A consultant gives his view on the priorities of protecting school premises and people. First, we ask about the differences – if any – between private and state schools. From the March print magazine.
John Archbold, a member of the Association of Security Consultants, has done consultancy work for local authorities and independent schools. The former police officer has a background in crime prevention and CCTV, and has worked as a consultant since 2002. He estimates that about 80 per cent of his work is with schools.
Same risks
Speaking generally about private and state schools, John Archbold does not see a lot of difference between the two sectors, which are exposed to the same risks. One difference he identifies is in location; independent schools tend to be in less disadvantaged areas, so their exposure to extremes of risk are not the same. But that is not to say that even exclusive schools do not suffer from crime, nor that private school bursars do not seek security solutions to, say, burglary. John says: “Sadly, local police crime prevention officers used to take care of these issues, but now they are quite thinly spread on the ground and the time they can spend on such projects is often very limited.” Private schools, particularly, have also to be seen to be more vigilant, John suggests, in tackling crime. If a boarder’s parents is paying perhaps more than £20,000 a year in education fees, the parents are concerned about their child’s security. Perimeter security can be a forelorn hope (see separate article) because even with a spend of tens of thousands of pounds, there could be a weakness in a perimeter half a mile or a mile long (and not forgetting that security measures may be to keep the pupils in, besides villains out). Taking the established, layered-onion approach to site protection, John suggests ‘core protection’. Taking pre-prep and primary schools as an example, he suggests providing safe and secure areas when children are at play. Ultimately, John says, the child is the most important thing to protect, rather than, say, a flat-screen monitor.
Fencing balance
Palisade fencing is the perimeter option most schools choose, though there are other options. What of the argument that fencing, while securing a site, makes a school (or indeed a university or head office, that may use the same sort of stately-home building as a private school) look like a prison? John reports feed-back that parents are more concerned about the safety of their children than how the school building looks. While he sees the aesthetic side of the issue, he speaks of the other side of the balance; namely the need to protect a school from intruders, local youths who may turn out to be arsonists. Or, unauthorised intruders may enter the school grounds with golf club and a bag of balls. At first they may be harmless enough, practising their swing; but the last thing they may do is to use the windows for target practice.
About the man: John Archbold has worked with more than 50 schools in the last couple of years. Clients (listed on his website) in the private school sector have included Gordonstoun; Ripon Cathedral Choir School; and Deepdene School, near Brighton.
Preventing the ability of an offender to approach a site like a school is extremely difficult, warns consultant John Archbold.
Ideally the outer perimeter is the place to start, but realistically these perimeters can be hundreds of metres long. Even with say a three metre tall fence, weaknesses will be found and if the perimeter is not set back from features on the outside of this line, then a host of items can be found or used to climb over. I prefer to concentrate on core protection, short spans of fencing linking existing security features, buildings, sports facility fencing and so on. Sound security of doors, including access control, and windows that are restricted from opening too far. Most school managers worry about losses through burglaries and arson, but protection of children and staff, particulary younger children must be a priority, followed by asset protection out of those hours.
Community use
However, community use of schools is increasing tremendously, with even independent schools realising this lucrative channel of revenue. This added dimension of risk will inevitably have a knock-on affect, with the likelihood that electronic security will increasingly be sought as a solution.
