The February 2011 Canterbury earthquake was a dramatic reminder of the need for schools to have emergency management plans in place. A number of other disaster and hazard events have historically caused New Zealand schools to close temporarily, and often within a short time frame. At such times principals must act decisively and communicate clearly with their communities in complex and difficult circumstances, carrying risk for student well-being. Here we present two hazard-specific New Zealand case studies, pandemic (H1N1) and adverse weather (snowstorm) − both precipitating instances of temporary school closure. Lessons taken from the case studies offer an opportunity for management staff to reflect on how to best plan for and manage environmental hazards precipitating temporary school closure in order to mitigate immediate and long-term risk to pupils and the wider school community.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.