Barnsley Learning Centre Upgrades School-Wide Communications with AtlasIED Atmosphere

Specialist Lighting SS Ltd installs zoned audio system at High View Primary Learning Centre, meeting forthcoming Martyn’s Law requirements…

Part of the Every Child Matters Academy Trust, High View Primary Learning Centre is a larger than average primary school located in Wombwell, South Yorkshire. Described by Ofsted as having a feeling of warmth, care, and ambition, High View offers an excellent education to more than 400 pupils.

The safety of the school community is of paramount importance, and High View recently engaged Barnsley-based AV experts Specialist Lighting SS Ltd to install a new zoned audio system, which would improve school-wide communications and better facilitate the activation of lockdown procedures in the event of an emergency. Specialist Lighting’s vastly experienced team provides a wide range of professional audio, lighting, and AV services to the education sector, theatres, conference facilities, hospitality venues, and more, with a focus on meeting the exact needs of clients with competitive solutions, delivered on time and on budget.

As well as improving the efficiency of communication across its site, the school’s actions also addressed the future requirements of Martyn’s Law, The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, which was passed in the wake of the horrific attack at Manchester Arena in 2017, and named for one of its victims, Martyn Hett. The Law, which seeks to protect to a wide range of public premises and events from terrorist actions, allows for a two year period of preparation, after which compliance will be mandatory. All schools fall within the remit of the new Law, so High View’s zoned lockdown system, designed to cover classrooms, hallways, common areas, and outside spaces, is in line with future requirements.

The system at High View comprises wall-mounted ArtSound UNI30T two-way 100V loudspeakers in the school’s classrooms, powered by an ArtSound 4-zone amplifier and controlled by an AtlasIED Atmosphere AZM4 4-zone audio processor with paging station and microphone located in the main office. A lockdown button was installed alongside the paging microphone which is connected to the relay input on the Atmosphere processor. In the event of an incident a paging announcement can be immediately made to communicate the specific lockdown instructions. One of three pre-recorded messages can be instantly relayed to each zone, instructing children and staff to stay in place, evacuate, or assemble at a specified location. The school’s existing outside loudspeakers integrated seamlessly into the new system.

The ArtSound and AtlasIED Atmosphere components of the project were supplied by POLAR whose Will Turney comments:

“Whilst meeting the requirements of Martyn’s Law is not yet mandatory, it makes sense for public buildings and institutions to familiarise themselves with the legislation and prepare accordingly. The install at High View demonstrates a forward-thinking approach by the school’s management team who have secured an efficient and very competitively priced system well ahead of time. At POLAR we are a one-stop shop for all the technology required to comply with the new law, and anticipate a surge of demand for these products as the deadline for compliance approaches.”