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Today’s security considerations
for tomorrow’s generation
» » CRIS FRANCIS, SECURITY
Consultant at Jacksons Fencing
discusses key challenges for
designing and delivering a
secure school environment.
When designing any facility
for the education sector,
security should always be
considered. Every day ten
million children attend
schools across the country.
Parents not only entrust their
children’s education to head
teachers and their staff, but
also their security. However,
at Jacksons, we recently
commissioned a special report
into the education sector
which highlighted a number
of security concerns. We
consulted 1,000 parents, 280
teachers and 75 architects on
a range of security issues in
schools.
The research called attention
to key weaknesses that need to
be addressed. 23% of parents
believe their school’s security
provision is not appropriate.
It’s arguably the weak points
in perimeter security and
access that contribute to this
perception. There is agreement
across architects, parents and
teachers that school perimeters
all have weak points:
• 32% of architects
• 41% of parent
• 29% of teachers
What’s interesting is that it’s
amongst architects – perhaps
because they deal with these
issues more regularly – that
assessments of weaknesses are
slightly more pronounced than
those of parents.
A contributory factor to
perimeter weaknesses is the
age of many school buildings
themselves. External data shows
that 67% of all schools were
built between 1944 and 1976,
which still have perimeters in
place that reflect the standards
or indeed budgets of the time,
or have not been renewed or
replaced since (72% of architects
note that aging perimeters are a
problem).
The issues older schools
have is in stark contrast to new
schools, which are subject
to a myriad of regulations –
including the provision that
there must be a single main
site entrance (with drop off
facilities), and that public
footpaths stay outside the
boundary perimeter. But
not only do our results show
architects worry about schools
continuing to have multiple
entrances (89% worry about
this), it’s still the case that a
third (34%) of schools can be
accessed directly via public
footpaths, rendering tighter
security measures all the more
challenging.
Once the security concerns
detailed above are identified,
the next step is how to tackle
them. Troublingly, only half
of architects are familiar with
the LPS 1175 standard, a
system that rates products on
how long they can withstand
a sustained attack. The fact
that half of architects surveyed
admit to not knowing about
this standard (especially
when the research showed
performance is supposedly
their top priority) could be
seen as a little unnerving.
Only one-third of architects
see both SBD (Secured
by Design) certified and
LPS 1175 rated products
specified, meaning there is a
lost opportunity for them to
propose solutions that meet
security concerns.
Richard Flint, Physical
Security Technical and
Business Development
Manager at Building Research
Establishment (BRE), the
organisation responsible for
LPS 1175 ratings, comments:
“Investing in effective
perimeter protection, such
as fencing systems and gates
that are approved to LPS
1175, can actually deliver a
positive return by reducing
the incidence of burglary
and vandalism, and their
associated costs.
“This is a prime opportunity
for architects to help heads
by promoting industry best
practice, including the use
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of standards such as LPS
1175, and to take the lead in
ensuring that the educational
facilities they design provide a
safe and secure environment
in which our children can
develop and flourish.”
Architects should start
playing more of an advisory
role and challenge heads
about what they think they
need. This is all the more
prescient given 71% of
refurbishment specifications
are for them to simply repeat
what’s already there, and 17%
are actually down-specified.
Given the biggest perimeter
issues are low fence heights
and gaps, specifiers should
arguably be looking for more
risk-appropriate alternatives.
It’s clear from the research
that we’re still a long way
off from having completely
secure educational facilities.
Fortunately the study seems
to suggest that all parties are
in agreement about what the
common weak points are, which
is the first step. Crucially what
needs to be agreed on is how
to tackle it. Architects should
take note of LPS 1175 rated
products and work with heads
to make sure the right solutions
are specified. Together they
can secures premises for future
generations.
www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk