Private School News

SCHOOL PROVES TECHNOLOGY IS KEY TO FUTURE SECURITY

One of Britain’s leading boarding schools has become the first in the country to lock its doors and throw away the keys!

Rossall School, situated on Lancashire’s coastline to the north of Blackpool, is believed to be the first UK boarding school to switch to technology to keep its pupils safe and secure by installing an electronic keyless entry system on its 160 acre campus: home to around 600 boarding and day pupils and a permanent boarding population of around 300 pupils and teachers.

The new computer-controlled system, which dispenses with the need for conventional locks and keys, works with electronic data cards and sensors placed next to points of exit and entry. Resembling a conventional credit card, the new security access cards have been given to staff and pupils and are programmed to unlock doors when passed within feet of electronic proximity sensors, positioned at main entry points in the School buildings. The wall-mounted sensors employ intelligent technology that enables individual pupils to be recognized through personal data programmed into their access cards, thereby allowing them access to all or only part of the campus facilities, depending upon need and security clearance.

The first phase of the installation involves Rossall School’s ‘Pelican House,’ a recently refurbished accommodation and study block for senior boarding pupils. The Grade II listed building has been fitted with proximity sensors adjacent to outer and inner doorways and each sensor is programmed to allow entry only to pupils from the House, their teachers and essential ancillary staff. Pupils from other school houses would be barred from entering, unless accompanied by a card holder, as would visitors or any unauthorized personnel.

Built around special security and access software, called ‘Fusion’, the Rossall system has been customized to suit the particular needs of a busy boarding school environment. In accommodation areas, students use cards to open outer doors, at which point the card sensor recognizes the individual and allows a pre-programmed amount of time to elapse before automatically activating the door lock on the student’s own bed/study room. The time allowed per student is determined by the distance between the individual’s room and the access point. This facility dispenses with the need for individual card readers on bedroom doors, thus dramatically reducing costs and making keyless systems a viable proposition for schools.

A standard PC in each building, operating on the ‘Windows XP’ platform, controls the system: monitoring and recording all card usage and enabling house parents to identify the exact location of any pupil on campus. The system is designed to operate even in the event of power failure or fire. In the event of fire, all internal and external doors are programmed to open automatically to allow safe escape from buildings.

In addition to major security benefits, the smart technology employed in the system enables security cards to store other data. This allows students to use cards in the school’s campus shop and also in its dining room – recording all transactions as part of a move to make Rossall the country’s first cash-free campus. In time, it is planned that students will also be able to present the cards in the School’s on site international restaurant, Mondo Café, which is another pioneering venture in UK education, bringing a commercial restaurant operation onto the campus, exclusively for pupils, parents, teachers and visitors.
With a programme of building refurbishment planned for Rossall’s 165-year-old campus, the new security system will be rolled out to other areas of the School as an integral part of each phase of building development.

Commenting on the new system, Rossall School’s headmaster, Dr Stephen Winkley said: “We’re delighted to be the first boarding school in Britain to adopt such technology and it is already proving popular with staff and students in particular, who are always quick to embrace new technology.

“Having such a large campus and a resident population equivalent to a small village means that security issues are paramount and we are always looking to improve our systems to ensure that our school remains a safe and secure environment for our children. This system gives us peace of mind and is proving more efficient than conventional locks and keys. For a start, it is impossible for a door to be left open inadvertently by a member of staff or a pupil; therefore we know that our perimeter security has been stiffened a great deal. The additional benefits allowing us to monitor movement and location of children are also extremely important, particularly in the event of fires or other threats to safety on campus, because in such cases we will know exactly how many people are in a particular building at any time, thereby enabling more effective evacuation. Of course, such instances are very rare, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be prepared.”

Photo: Keyless access system technology will soon be used to replace all cash transactions, making Rossall a cash-free campus.