Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Interestingly, the current head of security is an Old Blue who was on my year so I'm sure he would listen to your concerns...

Great Plum wrote:Interestingly, the current head of security is an Old Blue who was on my year so I'm sure he would listen to your concerns...

Then do have a word, Matt !

I would not attempt to defend the atttitude and responses of the school office and the security staff. Nor would I support any restrictions on visits by Old Blues. However, before criticising the school one should consider just what level of security you require. The school site is huge and its sole external barrier is a five foot high "ring fence." Once within the fence there is a ring of open ground, except by Peele. Then there is a network of buildings, covered doorways, etc. There are also a number of vulnerable points which would be irresponsible to discuss in this open forum.

To give the site even a modicum of security would require a high and reasonably invulnerable outer fence. Access would have to restricted to gates with physical barriers. There would then need to be 24-hour/365 days a year manning at any guard post, plus mobile patrols. There would also need to be some form of pass system, with all adults (including staff) displaying either "resident" passes or "visitor" badges. Say, an absolute minimum of three security men on duty at any one time, on 4-way shifts, plus superrvisors, cover for leave, sickness, etc, and you are talking a minimum of 20 people, possibly more. The capital cost would be significant and the running cost (staff costs plus maintenance, flood lighting, etc) considerable.

As always in such matters, you get what you are prepared to pay for. Could securityy at the school be improved? Of course it could. Would it cost a lot of money? Yes. So, from where else in the school budget could money be diverted? Ah, now you're talking.

Anywhere can be broken into given time and thought, but you have to decide where you want to place the main security.
Since the main people to be kept safe are the pupils, I was quite impressed that when on Old Blues Day, we were invited to visit a house, security was such that without aid and knowledge of the system, it was almost impossible to get out. So I assume, it was equally difficult to get in.
I would imagine that all pupils know how to get out in case of emergency, but without their help, I would have been leaping out of windows.
I have also been critical of the ease with which one can get into CH, but the main security has always been people recognising people who should not be there and following through with their suspicions.
That said, no-one has stopped me when I have wandered round and most pupils have politely said hallo, so either they don't consider me a threat, or the system isn't working too well.
I wonder if there are any statistics about security problems, since these would put the whole matter in perspective?

jhopgood wrote:That said, no-one has stopped me when I have wandered round ?

I who lived at the schol, father teachers at the school would get stopped occasioally to ask who i was!!! (especially if heading past security hut to go see dad in design school).

I think the security is adequate-if were not do you think the parents would send their kids?

I think the best sort of security is one that is effective without being intrusive. I am quite sure that any would-be predator would find it a lot less easy than the editor of the Old Blue to enter and predatorate around the site. (Not that I am suggesting John would ever have any particularly evil intent!) Once detected, escape would not be so easy either, given the size and intricacies of the school grounds. Anyone looking lost would become much more noticeable than a nostalgic Blue revisiting his former home. In a closed community such as CH news travels fast and community support is strong if intangible and unseen.

That said, security is constantly under review, and I know for a fact is already under reappraisal by the senior management, for there is always room for improvement.

Any parent or prospective parent reading this thread has absolutely no reason to be worried. As an Old Blue whose child has only just left the school, I am quite certain that the children at CH are as safe if not safer than they would be in their home environment. If that is true for our family which lives in one of the quietest and safest villages in all England, how much truer it is for the many children who have been forced to become streetwise in their inner city homelands

jhopgood wrote:... I would have been leaping out of windows

Amend "leaping" to read "scrambling inelegantly and slowly"

Be realistic, Mr Editor.

DavebytheSea wrote:I think the best sort of security is one that is effective without being intrusive. I am quite sure that any would-be predator would find it a lot less easy than the editor of the Old Blue to enter and predatorate around the site. (Not that I am suggesting John would ever have any particularly evil intent!) Once detected, escape would not be so easy either, given the size and intricacies of the school grounds. Anyone looking lost would become much more noticeable than a nostalgic Blue revisiting his former home. In a closed community such as CH news travels fast and community support is strong if intangible and unseen.

That said, security is constantly under review, and I know for a fact is already under reappraisal by the senior management, for there is always room for improvement.

Any parent or prospective parent reading this thread has absolutely no reason to be worried. As an Old Blue whose child has only just left the school, I am quite certain that the children at CH are as safe if not safer than they would be in their home environment. If that is true for our family which lives in one of the quietest and safest villages in all England, how much truer it is for the many children who have been forced to become streetwise in their inner city homelands

Dave,

I'm not doubting that de facto pupils are safe through one or more of several factors, the complexity of buildings and the estate just being one.

That said, IF the school is going to have a security post at a gate (with other gates being apparently locked) then at least it should be manned either physically or by video / phone link. Thus one can be given formal permission to enter the premises whereas anyone found on the premises without having received such permission (whether they went through an open gate or over the fence) is in a far weaker position regarding the school's rights to have him removed and the suggestion even being leaked that there was concern about his intentions viz-a-viz the pupils. One such mention in the local paper and the number of unauthorised visits would fall dramatically.

Another matter; if all entrances but the PO Path gate are locked then how do the emergency services get in quickly in case of need?

I have seldom found myself unable to contact security when the gates are locked - all have a press button speakerphone system.

The fire service can access the property at all times - believe me I KNOW! (No comments, please, from existing pupils - somebody's inadvertant little accident last term was extremely embarrassing).

Policing the school has its challenges - there is a public right of way across Big Side - but the school's record shows just how effective the school's record is at keeping unwanted intruders out.

I think everyone is over-reacting a little here.

It is well known thayt the most danger to anyone (except people like Rhys Jones and that poor Polish woman yesterday -wrong place, wrong tiime) is posed by someone they know. Anyone who really wanted get in and do damage is not going to be stopped by 24/7 security.

To put this into perspective a local girls (boarding) school currently has the station carpark on its grounds while a mult-storey carpark is built on the original site.

Oh no, I have opened a can of worms!!

I have a little knowledge of security as I work on an MoD approved site and have had those freindly men in dark glasses (the american sort) go through my backgound to check I don't know anyone called Osama with a nice cave in Pakistan......

however, as per my thread above, overt security has to be that - obvious and in place - to have a gatehouse, unmanned and with no effective contact system questions the capability of the system to counter any risk. If it was covert/community based, then no outsider knows where to look for countermeasures, and is thus possibly a more effective deterrent. Neither system stops the chancer, or the sociopath who has little regard for their own safety or welfare.

Plum, get your mate to log on and have a look, as with all things perception is reality, and if some of us percieve there to be a problem then others will, and he will need to address it and put in corrective actions.

CASE CLOSED

cstegerlewis wrote:Rang on Saturday morning, introduced myself as an Old Blue, and TBH received very short shrift from the office, who I have to say were most unhelpful, other than saying you will have to 'negotiate' with security when you arrive.

Just out of interest, was it the school office you contacted? I only ask because I don't think the CHA office would have been staffed on a Saturday.

It's usually best to contact Wendy at the CHA if you want to arrange a visit. A bit of notice is always appreciated, but you will find her extremely helpful and welcoming to Old Blues.

Details here: http://www.chassociation.org/contacts/index.php

School Office, as recommended by DBTS

All in the past now.......

Dear All,

CH does take security extremely seriously and although i do not wish to open a lengthy debate on the forum please feel free to contact me via email with any questions or concerns. My email is simply pn@christs-hospital.org.uk

Suggestions and any observations are always welcome,

Kind Regards

Peter

Peter Newell
Senior Security Officer
CH

Nicely done, Peter.