

At Matrix Academy Trust, we believe that school safety must evolve to meet today's challenges. Our mission is to shape and influence national guidance by providing schools with a proactive, structured response to critical incidents, including lockdowns. SMART Response® was developed not only to improve immediate response but to change future legislation — ensuring all schools have consistent, practical, and tested procedures to protect students and staff.
What is SMART Response?
SMART Response® is Matrix Academy Trust's trademarked lockdown and incident response strategy. It provides a levelled, practical approach to emergency incidents – combining clear roles, well-designed training, and ongoing scenario-based testing. After experiencing lockdowns across our Trust, we realised the national guidance was vague and inconsistent. So, we built SMART Response® to be the gold standard. And now, we're giving it away for free — because protecting children is bigger than just our schools.
SMART Response® is officially trademarked and designed using national crisis management procedures and government legislation. All content is supported by RoSPA-accredited modules.


UK Schools have experienced lockdowns in 2024-2025
Lockdowns Across the UK
In the past 24 months, over 180 UK schools have experienced lockdowns due to:
- Knife incidents near school premises
- Suspicious persons or intruders
- Nearby police operations
- Online threats targeting schools
Despite the rise, very few schools have access to consistent and effective response training.
SMART Response® bridges that gap.
Product Quality Index
Energy Generation


Data has been sourced and verified by reported lockdown incidents through national press 2023-2025


Training Modules – Free for All
Our training is presented by Mark Wingett – an actor and advocate best known for his roles in The Bill and Quadrophenia. Mark brings clarity and weight to the training, helping staff connect emotionally and practically with the real-life consequences of a poor or slow emergency response.


SMART Response® & Martyn's Law
While SMART Response® is a standalone system, it has been developed in close alignment with Martyn's Law, also known as the Protect Duty. Our guidance addresses the five key pillars of Martyn's Law:
- Preparedness
- Mitigation
- Response
- Recovery
- Communication
We've worked closely with national crisis management teams to ensure that SMART Response® supports your compliance with Martyn's Law.
SMART Response® Procedures in Practice
In this module, Mark Wingett takes you through a realistic Levelled Approach scenario to show how SMART Response® works in practice. You'll see a full breakdown of each key role — Gold, Silver, Bronze and support staff — and how they communicate and act in real time. From initial threat identification through to response and debrief, this session brings everything together, showing SMART Response® as a live, functioning system that protects pupils and staff.


Free Downloads & Resources
Our complete suite of SMART Response® materials is available for free download:
SMART Response Policy
Training Modules
Bronze and Silver Activity Cards
Multiple Choice Tests (Module Comprehension)
SMART Response® Scenario Testing Template
SMART Response® Premises Audit Template
Crisis Response Forms


Need Support? Let Us Help Further
We can offer:
- On-site SMART Response® delivery by our expert team
- Review of your school site to align with SMART Response® guidance
- Whole-staff and SLT scenario-based training
- Train-the-trainer sessions to embed SMART Response® long-term
Let us help you ensure that your school is SMART, safe, and future-ready.
Case Study: Bloxwich Academy
On 1st February 2024, Bloxwich Academy experienced a lockdown incident that exposed serious flaws in traditional school lockdown procedures.
An alleged intruder was seen on the school grounds. Following the standard "on/off" lockdown guidance, the school initiated a full lockdown. While the initial response followed procedure, events quickly escalated beyond control. Some pupils, using mobile phones during the lockdown, began sharing exaggerated information on social media about the incident — claims that spread quickly and caused unnecessary panic.

Although the "intruder" was soon identified as a truanting pupil, the damage had been done. Within 30 minutes, over 100 parents and members of the public gathered at the school gates, with some attempting to force entry. This created a secondary crisis for school staff and police, who had to manage not just internal safety, but also external disruption and community unrest.
The lesson learned? The school had no proportionate or phased response. It was an all-or-nothing decision – lockdown or nothing – with all responsibility falling on the Headteacher. There were no defined roles, no structured communication plan, and no scalable tactical response.
Had the school adopted the SMART Response® levelled approach, they could have investigated the situation calmly, escalated only if necessary, and ensured that key roles (Gold, Silver, Bronze) were in place to manage communication, coordination and wellbeing. The emotional and reputational impact could have been significantly reduced, and the wellbeing of staff, students and the wider community better protected.
