West Berkshire schools defend using CCTV in toilets

It has emerged that both Theale Green Community School and Denefield School, Tilehurst, have CCTV in their toilets.
The information was made public following a survey carried out by a campaign group called Big Brother Watch, who want to reduce the amount of surveillance cameras in schools.
According to Big Brother Watch the 2,000 schools and academies they surveyed have a total of 100,000 CCTV cameras.
Two-hundred of those schools have cameras in their toilets or changing rooms, with Theale Green and Denefield confirming they have four and two cameras in their toilets respectively.
Headteacher at Theale Green, Sue Marshall said school has had cameras in its toilets for ten years and they view the entrance and communal sinks.
“Sometimes bullying can take place in the toilets, so it allows us to look at the film and identify the problem that has occurred and the people involved. They absolutely do not infringe on privacy, they simply add to the safety of the children.”
She added: “It’s actually very rare that we look at the film at all, but in situations where vandalism or bullying has taken place, it has been used positively to identify the people involved and acts as a deterrent.”
Meanwhile, assistant headteacher at Denefield School, Mike Boys described Big Brother Watch’s report as ‘scaremongering’.
He said: “We have never had cameras in changing rooms. We have CCTV on the sinks in some toilets so we can see who is coming and going. It’s for student safety and also if there is vandalism we can quickly identify who was around at the time.
“There is no invasion of privacy. The private areas of the toilet cannot be seen by CCTV cameras.”
Mr Boys also said the school has vision panels so teachers can see sinks in their toilets.
“Parents say they wish there had been similar arrangements when they were at school and students are happier now because the toilets are no longer intimidating places,” Mr Boys added.
Public relations manager at West Berkshire Council, Keith Ulyatt said it is for individual schools to decide whether to install CCTV within their buildings.
Meanwhile Big Brother Watch has asked the Government to carry out an independent review of CCTV use in schools.