This blog is by The Safeguarding Alliance, a COBIS Partner 

Strengthening Safeguarding, Preparedness and Leadership Through Global Best Practice

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 became law in the UK in April 2025. It is generally known as Martyn’s Law, and is named in memory of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack. The UK government intends for there to be an implementation period of around 24 months before the act comes into force. This period is intended to allow those responsible for premises and events, including schools and educational establishments to have sufficient time to comprehend their new obligations, and to plan, prepare and act accordingly.

Although Martyn’s Law is UK legislation and does not apply to most international schools around the world, it has sparked an important shift in how schools must think about safety, preparedness and crisis leadership. For international schools, many of which operate across diverse cultural, political and regulatory landscapes, there is substantial value in understanding the principles behind the law and adapting them to their own safeguarding frameworks.

Martyn’s Law is rooted in a simple idea: proportionate, proactive preparation saves lives, and while legislation may not apply directly, the ethos behind it is universally relevant.

International schools often serve transient communities, manage large campuses, run boarding facilities, and host high-profile events. These characteristics mean that robust preparedness is not only a compliance issue, but also an essential safeguarding responsibility.

Why Martyn’s Law Principles Matter for International Schools

The following areas, central to Martyn’s Law, offer internationally transferable lessons:

1. Clarifying Tactical Roles During Emergencies

Clear leadership roles prevent confusion during critical incidents. International schools typically have layered leadership structures and multicultural teams; establishing tactical clarity ensures swift, coordinated action and reduces safeguarding risk.

2. Adopting Strategic–Tactical–Operational Thinking

The UK’s “Gold/Silver/Bronze” incident management model provides a useful framework for structuring decision-making, planning and response, even if the terminology differs elsewhere. The principle, strategic oversight, tactical coordination, operational delivery, translates effectively across international contexts and supports better collaboration with local authorities, embassies and emergency responders.

3. Strengthening Decision-Making Under Pressure

International schools may face uncertain or fast-changing scenarios, from incidents in the community to on-campus threats. Scenario-based training empowers leaders to make confident safeguarding decisions, even when information is incomplete.

4. Reviewing Lockdown, Evacuation and Communication Procedures

Regardless of geography, schools can benefit from reviewing and strengthening:

• lockdown trigger awareness and procedures
• evacuation protocols for multilingual populations
• internal communication systems (PA, radios, messaging groups)
• parent notification procedures across multiple languages and time zones

Clear, practised, processes are central to safeguarding student wellbeing.

5. Using Immersive Tabletop Exercises

Exercises that include real-time “injects” challenge staff to react to rapidly evolving scenarios and can reveal crucial gaps in planning. These simulations bring safeguarding into practical focus, enabling senior leadership teams to rehearse decisions before they have to be made.

6. Improving Record-Keeping, Debriefing and Recovery

Effective safeguarding extends beyond an incident. Schools should establish systems for:

• accurately recording decisions and actions
• structured staff and student post incident debriefing
• psychological first aid
• phased reopening and continuity of learning for students
• effective communication with parents and carers, diplomatic missions and officials

7. Learning from Global Case Studies

One of the core strengths of Martyn’s Law guidance is its emphasis on learning from real-world incidents. International schools can do the same—drawing valuable lessons from school emergencies worldwide.

Below are important, real, examples which illustrate why preparedness is critical everywhere, not only in the UK.

Global Case Studies: Why Preparedness Matters Everywhere

Schools around the world have faced sudden and serious incidents which highlight why preparedness is essential. In some cases, gunfire near a campus has forced staff to move even young children into secure hiding places, showing how quickly external threats can develop. Other incidents have involved armed or violent students inside the school, requiring full police responses and reinforcing the need for clear roles, calm communication internally and externally and strong links with local authorities. There have also been knife incidents causing multiple injuries, reminding schools that not all threats involve firearms and that a range of violent scenarios must be considered. In other contexts, staff have faced extremism-motivated assaults by former students, underscoring the safeguarding complexities of diverse communities. Even large-scale hoax bomb threats have caused evacuations and major disruption, demonstrating that every threat, credible or not, must be managed confidently and transparently. Together, these examples show why all schools, including international ones, benefit from rehearsed procedures, decisive leadership and robust safeguarding practices.

Across these examples, clear themes emerge:

• Threats take many forms: from local violence to targeted attacks and false alarms.
• Speed and clarity matter: decisive action protects lives and minimises chaos.
• Safeguarding is central: student wellbeing during and after incidents must be prioritised.
• Communication is crucial: especially in international schools with multilingual and globally dispersed families.
• Preparedness builds confidence: for staff, students, parents and external partners.

For international schools, borrowing the structure and discipline encouraged by Martyn’s Law is not about compliance, it’s about strengthening the fundamentals of safeguarding in an increasingly unpredictable world.

Conclusion

Martyn’s Law may be UK-specific, but the principles behind it, clear roles, informed leadership, tested procedures, and robust communication, are globally relevant. International schools can significantly enhance their safeguarding culture by adapting these concepts to their context.

In a world where major incidents can unfold quickly and unexpectedly, preparedness is not an administrative exercise; it is a safeguarding imperative. By learning from global case studies and embedding systematic, proportionate planning, international schools can provide the secure, reassuring environment their communities expect.