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Under the Education and Training Act 2020, the school board must make sure school is a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff.
An emergency plan for the workplace is required under the Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016.
Learn more about health and safety responsibilities for schools.
Bulletins
During ongoing emergencies, we communicate with schools through the School Leaders Bulletin and Early Learning Bulletin. All school leaders are signed up to the bulletin, and receive it regularly by email. If your school doesn't get bulletins, contact us.
Email: [email protected]
Making and maintaining an emergency plan#
The board must maintain and keep the emergency management plan up to date. It needs to be shared with whānau | parents and caregivers.
The emergency management plan must have:
- details of roles and responsibilities
- evacuation procedures
- procedures for notifying emergency service organisations
- communication plan for families and support services
- medical treatment and assistance procedures.
Our guide provides practical information for school emergency management plans.
Use this emergency management template to help your school prepare an emergency management plan.
Pandemic plan#
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, school boards have to manage potential or real outbreaks of communicable disease. These include influenza, measles and Covid-19.
Mataara#
We use emergency contact tool Mataara to connect with schools as quickly and simply as possible.
We will text message and email your emergency cellphone number and email address if there is an emergency in your area. You must let us know if your contact details change.
The text comes from 8707. This number will only be used by us.
You can then reply to us with the status of your school. The text message and email will have instructions on how to do this. You cannot text us first.
If we don’t hear back from you, we will quickly follow up to check on you.
Share school information with police#
Police use a tool called Realtime Intelligence for Operational Deployment (RIOD). This helps them to respond to your school quickly if needed.
To have your school information added to RIOD, you can send them:
- school contact details, including important cellphone numbers
- the school emergency management plan
- the school's site plan, including a helicopter landing site and where keys are kept
- shelter-in-place or lockdown procedures.
Plans will be saved securely and geotagged in the RIOD tool.
Email plans to NZ Police.
Email: [email protected]
For more information, contact your local Police.
Email: [email protected]
States of emergency #
When a state of emergency is declared, special authority to make public safety decisions is given to:
- local Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) groups
- the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
These groups will make decisions such as closing roads or public places.
Closing schools#
The Secretary of Education also has powers to close schools and early learning services under the Education and Training Act 2020.
The Secretary will usually only use these powers:
- at the request of NEMA or CDEM groups
- on the advice of public health officials.
Powers for the Secretary for Education
What to do if a state of emergency is declared#
A state of local or national emergency does not mean you need to close your school.
If a state of emergency is declared in your area and your school is not directed to close, your board can decide that your school will stay open. This decision will be based on your understanding of your local risk context and advice from local emergency services.
In these situations, our role is to support you, rather than assess or verify threats. We encourage you to follow your emergency management plans and any advice or direction given by emergency services.
Managing threats#
If your school receives a threat by email, post or phone, call NZ Police.
Police will assess the information you give them, determine whether it is credible, and tell you what actions you need to take. This may include a lockdown, evacuation or another safety measure.
- Call 111 for emergency incidents.
- Call 105 for non-emergency incidents.
You can also complete an online report for non-emergency events.
Mōhiohio anō
More information
If you need help with your emergency management plan, contact your regional office.
