The Ministry of Education has released the final report of the Lockdown Review report. The report is based on input from a wide range of stakeholders, including leaders and staff from schools and early learning services in Canterbury, parents, children, young people, NZ Police and Ministry of Education.

It was evident throughout the Lockdown Review that everyone’s key focus was to improve practice and preparation to ensure student’s safety for any potential future emergency event. Thank you to those of you who took time to provide feedback.

The safety of young people is our highest priority and the Ministry of Education are committed to working with schools, early learning services, and NZ Police to respond to the opportunities for improvements that have been identified through the review process.

It has been identified there is more that can be done to support communities to understand their roles during an emergency event. The Ministry of Education will be working with NZ Police to develop guidance for parents and caregivers to support communities responding to an incident and what to do during a lockdown.

Schools and early learning services have a responsibility under Health and Safety legislation to keep staff and students safe. This responsibility needs to be balanced against a parent’s right to take their child out of the school should they wish to do so. However, it should be noted that opening the school to a parent could be a risk when there is unknown danger.

A copy of the Lockdown Review is available on www.education.govt.nz. If anyone wants to discuss the outcomes, recommendations or our procedures on the day please email admin@cghs.school.nz.

You can be confident the current guidance provided by the Ministry of Education will support a review of our existing policies.