For schools, security needs to protect students, staff, and facilities without adding complexity to the school day. At Hamilton's Nawton School, Gallagher Security and ASSA ABLOY delivered a solution that does exactly that – providing intuitive, centralized access control across more than 120 doors while simplifying everyday operations.
Replacing an ageing access control system, the school implemented Gallagher Command Centre integrated with ASSA ABLOY Aperio E103 wireless locks. Staff now use a single mobile credential or physical fob to access authorized areas, while the leadership team has complete visibility and control of access across the entire campus from one central platform.
A growing school needed a smarter solution
Nawton School is home to three streams of education operating side by side: mainstream English Aunoa, bilingual Reo-Rua, and total immersion Rumaki Māori. Spread across 25 classrooms, administration buildings, a hall, pool facilities, storage areas, and community spaces, the school required an access control system that could support a diverse range of users while remaining easy to manage.
Its previous system had become increasingly unreliable.
"We had a legacy electronic system, but each door operated independently and didn't communicate with the others," says Assistant Principal Mark O'Brien. "Some batteries needed charging every few days, and when something failed it could take weeks or even months to fix".
The school also needed to accommodate contractors and community groups using facilities outside school hours, requiring flexible permissions that could be updated quickly.
After speaking with other schools and visiting Waikato Hospital to see Gallagher Command Centre in operation, the choice became clear.
Wireless locks, centralized control
Rather than replacing existing doors or installing extensive cabling throughout the campus, Nawton School deployed ASSA ABLOY Aperio E103 wireless locks integrated with Gallagher Command Centre.
The wireless solution allowed the school to retrofit access control into existing buildings while managing every lock through a single interface. Local Gallagher Certified Channel Partner Arc managed the installation, a process Mark describes as “very smooth”.
"Everything communicates from a central hub through to Gallagher Command Centre," says Steve Cooke, Sales Manager at Gallagher Security. "The team can administer cardholders, issue credentials, monitor activity, and generate reports all from one dashboard".
The integration demonstrates how schools can modernize their security without major disruption or costly infrastructure upgrades.
Having real-time central control is game changing. We've gone from me having to go to each door to fix faults, to a system on my computer that shows me where the faults are, diagnoses them, and tells me which doors need battery changes. It's made maintenance far more streamlined and effective.
Mark O'Brien, Nawton School
Simpler security every day
For the school's leadership team, the greatest benefit has been visibility and control. From Gallagher Command Centre, staff can instantly see who is accessing doors, suspend lost credentials, assign temporary permissions to contractors or relief staff, and create access groups based on roles.
“Having real-time central control is game changing,” says Mark. “We’ve gone from me having to go to each door to fix faults, to a system on my computer that shows me where the faults are, diagnoses them, and tells me which doors need battery changes. It’s made maintenance far more streamlined and effective”.
If maintenance work requires part of the school to be closed, doors can be locked or reopened remotely. Temporary permissions can be granted in minutes and removed just as easily.
The result is a system that works quietly in the background while giving administrators confidence that the right people have access to the right spaces at the right time.
Reliable when it matters most
Nearly two years after installation, the solution has proven both reliable and low maintenance.
"Since installation, it's been night and day compared with our old system," says Mark. "We've only had to change batteries in one lock out of more than 120."
For emergencies, the school runs a ‘fire drop’ system. “When the fire alarm goes off, anytime, 24/7, Command Centre tells the gates to open to let fire trucks in,” says Mark. “It saves one of the management team having to rush down to open them.” Automating that response speeds up emergency access to the school, helping keep students, staff and property safe.
The school also retains mechanical master keys as a backup, providing an additional layer of resilience should they ever be required.
Security that scales with your organization
Nawton School demonstrates that enterprise-grade access control isn't reserved for high-security or high-risk facilities.
By combining Gallagher Command Centre with ASSA ABLOY Aperio wireless locks, the school has implemented a flexible, integrated solution that's simple to manage, easy to expand, and designed around the needs of everyday users.
It’s an approach ASSA ABLOY sees working across the education sector. “Modern school security needs to protect students and staff while remaining unobtrusive,” says Ethan King, Digital Access Solutions specialist at ASSA ABLOY. “Access should be controlled, auditable and secure, but it shouldn’t interrupt teaching, learning or routine site activity.”
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