CCTV for historic school

Tuesday 15th June 2010

A new CCTV system recently supplied to a Scottish school has been praised for greatly enhancing the health and safety of pupils and staff.

St Columbas School in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, was keen to utilise modern technology to protect the grounds of this 19th century, historical school. Scottish Communications proposed a solution involving a CCTV system with movement detection covering the perimeter of the grounds. When activated the system records and activates an alarm signal within the Corps of Commissioners state-ofthe-art CCTV Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) in Glasgow. The ARC views all cameras as if the operator was within the school. If anything suspicious is viewed the police are notified. The ARC operator can also make announcements over a tannoy system to warn an intruder that they are being monitored. The system also allows school management to monitor the grounds during the day as required. The success of the installation has meant there are now plans to protect the senior school with a similar system. Alex Galbraith, the school’s Estate Manager, said: “We wanted a permanent surveillance system that would not only protect the school building outwith school hours but also give staff and parents the comfort of knowing the school environs were being monitored during the day ensuring the safety of pupils. We are very pleased with the operational capability of the system and it is working exceptionally well for us.” Brian Davidson of Scottish Communications said: “The client was very clear and forward thinking with their CCTV system requirements and, because of this commitment, we designed and delivered a professional system that covered all areas. St Columbas may be a historic school but the management certainly embraced modern technology to ensure protection of both pupils and property. This was emphasised by the level of assistance given during the installation by the IT department.”