOA ∆ PAYOH

34 Tuas TUAS

35 West Coast WEST ∆ COAST

36 Woodlands WOODLANDS

37 Yishun YISHUN

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Annex B

PLACES OF INTEREST AND THEIR RESPECTIVE ZONE NAMES

Lightning Warning System

Zone PLACES OF INTEREST

ZONE NAME for SMS Request

( ∆ = one space)

1 Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East ANG ∆ MO ∆ KIO

2 Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West ANG ∆ MO ∆ KIO

3 Bedok Reservoir

BEDOK

4 Bishan Park 1 ANG ∆ MO ∆ KIO

5 Bishan Park 2 ANG ∆ MO ∆ KIO

6 Bukit Batok Nature Park

BUKIT ∆ BATOK

7 Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

BUKIT ∆ TIMAH

8 Changi Beach Park CHANGI

9 Chinese Garden

JURONG ∆ EAST ∆ WEST

10 Choa Chu Kang Park CHOA ∆ CHU ∆ _KANG

11 Civilian War Memorial, War Memorial

Park

CITY

12 Clementi Woods Park CLEMENTI

13 East Coast Park

KATONG

14 Esplanade Park CITY

15 Fort Canning Park CITY

16 Haw Par Villa

PASIR ∆ PANJANG

17 Istana

CITY

18 Jurong Bird Park

JURONG ∆ INDUSTRIAL ∆ ESTATE

19 Jurong Hill Park

JURONG ∆ INDUSTRIAL ∆ ESTATE

20 Kallang Riverside Park KALLANG

21 Kent Ridge Park PASIR ∆ PANJANG

22 Lower Seletar Reservior Park SELETAR

23 MacRitchie Reservoir Park

MACRITCHIE ∆ RESERVOIR

24 Marina City Park CITY

25 Marina Promenade

CITY

26 Mount Faber Park PASIR ∆ PANJANG

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27 Newater Visitor Centre BEDOK

28 Night Safari SELETAR

29 Pasir Ris Park PASIR ∆ RIS

30 Pasir Ris Town Park PASIR ∆ RIS

31 Pearl`s Hill City Park

CITY

32 Punggol

PUNGGOL

33 Raffles Place Park CITY

34 Sembawang Park

SEMBAWANG

35 Sentosa

SENTOSA

36 Singapore Botanic Gardens

CITY

37 Singapore Zoo SELETAR

38 Sun Plaza Park TAMPINES

39 Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall CITY

40 Sungei Buloh KRANJI

41 Tanjong Pagar RICOH Park CITY

42 Telok Blangah Hill Park

PASIR ∆ PANJANG

43 The Malay Village

CITY

44 The Merlion Park

CITY

45 Toa Payoh Town Park TOA ∆ PAYOH

46 War Memorial Park CITY

47 West Coast Park

WEST ∆ COAST

48 Wooland Town Garden WOODLANDS

49 Yishun Park YISHUN

50 Zhenghua Park BUKIT ∆ PANJANG