Learning Links

Learning Links Rototuna is a future-forward childcare facility in Hamilton, New Zealand, designed to give children opportunities for learning through play, in an enjoyable and safe environment.

Centre Supervisor, Rebekah Howarth and her team are responsible for the care of up to 87 children, aged zero months to six years.

As a trusted childcare provider, the health and safety of all children at Learning Links Rototuna is a top priority. Rebekah and her team require access in and out of the facility to be tightly managed throughout the day, giving peace of mind that the children in their care and onsite staff are safe. It is also essential that their access control is convenient and simple enough for their 13 staff members to use.

Gallagher SMB answered these needs through its easy to use, cloud-based security solution for access control. “Being able to easily access and control entry and exit of the center from my phone has created a lot of ease. I'm able to schedule times throughout the day when reception is likely to be unmanned, ensuring that those entering and exiting the premises are those that should be.”

A key benefit for Learning Links Rototuna was the ability to have an automated lock system during the hours between parent pick up and drop off to prevent children from opening the doors. With the facility built in line with building code for wheelchair access, the doors were required to be at a height that someone in a wheelchair could exit in an emergency, however this posed a risk of the handles being low enough for some children to reach. Installing Gallagher SMB meant that staff could ensure doors were secure between a given timeframe, alleviating possible health and safety concerns.

“We wanted to take every step we could to ensure the safety of all children at all times. Moving forward, we are looking to extend our usage of the Gallagher SMB app to include access for parents, which would allow us to keep doors secure all day.”

Learning Links Rototuna also conduct regular lockdown practice drills each year to ensure they are well-prepared should an emergency occur. The Gallagher SMB solution allows the facility to quickly secure the main entrances should there be an active risk to the children’s safety.

The flexibility of the Gallagher SMB app means Rebekah can manage after-hours access for their cleaner and visiting contractors entirely from her smartphone, without needing to be onsite. “We have had situations where our cleaner has needed access to the building and I’m out of town at the time, so it’s been convenient for me to unlock the building remotely and lock back up once they’re finished. I can arm and disarm the building and don’t have to be there physically in person which is definitely a big plus.”

By using the history log, Rebekah can also see who has been onsite and when. “I like how it notifies me once the building is disarmed and if someone has entered it since. For security reasons, I can use my smartphone to go back and see who has accessed the site, and at what time.”

Looking forward, Rebekah can see the possibilities of rolling out Gallagher SMB across their various facilities in New Zealand by using the Multi-Site feature, which gives trusted users access to multiple sites, all from the same app.