Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service 

School Security Policy 

It is important for Schools and Colleges to have a policy and plan in place to manage and respond to security related incidents. 

This policy complements our Safeguarding Policy and works alongside Emergency Planning Policy and contingency Emergency Plan, Health and Safety and Safety Arrangements, Violence in the Workplace Policy, Bomb Threat Policy, Online Safety Policy, E-Safety Policy and Electronic Information and Communication Policy, Behaviour Policy, Educational Visits Policy, Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy, Social Media Policy, Transport Policy and Violence in the workplace Policy. 

It follows guidance laid out in DfE School and College Security Guidance November 2019 and Emergency Planning and response for education, childcare and children’s social care settings May 2023. It draws on resources produced by Local Authority and NEU Union guidance. 

At Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service, Mrs Rachel Smith is responsible for Health and Safety and is the Designated Senior Lead for Safeguarding. Other DSLs include, Miss Damerall, Headteacher, Miss Willacy, Deputy Head Teacher, Mr Birkenhead Deputy Headteacher and Mrs Higgins RHISE Co-Ordinator.  

Site addresses: 

Roselyn House School, Moss Lane, Leyland, PR25 4SE  

The RHISE Centre, 26 Hastings Road, Leyland, PR25 3SP 

Staff and, where appropriate, students should take personal responsibility for both their own security and the security of those they work and learn alongside. This, along with the effective management and handling of security related matters, should help to ensure that staff and students are able to work and be taught in a safe and secure environment, including the online environment. 

Staff and students should be familiar with what is required by our Security policy and plan. Senior staff should have an awareness of relevant security networks and be able to evaluate and assess the impact of any new initiatives in this Security policy and its day-to-day operation. 

We consider security alongside our safeguarding responsibilities and the legal obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR).  

Health and Safety at Work Act 

The basis of British health and safety law is the HASAWA, and the regulator in schools is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HASAWA sets out the general duties employers must follow to ensure the health and safety of their employees and others on school and college premises. 

The law requires employers to take a common sense and proportionate approach to identify, assess and keep under review health and safety related risks and take steps to reduce or eliminate those risks. This includes security risks where there is a threat of attack on staff and students from within or outside the school or college. 

Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service is owned by KS Education Limited (Employer), The Directors of which are also the Headteacher, S.Damerall and K.Willacy, Deputy Headteacher. 

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 

The MHSWR set out what employers are required to do to manage health and safety on a day to day basis. This includes a requirement for employers to appoint one or more competent persons to oversee workplace health and safety and to support compliance with the regulations. The HSE has also published Employer’s responsibilities: Workers’ health and safety and Education: health and safety in schools, further and higher education on managing risks in the education sector. Mrs R Smith has overall responsibility for the management of Health and Safety across both sites and is classed as our ‘competent person’. 

Responsibility 

This enables us to put arrangements in place to share information quickly and help with the development and review of our policies and plans. In most cases, you are best placed to make decisions about how to respond to incidents on our premises.  

Due to the likelihood of an external incident having an impact on our school we have security risk assessments which extend beyond. 

We have Emergency Planning, Risk Assessment for Educational Visits, Educational Visits Policy and Cyber security audit against Cyber Security Standards along with a Electronic, Information and Communication Policy. These are communicated to staff, available on the website, to Parents/ Carers and help in understanding how to respond to an emergency or incident at school. 

Risk assessment - identifying internal and external security risks and implementing preventative measures 

At Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service we undertake health and safety surveys and risk assessment. We follow the same approach when considering security. We determine the type, frequency and probability of an incident or event happening and then put in place measures either to eliminate or reduce the risk of it occurring. We have dedicated risk assessments which deal with indoor areas, outdoors, lone working, PREVENT, Violence and aggression, Home working, management of infectious diseases, Transporting students, alternative provision, educational visits and visitors.  

There is also guidance on Criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults: county lines, which outlines what county lines and associated criminal exploitation is, the signs to look for in potential victims, and what to do about it in partnership with the police and community safety partners. Further information is available on Safeguarding children who may have been trafficked. 

As part of its response to violent crime the Home Office has also developed a resource pack for teachers and other professionals working with young people at risk of involvement in knife crime. These resources can be used in lessons or alongside other relevant materials to deliver messages and advice to young people on the consequences of knife crime. The campaign signposts teachers and young people to support services. 

Dealing with intruders  

Schools are not public places to which anyone can have access. People entering without permission are trespassers and a variety of approaches are available for dealing with trespassers under the law. The first thing a school should do is to make clear exactly who has authority to be on the premises. 

Some people, in particular staff, students and parents/carers, will have ‘implied’ authority to be present if they would normally be allowed access to the premises. There can be limits to their implied authority to be present. For example, there may be limits on the times and places when their presence is authorised. Parents/ Carers might expect to be allowed on site only when invited. 

Controlling access to school premises  

Signage 

Appropriately worded signs are displayed directing visitors to the school office/reception. In addition, appropriately worded warning signs regarding the presence of an alarm system, monitored CCTV (The RHISE Centre), trespassing and the fact that all property of value on the school premises is property marked is displayed. 

Visitors 

Visitors to the school should not be allowed to wander about the school unaccompanied. Identification provided by local authorities, utilities or other organisations should not be accepted as an alternative to the school’s own system. 

All staff are to wear ID badges and anyone not wearing a badge should be challenged. 

Good access control is essential to the security of the school during the school day. Procedures are in place to ensure that, no one is able to access through the locking of doors and staff only access routes. Once in the building, systems are in place to notify SLT to protect or help students and staff should support become necessary. This is the responsibility of everyone. 

All visitors, should initially report to the school office/reception, where the purpose of their visit can be established prior to them signing in and being issued with a visitor’s badge, valid only on the day of issue. 

Controlling access to school premises provides guidance on handling incidents and restricting access to, and barring of abusive or threatening individuals from, school premises and clarifies what a school is able to do should such an incident occur.  

Safeguarding Walks 

(See Safeguarding Policy) 

Audits are carried out to monitor areas which may be of concern internally and externally, which may be hidden to staff sight. These are recorded and procedures put in place to minimse these areas where students may be unseen. In addition, this helps advise security risk. 

Terrorist attacks 

Currently, terrorist attacks are most likely to take the form of: 

No two schools are identical and the design of the buildings and the layout of the site will differ from school to school. However many of the issues revolving around security are generic. 

Site specific security may include: 

Perimeter 

RHISE: There is a front entrance which leads off the car parking area which is lined with 2m fencing to divide the site from other businesses. The rear door leads onto the car park for the business downstairs and is utilised for emergencies only. This area is locked at night. 

RHS: It is suggested that Weldmesh fencing, expanded metal or railings be installed by DfE guidance, however this would be difficult to achieve within the area and is not in keeping with residential properties. It would also be at significant cost to the school. We also believe that for many of our students this would be intimidating. The site is bordered by established trees and shrubs on three sides. There is a wooden fence dividing from the neighbouring property and low level mesh fencing to the remainder. There is a metal gate to the drive which is closed after 9.25am and reopened at 3.25pm (gates open throughout the day for vehicles, this is managed by staff).  There are existing unused, secured gates and posts behind the music cabin which is joined with the low level meshing. Tree canopies are kept cut back and fall higher than 2metres from the ground so as to maintain open sight. 

Main site entrances 

RHISE: The front door leading from the car park is left open with stairs leading up to reception which is locked with a code opening entrance. There is a hatch opening to main reception. 

RHS: The main office is facing the drive with an intercom on the front door. All doors are secured during the day (unless required to be open for a specific, agreed purpose)  and office staff meet visitors at the front door.  

Lighting 

RHISE: There is security lighting to the front and rear entrances. 

RHS: Security lighting is provided around the perimeter of the school building with dusk to dawn lighting on all elevations where there is an entrance door. The lighting is designed to eliminate potential hiding points. 

Car parking areas 

RHISE: It is well lit and has natural surveillance at the front of the premises. 

RHS: It is well lit and facing the front door. 

Doors and windows (generic to both sites) 

See previous section on main site entrances. The main entrance door incorporates some degree of access control such as a remote electronic lock release device incorporating an intercom/ visual verification. 

Other entrance points should be kept locked to prevent them being opened from the outside but able to be unlocked from the inside in the event of an emergency. 

There is one entrance to the school building via the office/reception, with clear directional signs indicating its location to visitors. In turn this door incorporates suitable access control with a remote electronic lock release, intercom and visual verification. 

All windows and doors are checked and assessed to ensure that the locking mechanisms are in working order and are fit for purpose. 

All fire exit doors are devoid of external door furniture. 

All ground floor or other easily accessible windows above ground floor level have suitable key operable locks fitted for additional security. 

Glazing to doors and ground floor windows includes at least one pane of attack resistant laminated glass. 

Steps are taken to prevent access to the roof by locking of loft hatches and external means of climbing up. 

Alarm systems and CCTV 

Both Roselyn House School and The RHISE Centre are fitted with type ‘A’ monitored alarms. Type ‘A’ alarms are monitored by a central monitoring station and have the facility for immediate response to any security breaches. This is contacted to G4S. 

IT equipment: 

RHISE: The IT suite is located in the centre of the school to make it harder for an intruder to gain access. It is covered by a monitored alarm. There are PC’s across the site. Laptops are stored in a lockable cabinet. 

RHS: There are PC’s across the site including external Cabins which are covered by a monitored alarm. Laptops are stored in lockable cabinets. 

We avoid advertising desirable IT equipment to thieves. We refrain from mentioning IT assets on the school website and social networking sites. (See IT Asset register) 

Members of staff have individual log ins to protect data stored. This could be cancelled in the event of theft. There are back up systems including the cloud. 

Property Security (generic to both sites) 

Secure storage is in place for money with locked boxes and safes at both sites. There are asset registers for IT equipment and school vehicles. 

School security lockdown 

This information is generic and is based on government advice. The Headteacher or member of SLT will be responsible for judging the level of response required. 

The requirement for a security lockdown may result from a reported incident in the local community which could pose a potential physical risk to students and staff. 

There are similar measures suitable for environmental issues such as air pollution, fire in the area or a chemical incident which would be agreed with the appropriate agency. 

In the event of a risk from an intruder or if a security warning is received the school goes into a full lockdown mode as follows: 

Close the school and activate the school’s Security Lockdown Plan.  

 
Should parents present at the school during a lockdown under no circumstances should members of staff leave the building to communicate directly with them or let them in. 

Managing risk 

Risk assessments undertaken in a proportionate way help us reach a balanced view of the risks we may face. Each approach is based on a 5 stage risk management cycle that offers practical advice on how to rate and put in place plans and measures to eradicate, lessen and manage risks. 

We prioritise the identified risks and put in place appropriate control measures to manage and monitor them. These are kept up to date and under review so we can risk assess any emerging issues early and update our plans. 

Adopt a whole school approach 

Not all security incidents are triggered by external factors. In determining the likelihood of a security risk materialising from within our school, for example an argument getting out of hand in a classroom, we have preventative measures which will help to avoid the risk of negative behaviour quickly and unexpectedly escalating to a more serious incident. (See Behaviour Policy and Behaviour Support and Physical Intervention Policy). 

Effective behaviour management strategies can help to reduce the likelihood of such escalation occurring. Staff are trained in TEAM TEACH which utilises de-escalation and physical intervention techniques. 

Alongside the development of robust behaviour management policies it is important to acknowledge that serious incidents, whilst rare, do occur. Lessons learned from dealing with such incidents have identified that young people should know how to share information in their possession about the possibility of a serious incident occurring and they should be actively supported so they feel safe to do so. 

There are a number of mechanisms being used to encourage and support young people to share information, including some that provide facilities for anonymous reporting by students, Parents/ Carers and staff. 

It is widely understood that anonymous reporting can help to support a culture where young people can be encouraged and, without fear of recrimination, feel safe to leave information about issues of concern for adults to pick up and take action on. We have worry/ bully/ suggestion boxes within school and surveys. 

These results are assessed and allow students, Parents/ Carers, Staff to say what they feel is good or bad. Where effective information sharing arrangements are used this prompts action to risk assess and reduces the likelihood of a related incident occurring. It provides timely action to intervene and may help to avert a serious incident.  

Students need to know the difference between dialling 999 (emergency) and 101 (non-emergency), and other ways to interact with the police, for example through social media and reporting online. 

The curriculum 

The curriculum offers many excellent opportunities to help manage our security, inform young people about the dangers they may face, both in and around school and beyond, and provide students with the means to help keep themselves safe. We teach relationships education and relationships and sex education as part of PSHE programmes. These schemes of work support students, helping them prepare for modern life, including how to handle issues relating to relationships, mental and physical heath and staying safe on line. (See Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development Policy.) 

Many third-party partnerships contribute effectively to the PSHE curriculum and we work with outside agencies and also Police to support with: 

Effective communication is essential for the efficient management of any incident. It is important that all staff know what to do in the event of an incident, or potential incident. They should know who to contact, and how, including how to raise an alarm to alert staff and students. It is important that all staff feel empowered to make decisions and know what action to take where they have a concern. 

Social media can play an important role in dealing with critical incidents. Working in partnership with the police enables us to understand how the police use social media to help manage information and keep the public informed during a serious incident. Social media can also be a helpful source of information in preventing such incidents. It is important that intelligence is shared between schools, the police and other partner organisations where this is appropriate. More information on the use of social media by the police is provided in the Police Foundation’s briefing. The police can also advise on how you can maximise the use of social media when dealing with serious incidents. 

Any communications with the media would be through the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and Business Manager. 

Further information on handling media attention after a major incident is available in the Handling media attention guidance. 

Business continuity management 

Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service Business Continuity Plans are an integral part of a security policy and sets out how we will recover in the event of any security related incident. (See Emergency Plan and Business Continuity Plan) 

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has some Safety and disaster management guidance covering disaster plans and recovery. 

Our business continuity plan explains what will be done to handle the emotional impact of such an event and includes information about the professional and specialist help available. 

The difficulties we would face in restoring normality following any traumatic event should not be underestimated. Those leading the recovery will not only be facing and dealing with their own personal challenges but will also be dealing with the impact on staff, students and parents. 

Recovery 

Post incident evaluation is essential and time must be made to bring together key players to review and evaluate how the security plans in place stood up to the task. Time should be invested to debrief and elicit feedback from all those affected, including staff, students and Parents/ Carers. Undertaking a critical review of the security and business continuity plans should identify lessons learned and the actions needed to improve and ensure the ongoing development of the security policy and plan. 

RoSPA’s Safety and disaster management guidance provides a step by step approach to preparing, managing, recovering and learning from a serious incident.  

NHS 

The NHS has produced a Coping with stress following a major incident leaflet on how to recognise and deal with trauma after a major incident. 

Staff training 

Appropriate training is given to the persons with responsibility for health and safety, and security. 

All staff receive appropriate security training relevant to the nature of the risk Roselyn House School and The RHISE Service may encounter. This may require a combination of formal and informal training.  

Emergency incident and planning 

All staff should know what to do to protect themselves and students from harm, safeguard the sites and be able to determine when it is appropriate to contact the police and other emergency services. (See Emergency Planning Policy) 

Further guidance is available on how schools and other educational settings should plan for and deal with emergencies, including severe weather and floods.