St Joseph's School
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The board of St Joseph's School is responsible for keeping the school safe and protecting school assets. This is part of board responsibilities to ensure the school is a physically and emotionally safe place; to manage health and safety risks; and to perform board functions and exercise board powers in a way that is financially responsible (Education and Training Act 2020; Health and Safety at Work Act 2015).
The board delegates responsibility for implementing and monitoring school security to the principal, who reports to the board about school security at regular board meetings, and as needed.
Security measures
The board takes all practicable steps to deter crime (including theft, vandalism, and cybersecurity breaches) and prevent other security risks (e.g. unauthorised access to the school). We aim to build a strong security culture within the school community that includes being security conscious, reporting any suspicious activity, and following school security procedures for equipment and buildings. We promote a challenge culture to support school security (e.g. stopping and questioning strangers on school grounds). Also see Emergency Management.
The school assesses potential security risks and implements security measures to keep students, staff, and visitors safe, and protect school assets. Routine checks of the security measures are carried out on an ongoing basis. The board reviews school security risks and security measures annually. Also see Risk Management.
We have security measures in place to safeguard the physical security of the school and deter security incidents, including appropriate boundaries, locking, and lighting. We ensure that any expensive, portable equipment is clearly marked as belonging to the school, stored in locked areas, and that there are procedures for borrowing and returning equipment.
Our school has an alarm system, and staff are advised of the procedures for setting and disarming the alarm, including what to do in the event of accidental activation. The alarm is regularly maintained and upgraded as needed.
We consider security when designing new property and maintaining or altering existing school buildings and/or school grounds. See Property Management and Property Maintenance and Repairs.
Implementing school security
security responsibilities (if any) and asked to raise any security concerns immediately so these can be managed appropriately. Managing security incidents
We plan our response to potential security incidents, and in the event that a security incident occurs, we respond as needed. We assess any security incidents that occur, consider potential solutions, and implement changes to our security measures as needed. We ensure everyone is informed of any new requirements.
The school keeps a record of security concerns and incidents, including precise times, locations, costs involved, and any claims made to insurance and/or the Ministry. This is regularly reviewed by the board to identify security risks and patterns, and consider solutions. These records are kept securely and meet the requirements of our privacy and records retention and disposal policies.
For information about how we respond to specific security incidents, see:
Also see Managing Traumatic Incidents and Computer Security and Cybersecurity.
We report crimes to the police as needed.
Release history: Term 3 2025, Term 2 2021
