School Security System Refresh — Tasman Primary

A Tasman primary school had been running the same analogue CCTV system since the buildings opened. The DVRs were failing, half the cameras had degraded image quality, and the access control was a set of padlocks on external gates — no audit trail, no way to revoke a key without replacing locks.

The brief

Replace the CCTV system with IP cameras and a central NVR with remote access for the principal and the board’s health-and-safety lead. Add fob-based access control on six external gates so staff can come and go without physical keys, and so access can be revoked instantly when someone leaves. All work had to happen during school holidays or after hours — no contractors on site while children were present.

Existing system audit

A full site walk-through identified fifteen cameras (mix of coax and twisted-pair, most with weather damage), three DVRs (one dead, two with failing hard drives), and six external gates with various padlocks. The network infrastructure was adequate — CAT5e throughout, a managed PoE switch with spare ports — which meant we could go IP without pulling new structured cabling to every camera position.

Phased rollout

Phase one (July school holidays): replaced all fifteen cameras with 5MP IP turret cameras (PoE), installed a 32-channel NVR with 16TB storage, and commissioned remote viewing via a secure VPN connection for two authorised staff. Phase two (October holidays): installed fob readers and electric strikes on all six external gates, wired back to a central access controller, and enrolled staff fobs. A simple web interface lets the office manager add and revoke fobs without calling a technician.

Outcome

The school now has searchable, high-resolution footage with 60-day retention, instant fob revocation, and an audit log of every gate event. The remote-view capability means the health-and-safety lead can check any camera from home during after-hours alarm events instead of driving to site.