A Kent-based firm Safe School Technologies is launching the first smart security systems designed specifically and solely to protect pupils and safeguard schoolteachers.
A 2006 Home Office report into school security [Home Office Safer Schools and Hospitals Project] found that many schools remain unsafe and at risk from intruders, and have inadequate procedures for reporting violent incidents.
Born out of the belief that schools’ security needs are not being fully addressed by generic security companies servicing everything from supermarkets to building sites, Safe School Technologies (SST) manufactures, installs and maintains a range of patented education-centric products designed to deter violent behaviour and protect students, teachers and visitors.
The products include: ‘SentryVision’, using CCTV technology it can be deployed to monitor hotspot areas and record and archive any incidents; ‘ImpartialView’, which not only sees but hears, so that a school will have a record of both sides of a story if an allegation is made; and ‘TeacherVista’, SST’s continuing professional development product which gives teachers the ability to record themselves teaching, to build up a teaching bank that can be accessed by trainee teachers and/or pupils unable to attend.
‘ImpartialView’ will be of particular interest to teachers who are concerned about false accusations being made against them. The Headspace National Survey, carried out for the Guardian and education consultancy Ed-Coms and published in September 2007, found that almost 60% of teachers had suffered false accusations in the past three years.
Hamish Chalmers, managing director of Safe School Technologies, says: “Unlike school meals, security does not have its own league table but - nevertheless - attacks, intruders, vandalism and other problems are all too common in our schools.
"Our new approach to security will provide practical defences that will particularly help protect staff, pupils and visitors during school hours from potential threats from local youths, disgruntled ex-pupils and parents, as well as from potentially damaging false allegations from within the school walls. It is our firm belief that if pupils and teachers in a school feel safe and secure, it is much easier for the school as a whole to flourish.” (more)