Getting started in setting up a WARP for Schools

Any school would benefit from being a member of a WARP (Warning, Advice and Reporting Point). That goes without saying - indeed, you would not have reached this point if you were in any doubt. The question, though, is what to do if there is no available WARP to join. Answering that question is the purpose of this WARP for schools Toolbox.

The short answer is that you have a choice: you can start and operate your own schools WARP; or you can persuade someone else to do it.

Bear in mind that any school, with sufficient resources, can start a WARP. You could be a Primary School, a Secondary School, a Technical College, or a private school. You could be the IT Department of the County Council, providing a service to the schools of the county. Or you could be a member of a private sector group, such as HMC, GSA, BSA or GDST, evaluating a WARP for your association.

It could be said that an ideal schools WARP organization would be based around the County administering the WARP on behalf of the schools it serves. Such an organization can be seen in the Idealized schools WARP structure diagram.

Since the main benefit of the WARP will be to the schools themselves, the primary drive for a WARP is likely to come from the schools. So, to supplement the choice noted above, if you cannot persuade the County, or your association, to provide a WARP for you, you should consider developing your own and offering it as a service to other schools.

This WARP for schools Toolbox will help you decide whether you can indeed provide this service, and the steps you must take to do so.

The diagram shows the County Council as the Operator, providing resources and operating the WARP, with all the local schools as Members. However, it also allows each Secondary School to provide particular guidance and support to the Primary Schools within its own catchment area. Remember that this is just one possibility.

One of the advantages of this structure is that it allows an individual school or schools to take the initiative without necessarily waiting for County. One or more Secondary Schools could start their own local WARP or WARPs. This leaves it open for the County IT Department to amalgamate the individual WARPs into a single County WARP in order to maximise overall resources.

The Operator would be responsible for providing the WARP resources: the warnings, advice capabilities, and the reporting point for all Members. All schools within the county would be able to subscribe to the WARP. Each Secondary School or college would be able adopt a special relationship - a sort of security mentor - towards the Primary Schools within its own catchment area.

Part of the WARP concept involves getting members together for meetings, discussions, events. In this example structure, County could be responsible for arranging events for the Secondary School members in its own offices. The Secondary School 'mentors' could arrange similar get-togethers for the Primary School members within their own areas.

Now that WARPs have been explained in the schools context, the next stage is to understand how the Timeline in this Toolbox has been structured, this is described in Timeline explained.

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