Every school hopes they’ll never need to activate a lockdown procedure — but preparation remains one of the most important responsibilities for school leaders.
Recently, the Cosafe team visited Kingsbridge Community College to observe a live lockdown exercise delivered in partnership with Devon & Cornwall Police. The exercise formed part of a wider school safety programme and provided valuable insight into how UK schools prepare for critical incidents, communicate during emergencies and continually refine their procedures.
While every school is different, the lessons we observed are relevant to schools, academies and multi-academy trusts across the UK.
A Well-Rehearsed Lockdown Makes All the Difference
The lockdown exercise itself was intentionally brief.
Staff had already prepared for the event, agreed how communication would work and rehearsed the physical response. Rather than testing every available feature, the focus was ensuring staff and students could respond quickly and confidently if a genuine incident occurred.
One of the biggest takeaways was that effective lockdowns rely on preparation long before an emergency happens. Schools should regularly review:
- Lockdown procedures
- Staff responsibilities
- Communication methods
- Classroom security
- Incident leadership
Technology supports these processes — but planning remains the foundation.
UK Schools Think in Terms of Lockdown
One discussion that stood out throughout the day centred around terminology.
While many international emergency frameworks refer to Run, Hide, Tell or Ongoing Deadly Violence (ODV), UK schools overwhelmingly use the term lockdown. Staff understand it, students recognise it, and procedures are written around it.
One of the key observations from the visit was that communication should always match the terminology schools already use rather than introducing unfamiliar phrases during an emergency.
School Design Influences Emergency Response
Kingsbridge Community College demonstrated something seen across many UK schools. The site benefits from controlled access points, electronic doors, secure perimeter fencing, and clearly defined entry routes.
These physical security measures naturally support a lockdown response, helping restrict movement and protect occupied areas. The visit highlighted how emergency planning should always reflect the design of each individual school rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.
This is also worth considering alongside the UK’s incoming Martyn’s Law (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act), which will require many public-facing venues — including certain school sites — to have proportionate plans in place for responding to a public safety incident. Schools that already understand how their physical layout shapes their lockdown response will be well placed to meet that requirement.
Communication Doesn’t Stop Once a Lockdown Begins
One particularly interesting discussion took place after the exercise.
Representatives from Education South West Academy Trust and Devon & Cornwall Police explored how a live communication channel could improve situational awareness during an incident.
Rather than relying solely on telephone calls, secure digital communication has the potential to help schools share updates, relay information and provide responding emergency services with greater visibility of what’s happening inside the building.
For school leaders, this reinforces an important point: a lockdown alarm is only the beginning. Maintaining clear communication throughout the incident is just as important.
School Safety Extends Beyond the Classroom
The visit also highlighted that safeguarding doesn’t stop at the school gates.
Large numbers of pupils were away on educational visits and outdoor activities, creating additional challenges for staff responsible for communication and welfare. Whether it’s educational visits, sports fixtures, residential trips, outdoor learning, or transport between sites, schools need reliable ways to communicate with staff wherever they are.
Continuous Improvement is Essential
One of the most encouraging aspects of the visit was the school’s commitment to learning.
Exercises like these aren’t designed to catch people out — they’re designed to improve procedures. Every exercise creates opportunities to refine communication, update policies and strengthen confidence before a real emergency ever occurs.
That’s exactly why regular reviews and practical exercises remain such an important part of school safety planning.
Our Key Takeaways
Following the visit, five themes stood out:
- Preparation is more valuable than perfection.
- Schools communicate most effectively using familiar lockdown terminology.
- Physical security and emergency communication should work together.
- Police and schools both benefit from improved information sharing.
- Regular exercises help build confidence and identify opportunities for improvement before a real incident occurs.
One More Thing Worth Watching: Benedict’s Law
Beyond lockdown planning, another change is coming for UK schools that’s worth flagging.
New legislation — informally known as Benedict’s Law — will require schools to manage pupils’ allergies more closely, including formalised Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs) documenting care and action steps for pupils with diagnosed allergies. As with lockdown planning, this comes down to schools having the right information accessible to the right people at the right time — including offline, when connectivity can’t be guaranteed. It’s a good reminder that emergency preparedness in schools isn’t limited to critical incidents alone.
This is somewhere Cosafe’s messaging system can help beyond lockdown alerts. The same instant messaging function used to trigger a lockdown can be used to alert relevant staff the moment a pupil is having a medical emergency — including an allergic reaction — so cover staff, first aiders and school leaders are notified in seconds rather than relying on someone finding the right person in person or by phone. Paired with offline access to a pupil’s Individual Healthcare Plan, staff responding to the emergency can see the necessary care information immediately, without waiting on a paper file or a call to the school office.
Supporting Schools with Better Emergency Communication
At Cosafe, we’re committed to helping schools strengthen their emergency preparedness through clear communication, practical planning and technology that supports existing procedures rather than replacing them.
Our visit to Kingsbridge Community College reinforced something we’ve always believed: the best emergency response starts long before an emergency happens.
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