Education Business 18.4 by PSI Media

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION – www.educationbusinessuk.net

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Stuart Naisbett examines the daily security concerns that staff within the education sector have to deal with, and considers what the sector should you look for when employing security staff

The provision of security personnel to the education sector has been historically centred on those establishments that are in the further and higher education sectors, colleges, and universities. Schools however with the exception of the public school sector, have had to rely mainly on what is termed within the security industry as ‘physical security’ gates, fences, and turnstiles usually supported by some means of electronic security equipment such as access control and intruder alarm systems. As we are all aware, educational establishments at primary and secondary school level rely on funding from the local education authority and it times of austerity budgets are tight, and as should be expected, what little additional funds there are, are better put to use providing teaching aids to enhance the students learning rather than providing for their security. In colleges and universities the security of the students is mainly funded from the fees charged to attend courses. In researching for this article to look at the government’s standpoint I could not find any definitive policy with much of the funding strategy being focused on the building of new

schools and maintenance of existing facilities. Research also noted that the last research by the Department for Education was carried out by Richard Lloyd and Charlene Ching from GHK in April 2003, and the guidance for schools was originally published in 1996 and updated in 2012. SECURITY CONCERNS The research project undertaken by Lloyd and Ching identified a number of key findings into school security concerns. LEAs reported their key security concern as the personal safety of staff, pupils and visitors to schools premises. “External” incidents, including intrusion to school premises, vandalism, arson and burglary, were ranked higher in all incidents compared with “internal” threats. Intrusion was seen as the greatest of these concerns. In addition to LEAs and schools, those who played a key role in school security included the police, fire service, providers (insurers, equipment providers and maintenance contractors), consultants and community representatives. The benefit of

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a multi-agency approach was emphasised. You will notice that there is no mention of private security companies. The guideline itself concentrates on the “Improvement of Security in Schools” following the tragic incidents of the 1990s; the fatal stabbing of Headmaster Phillip Lawrence and the other incidents in St Luke’s School and Dunblane. But as stated the cost of providing appropriate security measures is often prohibitive and does not form part of the schools ‘security strategy’. Colleges and universities however do not necessarily have the same restrictions and employ contract security personnel to be on the premises 24/7. Each college and university will have their own set procedures that they will require their contracted provider to follow and the provider in return will have their own company procedures that they will require their employees to follow, so no confusion for the staff there.

Written by Stuart Naisbett, Management Board member of the International Professional Security Association

SOUNDING OUT SCHOOL SECURITY

Security