Step by step
It follows the shape of the government's own Lockdown Template: the basics, signals, who does what, places, how you tell people, and afterwards. Then it helps you build an action plan.
What it does
Questions, not answers
Every box asks a question with a grey prompt, and we never fill in the answer. An unanswered box prints as "not completed", so gaps are visible, not hidden.
The fire alarm question
Some schools ignore the fire alarm during a lockdown, because an intruder could pull it. That is your decision, so we ask it and explain it rather than deciding for you.
Reviews that count
"Mark as reviewed" is its own button with its own date, so fixing a typo is not a review. When it is done, print a clear document for staff, governors or an inspector.
A readiness checklist
Twelve plain questions, such as "have you practised in the last twelve months?". Where the system already knows the answer it shows the fact instead of a tick box, and there is no score or badge.
Practices and records
Book a lockdown, invacuation or evacuation practice for the whole school or one zone. It stands itself down and never interrupts a real alert. Afterwards, write it up against fixed questions in a time-stamped, searchable record.
What the law asks of schools
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, known as Martyn's Law, received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. It is expected to come into force in spring 2027. The Home Office will confirm the exact date.
Schools with 200 or more people on site are standard tier, however large they are. Smaller schools are out of scope, but the Department for Education encourages them to prepare too. They must tell the SIA (the regulator) who the responsible person is. They must also have appropriate procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication.
Schools submit no documents. The SIA can assess or inspect, usually with notice, so it helps to be able to show your procedures exist and work.
Always check the latest position on gov.uk.
What it is not
- It does not make your school compliant with Martyn's Law. It helps you write, practise and show your own procedures.
- We do not write your procedure. You write it, and we ask the right questions.
- Nothing is "submitted". Schools submit no documents.
- Holly and Alert are supplementary communication aids, not certified alarm systems. Your school keeps responsibility for its plan, training and drills.
- Holly never records audio, and it does not detect fire alarms.
Questions
Will this make our school compliant?
No tool can do that on its own. The policy builder helps you write, practise and keep a record of your own procedures, so you can show them when asked.
Why don't you fill in the answers for us?
A procedure written by us could send a class to a room we have never seen. You know your building, so you write the answers.
Do we need Holly to use it?
No. It is included with Holly and with Classroom Sounds Alert. On Holly schools, records also show what each room measured either side of an alert or practice.
See it with your own procedures.
Email hello@classroomsounds.com or call 01905 905415.