Kamo High School one of many New Zealand schools practising lockdown drills

Police attend to a report of someone presenting a firearm to a Kamo High School student in 2020. Photo / Tania Whyte

More schools across the country are beefing up their lockdown drill procedures in the wake of recent threats, a specialist says.

Emergency planning specialist Wade Harrison, director of Harrison Tew, noticed the increase in the wake of New Zealand’s worst mass shooting, the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack. He is currently working with 25 Northland schools, between Kaitāia and Whangārei.

However, not all parents have responded to the practice drills positively.

As part of Kamo High School’s lockdown drill last week, students were told not to contact their parents. One parent was so angry by the instruction that they reportedly pulled their child from the school.

The parent wrote online that students were told to run to a specific location and hide, and were told not to get their phones or try to contact their parents. Only teachers were allowed their phones, they claimed.

Other parents of Kamo High School students were in favour of the drill and its methods, including mothers Rachel Burnard and Kayla Crossley.

Burnard said the drill seemed like the best way to prepare students for any emergency.

She believed factoring in the phone ban introduced in schools earlier this month made sense. In her experience, she expected teenagers to “run for their phones” given the chance.

Crossley said the drill both prompted an important conversation with her sons and gave them a realistic worldview that school was not always a safe place.

Kamo High School had not responded to Advocate enquiries by edition time.

In the past, Northland schools have been forced to trigger their emergency responses.

Whangārei Girls’ High School had to shut down rumours of an active shooter on school grounds on Thursday. However, past incidents at other schools have triggered lockdowns.

Bream Bay College was briefly locked down in 2021 after a student was spotted with a fake pellet gun. That same year, Kerikeri High School went into lockdown after a youth was seen with a knife following a fight; and in 2019 a bomb scare forced both Whangārei Intermediate School and neighbouring boys’ high into lockdown.

“Knowing full well that we aren’t immune to shootings as seen by March 15 [the Christchurch mosque attack], it would be a disservice to our children to not have them prepared,” Crossley said.

Harrison, who helps schools develop emergency management plans, said students were told to put their phones away and not contact parents during an emergency to avoid misinformation and confusion.

He said it was learnings from the Christchurch mosque attack of 2019 in which Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 people.

“That was an issue for some schools where their students had access to some of that imagery,” he said.

Harrison explained a good response would ensure there was no confusion and students could focus on what they needed to.

Practising drills ensures the initial response to an emergency is less traumatic than the event itself, he said.

Police at the entrance to Kerikeri High School during a lockdown in 2021. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Ministry of Education network and regulatory general manager Ray McMillan said school boards are responsible for ensuring the safety and wellbeing obligations for students, staff and visitors are met.

This includes making sure an up-to-date emergency plan is in place and emergency response readiness is regularly tested and reviewed.

The ministry guides schools as needed to develop their own unique emergency management plan, which needs to incorporate policy changes such as the prohibition of cell phones during the school day.

Concerned parents or caregivers should contact the school involved, McMillan said.

Brodie Stone is the education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.