Martyn's Law for primary schools

Most primary schools are in scope, including many small ones once you count a nativity or sports day. Martyn's Law asks for three things, and most schools already have a start on each of them.

Are we in scope?

The Act applies to any premises where you could reasonably expect 200 or more people at the same time. That includes days that only happen now and then: the Christmas production, sports day, an open evening. Staff, contractors and volunteers all count.

So a one-form-entry primary with 210 pupils and 30 staff is in scope every day. A one-off you could never have predicted does not count. Anything planned or repeated does.

Schools get a special consideration in the Act. Every school in scope is in the standard tier, however big it is. The enhanced tier, with its security measures and written compliance documents, is for arenas and universities.

What the law actually requires

The Act (that is, Martyn's Law) puts three duties on a school in scope:

1. Have procedures for a terrorist attack on or near the site. The Act names four, and each is about what staff would actually do:
   • Evacuation: getting everyone out, when the danger is inside.
   • Invacuation: getting everyone in to a safer area, when the danger is outside (LA plans often call this "shelter").
   • Lockdown: securing the building so nobody can get in or out.
   • Communication: alerting everyone and telling them which of the above to do.
   They only have to be "appropriate" and "reasonably practicable" for a school your size (see below).
2. Make sure staff know them. Anyone with a role in a procedure must know what it is and what their part is.
3. Notify the regulator. Once the law starts, tell the Security Industry Authority that your school is responsible for the premises.

"Reasonably practicable" means proportionate. You weigh what a procedure would achieve against what it would cost in money, time and effort for a school your size. Nobody expects a primary to install shutters. They do expect you to know four things: which doors lock, where children would shelter, how you would tell everyone, and who decides.

What it does not require

• No equipment to buy.
• No paid training. The statutory guidance gives the example of a village hall that briefs its own volunteers and turns down a course costing thousands that promises to "make you compliant".
• No consultant.
• No separate plan for every kind of attack. The guidance prefers one simple rule, applied fast: threat inside, get out; threat outside, get in and lock down.
• No legal duty to write it all down in the standard tier. You should anyway. An inspector may ask, and paper is how you show it.

Where most schools start from

Fire evacuation is drilled and written down. Lockdown usually exists because of safeguarding, but it was often written for an intruder rather than a terrorist and has never been practised. Invacuation is normally missing as a named procedure. Communication is "everyone knows" rather than a plan.

Getting ready means closing those gaps, fitting the procedures to your building and telling staff. For a typical primary that is a few hours of the headteacher's or business manager's time.

The part that catches schools out is keeping it up to date. New starters and supply staff arrive who have never heard the procedures. The caretaker changes the locks. A drill gets missed in a busy year. The guidance is updated. What an inspector may ask for is not the plan you wrote once. It is evidence that the plan is current and that staff know it, and that is a record kept over years, not an afternoon.

Related: when it starts and what happens if you're not ready · what the four procedures mean in a school · a checklist for business managers