Although not yet enshrined in legislation,  the Department for Education states that educational settings should consider response options to a live security incident which include invacuation and lockdown.  In anticipation of Martyn’s Law, many schools are already reviewing their existing emergency response policies and plans to test whether they would be effective in the event of a significant security threat.  Lockdown is often the response that causes the most confusion for schools:  What is the best way to achieve lockdown and how can this be done without scaring students and parents?  

In short, there is no easy answer and certainly no ‘one size fits all’ solution that can be shared among all schools.  Instead there are principles that each school should consider in the context of their own unique setting.  Here we cover the key considerations for schools when starting this process:

Understanding your unique context

Think about your school; your buildings, your infrastructure, your community.  New schools tend to be more uniform in design with similar layouts in classrooms.  This might mean plans for one classroom could be easily replicated across the school.  Older schools might have extensions or even portacabin classrooms on school grounds.  Detailed plans might need to be tailored to reflect the varied infrastructure of the school.  Consider your existing systems.  Do you already have systems in place that enable a lockdown response?  Or are there aspects of your school that might hinder an effective lockdown?  Think too about your staff and pupils – perhaps you have a significant number of children with special educational needs and disabilities who will require additional support during a security incident.   This context is crucial to your planning.  

Initiating and Maintaining Lockdown at your site

Do you have an effective system of alerting your school to a lockdown response?  Would this be effective if children were on the playground or sports fields?  Have you considered how you would physically secure your site and who would do this?  What would happen if the person responsible for securing your site was injured?    Have you identified safe areas within your school that might be good places to shelter until help arrives.   Do your plans consider a scenario where an intruder gains access to the building.  Do you have the means to secure each internal room? Does your plan cover how you might communicate across the school during a lockdown?  Think through these questions in the context of your school and identify any gaps in your response.

Assuring your plans

When you have a plan in place you need to ensure it works. Have you tested your plan using a range of worst case scenarios?  Do you drill your response and feed in lessons to ensure continuous improvement?  Are you parents on board with your preparedness planning?  Do children see this as part of the normal routine at school like fire drills?  Are staff aware of and confident in the steps they must take in the event of a security incident.  

Regularly reviewing your emergency response plans is a crucial  step towards preparing for legislation but most importantly safeguarding your communities.  For more information to support the development of your lockdown plans click here.