Acting principal Michele Whiting said the men entered the grounds before school had started and were thought to have been there for about five minutes before being noticed by the students and a teacher.
“Members of the public appeared to be using cellphones to, what appeared to be, film the students. The students sought help from a teacher,” she said.
“The teacher had noticed and started to leave her classroom and go towards them and that’s when the two members of the public left.”
The students’ parents were informed the same day, Whiting said.
“As far as I know and the board know, everyone is comfortable with how it was managed and the students are fine,” she said.
“I’m not too sure what we could have done to either have prevented that or to stop it from happening in the future, except to ensure that our students know what to do when someone approaches them. That’s probably the most important thing, is that keeping ourselves safe procedure that is taught in school.”
Nearby residents using school as thoroughfare
In a letter to parents two days after the event, Principal Aroha Hohepa described the extra security measures put in place.
“Staff were extra vigilant whilst on duty, we checked the school perimeter each day, we discussed stranger danger at assembly, and the very next morning I locked the gate closest to Hobson Crescent.”
However, she noted the locked gate had inconvenienced local residents, who used a public pathway running through the school grounds as a shortcut to Murphy Street.
“Pedestrians either ignored the sign and climbed over the fence, or walked through our kura via the bottom courts to then access the back gates to get to Hobson Crescent, a far more intrusive path through our school,” Hohepa said.
“I want it known, my responsibility sits squarely with the safety of our mokopuna, not the shortcut for someone to get a cream bun at the local supermarket.”
The gate had since been reopened and additional security measures, including fencing, were being discussed, she wrote.
Thorndon Residents Association chair Richard Murcott said he alerted members after receiving an email from the school on the afternoon of the filming, saying the community was very concerned.
“We’re at the nexus of the city where lots of people come into the city and lots of people exit through Thorndon/Pipitea,” he said.
“Thorndonites are pretty aware and smart to what’s going on, pretty alert to what’s happening. They would, and do, respond, eyes and ears, and take care about what’s happening in the community.”
Murcott later met with the school and was told people had taken shortcuts through the grounds while the gate was locked.
“As far as I’m concerned they were trespassing. The public haven’t got the right to wander through a school willy-nilly however they please.”
It was worrying and surprising the two men had not been found, Murcott said.
Ministry offers support
The Ministry of Education said it was advised of the filming almost two weeks after the event and had not received any complaints about how the matter was handled.
“The school principal advised us of the incident on 11 September 2023. We offered to fund counselling for the students involved along with a general offer of any other assistance that the school may require,” Hautū (leader) Te Tai Runga (South) Nancy Bell said.
However, Thorndon School had managed the incident and student wellbeing, she said, which meant the ministry’s offer was not taken up.
“Schools have their own policies and procedures to make sure it is a safe environment for all students.”
Police were asking anyone with information that could identify the men to come forward.
