New security system for Clitheroe school

Moorland, which was founded 1931, is a thriving co-educational day and boarding school providing education for children aged from two to 16.

The challenge it faced was to continue to allow access throughout the school, whilst maintaining security – something that was becoming increasingly difficult on a day-to-day basis due to the large number of keys that were necessary.  

As the school continues to grow, particularly with plans to provide a sixth form college this summer, the problem will only escalate.

And the additional pressures of ensuring dormitories cannot be accessed by visitors, unauthorised staff and pupils further heightened the challenge.

As the school caters for a wide age group there is a real need to ensure efficient security for pupils, staff and equipment and this is made more complicated by the numerous school buildings located on the 15 acre site.  As well as being a high performance school it also has boarders to contend with onsite and this presents a unique challenge for security and safeguarding people and property. With security high on the agenda Moorland School head teacher Jonathan Harrison looked to East Lancashire-based Progeny to provide an efficient, cost effective and manageable solution to it’s access control and security needs. Currently, more than 60 doors are being managed by the Progeny system and access is achieved via a combination of sticky dots, key fobs, cards and ID badges. As well as the teaching staff and school management being able to freely move throughout the school using these methods, all students have also been equipped with an entry card thus improving access throughout the school and helping to increase efficiency of movement equating to more time spent in the class room. The system manages and monitors access in the nursery, kindergarten, junior and senior school, sports hall, accommodation areas for the boarders and all of the other buildings and rooms throughout the school including the school’s state-of-the-art sports hall and complex. Johnathan Harrison, Headteacher at Moorland School, has been delighted with the installation.

Commenting on the P3 online system, he said: “Students and house parents have all commented that they feel safe, and that their belongings and personal space is far more protected than before.”

Jonathan added that he feels comfortable in the knowledge that the schools most valuable assets are protected.

“Safeguarding children is our greatest responsibility and therefore our greatest risk. I have embedded the Progeny access control system as our first line of defence in the safeguarding and protection of the children and adults within our community.”