School Lockdowns ‘The New Normal': Kiwi School Communities Urged To Prepare Ahead Of Emergency Events
May's high profile school lockdowns—Peninsula Primary in Te Atatū responding to a naked intruder on school grounds, and multiple Papakura schools securing their premises after a nearby serious assault—are a stark reminder of an uncomfortable truth: emergency lockdowns have become the 'new normal' in New Zealand education.
From security threats to natural disasters, today's educational institutions face a challenging reality: emergency situations are no longer unexpected events. They are regular occurrences that require systematic preparation.
The Changing Emergency Landscape
"What was once considered an extraordinary emergency is now a regular occurrence that schools, parents, and communities face," says Sharlene Barnes, the Kaikoura-based CEO and founder of school community communications app, Skool Loop.
"When an emergency happens you don't want to be scrambling to get information out. It's a safety issue of course, but it's also a tremendous source of stress and anxiety for the entire community. Parents, grandparents, local businesses—everyone connected to that school—needs to know what's happening, and they need to know as soon as possible."
The types of emergencies requiring immediate school-wide communication have expanded beyond traditional fire drills and severe weather warnings. Security threats, natural disasters, and other critical incidents all demand instant, comprehensive communication that reaches every member of the school community simultaneously.
"When crisis situations unfold, the priority is getting accurate information to everyone who needs it as quickly as possible," says Barnes. "So when an emergency happens, you want the ability to instantly push mobile notifications to their entire community, as well as to present up-to-the-minute information on the homepage of the school website, because that's where people will be looking to find out what's happening."
Born from Crisis
Barnes developed the Skool Loop app following her own experience during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, when communication systems failed and she was forced to run—barefoot and through dangerous conditions—to reach her son's school.
Having experienced first-hand the critical importance of reliable emergency communication, she created a platform that would ensure that no Kiwi parent would have to face that uncertainty again.
The Skool Loop platform incorporates multiple channels of information delivery, with instant push notifications providing immediate alerts to mobile devices, ensuring critical information reaches people wherever they are. The platform also operates on a zero data system, allowing parents to access critical school information without using their personal mobile data.
Simultaneously, when a lockdown event occurs, emergency banners on school websites serve as centralised information hubs for those seeking updates and additional details.
"We've designed our system so that both the app notifications and the school website work seamlessly together during emergencies," explains Barnes. "When a crisis hits, schools need technology that works instantly, without requiring technical expertise from stressed staff members."
The platform maintains strict security standards and is currently pursuing SST 4 accreditation—the highest level of security certification available—ensuring that sensitive school and family information remains protected even during high-stress emergency situations.
Comprehensive Emergency Communications
During Cyclone Gabrielle in the North Island, more than 500 schools used Skool Loop to communicate with hundreds of thousands of parents through push notifications over the course of one week.
The system's design ensures functionality even when traditional phone services are disrupted, and parents can access critical information from any device if their personal phone is lost or damaged during an emergency.
The Skool Loop platform has been built specifically for educational environments, ensuring that emergency communication tools are user-friendly enough for any staff member to activate quickly and effectively, without requiring extensive training or technical knowledge.
This proven reliability during real-world emergencies, from security lockdowns like the 2022 Taupiri School incident to major natural disasters, demonstrates the platform's capability to handle any crisis situation schools may face.
Whole-Community Approach
One of the most critical lessons learned from recent school emergencies is that effective communication shouldn't be limited to only parents and primary caregivers. Modern family structures and community connections mean that emergency information must reach a much broader network of people who need to know immediately what's happening.
"Our app is open to the whole community, not just the small community of parents," explains Barnes. "This includes aunties, uncles, grandparents—everyone. It reflects the realities of modern families and communities."
Alongside these communication challenges, school budgets are under increasing pressure, with principals sometimes needing to make difficult decisions about where to allocate limited resources.
"When every dollar counts in a school's budget, you shouldn't have to pay three or four thousand dollars for communication with your community,' says Barnes. 'That's why we provide Skool Loop free to all New Zealand schools.'
'This is especially important for smaller rural schools, who still have the same emergency communication needs as larger urban institutions, but often significantly fewer resources available.'
Preparedness as Priority
As school lockdowns and emergency situations become more common, the onus is on schools to prepare their communication systems before an emergency occurs—rather than scrambling to respond during a crisis.
"Setting up those systems doesn't have to be difficult or expensive,' says Barnes. 'It just means acknowledging that these situations will continue to occur, and taking steps to ensure that you have a communication system in place that you can activate instantly.'
'We can't prevent every emergency, but we can absolutely control how well we communicate when they happen.'
With Skool Loop's free platform already trusted by over 1,300 schools, there's no cost or risk to upgrading your emergency communication capabilities. Contact us to get started.
About The Skool Loop App
Founded in 2013 by Sharlene Barnes in Kaikoura, The Skool Loop App serves over 1,300 schools across Australia and New Zealand with more than one million users. The platform provides comprehensive school communication solutions including emergency notifications, push alerts, and integrated school websites. As the first school communication app in the Australia/New Zealand market, Skool Loop has 13 years of continuous development focused specifically on educational community needs. The platform is available free to all New Zealand schools.
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