Incident reporting: severity levels, documentation, parent notification

What counts as an incident?

An incident is any unexpected event that:

• Results in or could have resulted in injury to a child or staff member
• Involves concerning behaviour (aggression, self-harm, or behaviour out of character)
• Requires a parent to be notified or could lead to a safeguarding referral
• Involves property damage or a security concern

Day-to-day minor wellness notes (a sniffle, a slight temperature) do not need an incident report. File an incident when the event is significant enough that you would want a formal record of it.

Severity levels

School Vault uses four severity levels:

• Low, a small bump, scrape, or fall with no lasting harm. First aid was applied. Parent is informed at collection but no immediate contact needed.
• Medium, an injury requiring more than basic first aid, a significant allergic reaction, or a concerning behavioural event. Parent is contacted during the school day.
• High, a serious injury, a significant safeguarding concern, or any event requiring urgent parent notification and possible external involvement.
• Critical, an injury requiring emergency medical attention, or any event that may involve external agencies (emergency services, DSVA, police). Emergency procedures are activated immediately.

Incident types

When filing a report, select the type that best matches the event:

• Injury, physical harm to a child or staff member
• Behavioral, aggression, self-harm, or behaviour requiring formal documentation
• Accident, an unintended event causing harm or near-harm (e.g. a slip, collision)
• Illness, a child becoming acutely unwell at school in a way requiring formal recording
• Safety, a security breach, unauthorised person on site, or environmental hazard
• Property Damage, damage to school or personal property
• Other, any significant event that does not fit the above categories

Filing an incident report

1. Go to Incidents from the main navigation.
2. Click Report Incident.
3. Enter an Incident Title (a brief description, e.g. "Fall from outdoor climbing frame").
4. Set the Date & Time the incident occurred.
5. Select the Incident Type and Severity Level from the dropdowns.
6. Enter the Location where the incident happened.
7. In Students Involved, tick all children who were affected. Multiple students can be linked to one report.
8. In Staff Involved, tick any staff members who were present or involved.
9. Write the Incident Description. This is the most important field — write in plain, factual language:
   • What happened (describe the event, not the child's emotional state)
   • Where it happened (specific location)
   • Who witnessed it
   • What immediate action was taken
10. List the Witnesses (names of staff or other adults present).
11. Record Immediate Action Taken (first aid given, who was called, what was done).
12. Tick Follow-up required if the incident needs further action after today.
13. Click Submit Report.

Parent notification from the incident report

1. In the Parent Notification section of the form, choose how to notify: In-App Notification, SMS, WhatsApp, or Phone Call (which you make manually and then log in the system).
2. For Minor incidents: in-app notification is sent when the report is submitted. Parents see the incident in their portal and can respond if needed.
3. For Moderate and Serious incidents: the system sends an urgent SMS/WhatsApp immediately on submission. You should also make a direct phone call and log the call details in the notification record.
4. Once the parent has been notified, record their response in the Parent Response field.

Managing the incident log

All filed incidents appear in the Incidents module. As admin, you can:

• Filter by date, severity, or incident type
• Export a PDF or CSV report for inspections or insurance purposes
• Mark an incident as Closed once all follow-up is complete
• Add follow-up notes to an existing incident (useful for recording what happened over the following days)

Common mistakes

• Waiting until the end of the day to file a Moderate or Serious incident, parents must be notified promptly. File and notify as soon as the immediate emergency is dealt with.
• Using the wellness tracker instead of the incident report for significant events, a sprained wrist from a fall needs an incident report, not just a wellness note.
• Not listing witnesses, "Staff member name: unknown" is not acceptable in a safeguarding document.
• Writing the incident description as a narrative story rather than factual, timestamped notes, "At 10:45 AM, Tomilola fell from the second step of the jungle gym" is better than "During outdoor play, Tomilola had a fall."