Sussex schools install CCTV cameras in toilets (From The Argus)

Sussex schools install CCTV cameras in toilets

8:16am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News By Siobhan Ryan

Sussex schools install CCTV cameras in toilets

Schools in Sussex are installing CCTV cameras in changing rooms and toilets as a security measure.

The information was revealed in a report published today by the Big Brother Watch campaign group.

The group contacted schools around the country, asking them for details on the number of security cameras they had and where they were installed.

Specific details for individual schools were not revealed in the report.

However it found the Priory School in Lewes had four cameras in either changing rooms or toilet and washroom areas, while Hastings Academy and William Parker Sports College in Hastings had one apiece.

Longhill School in Rottingdean has a camera by a washroom area that covered the corridor outside.

Headteacher Haydn Stride said: “I do not have a problem with cameras in schools as they give pupils and staff a greater level of security. We have them located around the school and grounds.

“Their main aim is to keep an eye out for intruders and they are constantly monitored.”

The report also found that out of the responses it received, Brighton and Hove had more than 70 CCTV cameras installed at schools across the local authority area, which is higher than the national average.

Patcham High School also had a higher than average number of cameras, with an average of one camera for every 15 students.

A school spokeswoman said: “All of our cameras are situated in corridors or externally, not in toilets or changing rooms.”

Priory headteacher Tony Smith said: “The school has CCTV as a safety measure.

“The cameras record movement inside and outside of the school.

“The CCTV hasmade the site a safer environment.”

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Decisions about security on school premises are a matter for individual schools.”

Big Brother Watch director Nick Pickles said: “The full extent of school surveillance is far higher than we had expected and will come as a shock to many parents.”

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