Waituna West School Crowned as Radio Check Champions
For Waituna West School, their efforts toward emergency preparedness have paid off, having answered the highest number of MDC’s test emergency radio calls in 2025.
Every Wednesday morning during the school term, MDC’s Emergency Management team conduct radio checks across 12 schools in the Manawatū District. MDC’s Civil Defence Emergency Radio Network is installed at mostly small, rural schools, ensuring a direct communication line in the case of an emergency. Following an upgrade from analogue to digital radios in 2025, the radios have been futureproofed, with a stronger signal and are user friendly for tamariki.
For many schools across the District, teachers put older students on a roster to take on the responsibility of answering the call, helping to engage and normalise emergency resilience. Once the radio call is received from MDC, the school’s response is the same line repeated each time, “this is (school name) receiving you loud and clear, over”. MDC’s Emergency Management Officer, Hannah Tokona, shared that the students embrace the sense of responsibility and take pride in protecting their school and classmates.
At the end of the year, MDC’s Emergency Management team tally the number of times each school answered their radio. By awarding the school that responds to the most radio calls throughout the year, tamariki are recognised and celebrated for their engagement in learning emergency preparedness. The winner in 2024 was Halcombe School, and in 2025 it was Waituna West school, who answered the radio 35 times. The certificate and bag of chocolates from MDC’s Emergency Management team was well received by the school, bringing smiles to the faces of tamariki who are proudly doing their bit.
MDC is proud to see Waituna West School celebrated for their diligence and positive, engaged attitude towards emergency preparedness. MDC’s Emergency Management team look forward to continuing to engage with schools across the District and building emergency resilience.
