Lockdown and Shelter in Place
At St Joseph's School, the board ensures that the school is a physically and emotionally safe place where risks to health and safety (both physical and mental) are eliminated or minimised (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015; Education and Training Act 2020). This includes having lockdown and shelter in place procedures. This information is part of our emergency management plan and kept with our printed emergency plans and procedures. Because there may be a security risk, we do not publish our lockdown and shelter in place procedures online or share these with our school community. A basic overview of what to expect during a lockdown or shelter in place is provided below.
- Lockdown procedures are usually activated in response to an incident directed at the school (e.g. an attacker on school grounds).
- Shelter in place procedures are usually activated in response to an incident near the school but not directed at the school specifically (e.g. an extreme weather event, or an incident in the community that is not in or near the school). Teaching and learning continues if possible.
Preparing for lockdown and shelter in place events
As part of our emergency management planning, we:
- have lockdown and shelter in place procedures kept with our printed emergency plan and procedures
- share our procedures with school staff
- practise our procedures as appropriate.
What our school community can expect during a lockdown or shelter in place
Our actions at the time of an emergency event may differ depending on the situation, or recommendations from authorities.
At the time of a lockdown or shelter in place, members of our school community can expect the following.
- A lockdown or shelter in place may be signalled by the principal or their delegate, or authorities such as the New Zealand Police or other emergency services.
- If we do not receive detailed instructions from authorities and/or emergency services, we follow our standard lockdown/shelter in place procedures until further information is available.
- The principal or their delegate is responsible for alerting everyone on site (including visitors and contractors) of a lockdown/shelter in place, and informing stakeholders as appropriate (e.g. board, neighbouring areas).
- Staff follow the direction of authorities and emergency services, and everyone on site is expected to follow staff instructions.
- The school communicates with parents/caregivers about the situation as appropriate. Parents/Caregivers must follow any instructions issued by authorities and/or the school, including not coming to the school if advised. This is particularly important if the school is in lockdown under police direction.
After a lockdown or shelter in place event
Once the lockdown or shelter in place is over (i.e. all clear signal), we decide whether to continue operations or close the school – see Emergency Closure.
We support our school community after an incident and may activate our traumatic incidents procedures as appropriate – see Managing Traumatic Incidents and After an Emergency.
Related policies
Resources
: Term 4 2025, Term 2 2023, Term 2 2022
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