A school lockdown is a critical safety procedure designed to protect pupils, staff and visitors from potential threats. It is a planned, rehearsed response to an emergency.
Understanding how lockdowns work, and how to implement them effectively, is vital for every school. Here, we explain when a school lockdown might be used, how to create a lockdown plan and some common mistakes to avoid.
Lockdowns can be triggered for a variety of reasons
At the time of writing, the MI5 website reports the national threat level to the UK, from all forms of terrorism, to be substantial. This ranks third on its list of five categories ranging from low to critical.
Educational settings may have to go into lockdown for many reasons, however. An incident is not always terrorism-related, although this is often what first springs to mind when lockdown is mentioned.
For example, in early April 2026, several schools in Bristol went into lockdown when gunshots were fired in the surrounding streets. Armed police descended on the area and schools went into lockdown as a precaution. This meant they avoided releasing hundreds of children into a potentially dangerous situation.
Other incidents which may cause a school to have to enter a lockdown include:
- Potentially dangerous intruders on school grounds; these could be parents or relatives of children as well as strangers
- An incident nearby meaning it would be dangerous to leave school premises, for example a fire at a nearby factory or a dangerous dog on the loose
- Reports of a threat to the school, a business or other premises in the vicinity
What does a school lockdown look like?
The type of action your school takes in an emergency will depend on the nature of the threat. If the danger is inside the school, it may be safer to leave the premises and gather in the playground or other designated safe area like the playing fields (an evacuation).
If the threat is outside, as with the incident in Bristol, an invacuation would be more appropriate. All pupils, staff, parents and visitors would come to a safe place and remain within the school buildings. During this time, it is important to lock doors and windows, turn off lights and stay quiet and out of sight, avoiding using phones unless instructed to do so.
Make sure every member of staff understands their responsibilities
School staff must understand their role in a lockdown situation and how to implement the plan. This covers everyone from teachers to office staff to maintenance teams. Usually, someone from the senior leadership team would initiate the lockdown and communicate with emergency services. All classroom teachers must make sure their pupils are safe and everyone is accounted for. And the office team are likely to be asked to communicate with parents or guardians.
Martyn’s Law aims to protect premises, including schools, from terrorist attacks
Martyn’s Law (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill) received Royal assent in April 2025. We are currently halfway through the 24-month preparation period before the full implementation of the law.
This period is designed to allow affected premises, like schools, time to understand their obligations and to prepare adequately for Martyn's Law. There is no legal requirement for compliance until the law officially comes into force in 2027.
Schools – primary, secondary, higher and further-education settings – are covered under the law and typically will come under the standard duty tier. This is for premises which are reasonably expected to host 200 to 799 people from time to time.
However, they are excluded from the law’s qualifying events category. Therefore, your school will not need extra security for an event like a concert which may have more than 800 attendees.
The responsible person for the premises must document all the procedures and measures they are putting in place. They must provide this information to the law’s regulator, the Security Industry Authority (SIA). This body aims to be operationally ready in Spring 2027.
Learn more about how Bodet Time can support your school with a safe, reliable lockdown alert system. Call us on 01442 418800 or email enquiries@bodet-time.co.uk for a free, no-obligation quote.
What should your school’s lockdown plan contain?
Implementing Martyn’s Law precautions will strengthen your existing plan. It mandates that four areas are covered: evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication.
Carry out a comprehensive risk assessment
Identify all entry points that could be vulnerable to intruders and protect them with locks or barriers. You need to scope out and define a safe area or areas within the school, should an invacuation be necessary. Ideally, this area should have a lockable door, an additional escape route, and no outside-facing windows or accessible doors.
Install an effective alert and communication system
Time is of the essence in responding to every emergency. As soon as you realise a lockdown is necessary, you must activate an alert across relevant areas of your site or sites. This must be different from your existing alarms; use of the school’s fire alarm is not recommended.
In addition, you may wish to make a verbal announcement. It’s a good idea to pre-record several variations of these messages, to avoid panic or indecision around what to say in the heat of the moment.
On a related note, clear communication with parents or carers outside the school is essential. Make sure you send reassuring, non-speculative updates via previously agreed channels, like WhatsApp, email or text.
Practise, practise, practise
Even the best paper-based plans are useless if staff and students do not understand them or know how to follow them in real life. You must carry out training and drills regularly; we recommend running these at least once in every academic term. Consider varying the scenario slightly each time, so everyone is prepared for a variety of situations.
It’s also vital to consider children with special needs and how they may respond to such situations.
Remember to review each test afterwards and implement learnings for next time.
We can also create specific announcements which tell staff and students clearly what they need to do in an emergency. Fortunately, we haven’t had to use it yet, but it’s reassuring knowing it’s there if such a situation should arise.
Common mistakes to avoid in a school lockdown
Knowing what you shouldn’t do in any given circumstances is often as important as knowing what you should do. In a high-pressure, intense situation like a lockdown, even a small mistake can have grave consequences. These are some possible pitfalls to keep in mind.
Using the wrong type of bell or alert
As previously mentioned, using the fire alarm or other class-change bell to signal a lockdown is not recommended. It can cause confusion and set off the wrong response, perhaps encouraging children to leave the premises when they should stay where they are.
Poor training procedures
In an emergency, staff must respond quickly, decisively and effectively. The right training will ensure this happens, and that responsible staff members follow procedures confidently as if they are second nature.
Ineffective communication
This is one of the most critical mistakes you and your team could make. If you were to accidentally broadcast a message about assembly to year sevens instead of year eights, that is not the end of the world. But unclear communication in an emergency may cause delays in implementing the right response and could be extremely dangerous.
Failing to account for everyone on the premises, wherever they are
Schools are busy places. As well as students, regular teachers and admin staff, you may have building contractors, visiting parents or supply teachers on the premises. Some pupils may not be in a classroom or near a teacher when the alarm sounds, if they have gone to the toilet for instance. You need to make sure that the plan covers all these eventualities, especially for infrequent visitors who will not know what to do.
Complacency over the effectiveness of your plan
This mistake is linked to the problem of poor training. You must review and update the lockdown plan regularly, incorporating learnings from tests and any new legislation. To adapt the cliche – failure to prepare for the next time is preparing to fail.
What do to after the lockdown is lifted
Having a proper process to end the lockdown is as important as initiating it. A responsible staff member must cancel the alert, broadcasting an all-clear alarm or message. You must account for all pupils and staff members to make sure they are all safe. Communicate with parents and guardians to let them know the lockdown is over and they can collect their children.
After a real incident, everyone is likely to be shocked and worried. It may be worth including an element of aftercare in your plan, to give pupils and staff some reassurance and emotional support.
With our Bodet system...if an emergency situation arises, it activates special alerts so everybody knows exactly what’s happening and the actions they need to take.
Facilities Manager, Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, London
Find out how to keep your school safe
Ultimately, your goal is not only to have a plan. It’s to make sure that the plan can be activated quickly, communicated clearly and followed confidently by everyone who is affected.
Bodet Time’s Harmonys range is a versatile alert system that runs via your existing IT network using a Power Over Ethernet (POE) connection.
You can tailor Harmonys to suit your school by combining its indoor and outdoor sounders, manually operated button boxes, remote triggering and other features.
Harmonys allows you to broadcast a range of bells and pre-recorded or live messages across your school site or only to specific zones. In large single-site schools, or those with many buildings across separate sites, it sends efficient and effective communication only where it is needed.
Some Harmonys sounders also have strobe lighting and text displays. So, you will reach any students or staff with hearing impairments and ensure that the alert is transmitted effectively in a noisy classroom.
Our bespoke app, Bodet Alert, complements our Harmonys range, helping you manage alerts and crisis situations decisively. This comprehensive safety solution puts you in control when it matters most. It eliminates dangerous delays in responding, gets help to the right place using a geolocation feature and stores your emergency plan.
Learn more about how Bodet Time can support your school with a safe, reliable lockdown alert system.
