Parents say they were confused about the purpose of a lockdown at an Ashburton school on Monday.
Tinwald School was locked down for about half an hour from 9.50am after police were notified of a man allegedly carrying a firearm on Harland St.
A Ministry of Education spokesperson said police asked it to instruct Tinwald School to go into lockdown.
A notice was then sent to parents from acting principal Sue Wakefield.
"We were requested by (the) ministry to exercise our Lockdown Procedures this morning," the notice read.
"We were able to do this with great success, having everyone safe and accounted for in a reasonable time frame."
The notice also mentioned police cars driving around the school and false rumours about gunshots, but did not say police had advised the ministry to instruct the school to go into lockdown.
Many parents turned to Facebook to express how confused they were by the school's message sent out later in the day.
Some said they understood the lockdown was a drill.
"I was under the impression they were practicing a lockdown procedure," said one parent.
Wakefield declined to comment on the lockdown when contacted by The Ashburton Courier.
Meanwhile, the potential weapon involved in the Harland St incident was later found to be a toy.
Police said yesterday they had spoken with the people behind the incident and made the relevant referrals.
