What's the script with schools looking like maximum security prisons?

[Pyew]

Is there some well-connected fence contractor who's hobbled Ofsted into telling schools they must spend money on Alcatraz makeovers while they can't afford pens or textbooks? It's all a bit OTT isn't it?

Do you lock your door? Have a garden fence? Lock the car doors? Keep an eye on your children in public places? Check their phone? Use a location app?

I'd love to discuss these random questions on a separate thread if you wish to start one.

It only takes one pissed off parent for all of the parents and staff to be at risk.

Schools rightly are very cautious about who is on the school site and what access they have when there. That is a very basic of safeguarding.

I wonder if your kids go to my kids school @Pyew
Over the summer fences went up EVERYWHERE, all the KSes are now sectioned off, you need several keys to get anywhere and children are escorted everywhere now by a prison guard re her carrying a bunch of keys. The wooden gate that used to let kids in (behind a metal gate that lead to the street, so it was always safe but the wooden gate was sweet and welcoming) has been taken down and replaced with a huge green metal fence.
Its weird and I seem to be the only one who thinks so.

@Rollercoaster1920 yes the lack of footpaths is a big issue, not just for locals losing the amenity but also any visitors attending weekend/evening/holiday sports/activities are all herded in with cars/bikes at the same access points, including ones that are long/narrow - it's actually more dangerous for pedestrians now including and especially child pedestrians.

None of them look like maximum security prisons. Not one.

We have had several children over the years who are highlighted on our system, with risk assessments as kidnap risks. Lots of safeguarding required for such vulnerable students. We are rural but still need such things to ensure we know exactly who is on site. All visitors must sign in before being allowed through locked doors, wearing bright red visitor lanyards.

^^This - most schools installed fencing and entry controls after Dunblane IIRC. My own school went from being pretty open access with a completely unattended unlocked front door, to locked up and entryphone controlled as a direct result of Dunblane.

DD’s primary was all entry controlled since it was built in 2015. Video cameras, airlock entryway controlled by staff, all the works. It was required by safeguarding guidelines — for example, every single visitor to the school has to be noted and entered into the school Single Central Record to be safeguarding compliant.

It’s not great, but even DD’s calm and small primary had at least one incident with a drunk and violent parent trying to get into the school. ☹️ And incidents where a few kids tried to bolt out, for example during meltdowns! (None succeeded, thankfully!)

@MaudlinGazebo might be! Sounds similar, but there's a few in the area that had the same makeover during summer. One primary now has this insane system where even visitors who are DBS checked, have had ID scans and are signed in to the photo screen, are not allowed in the corridor between KSes and instead have to escort the very young, very small children they work with via a convoluted route that includes the main hall where PE lessons for older children happen, with footballs and kids twice the age and size of the little ones flying around, in the interest of security and safety apparently, god help us.

There was a huge programme of school fencing and security entry post Dunblane. At the teachers conference in Scotland before the summer it was actually raised that standards in security have really slipped and complacency is setting in.

Having worked in schools for 20 years I think many people would be very surprised just how often a parent or relative who isn't allowed access to a child turns up, how often a drunk/drug addled person turns up, and the likes. School security is essential in many more schools on many more days than a lot of folks assume.

That sounds like a specific response to an incident in one of the schools.

One school I worked in brought in serious security measures seemingly randomly, but it was actually because it had been posted online that it was the school children from two DV refuges were taxied to. The vast majority of parents with children already at the school had no idea about the children from the refuge. Even after alternative arrangements were made there was still serious concerns about people turning up.

Might be, but it coincided with the summer security makeover that happened in this and several other local schools, ahead of this round of Ofsted.

Schools all need to do this to be compliant with Ofsted (and ISI, so yes the independent sector as well):
https://onlinescr.co.uk/what-is-a-single-central-record/
This means every person who comes on to the school site must be recorded in some way.

It’s not just about the potential for intruders or even violent attacks. It’s also about recording everyone’s access to the school site (post Soham and with our more recent awareness of the importance of who has is working near or with unsupervised access to children). Schools work to a document called KCSIE (Keeping Children Safe In Education) which outlines safeguarding requirements that they must comply with in terms of who can have access to the school site with or without DBS and who can be alone with or near children on site:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68add931969253904d155860/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_from_1_September_2025.pdf

Not electronic sign in, but my late 90s school had large fences, several gates that were locked once the morning bell had gone and you could only access the site via one gate that took you into main reception. There was paper sign in/out (one for children, one for visitors) and you couldn’t get from reception into the main building without being buzzed through a door. It had a key pad for staff to use or the receptionist pressed an override button.

technology improved, but the idea that it’s a new thing to stop people being able to just wander around schools is just not true.

granted, it took a long time for primaries to catch up the level of security.

Read about Martyn's Law, which is a recent Terrorism Act, and named in memory of someone killed in the Manchester Arena bombing. Schools, especially large ones, have to take measures for protect people with adjustments to the premises.

What does the Manchester Arena have to do with schools?

Did they have no fences /security before or just not as big fences, not as good security? (That sounds like a review of the local schools has happened and security flagged up as not good enough)

could you just wander in to your child’s classroom if you wanted to before, or was it tricky to access the children during the day? Did you really not have to sign in if you were visiting during the day?

Seriously, I have given concrete examples of how access to and movement within the school buildings I know of is now more immediately physically unsafe following the introduction of these measures. Presumably there are similar issues with no go corridors and narrow pedestrian/vehicle combined corrals in other schools across the country. I cannot fathom how this can be justified by an abstract boogeyman notion of potential child focused terrorists.

Security was tightened after high temperatures profile incidents in certain areas then extended, my dc’s primary got it maximum security makeover in 2010 prior you use tge field on weekends but travellers got in and did ££££ damage

I don’t know what you mean about no go corridors- why would that be the case?

What would be the point, for example, of extensive DBS and safety checks on all staff, contractors on site, and anyone working with kids if any random could wander in off the street into school grounds or into the school when he or she liked?

There’s no way your child’s safety in school could be guaranteed if access to the school site wasn’t controlled. Teachers aren’t able to supervise every child every minute. Why don’t you think it’s reasonable for schools to have restricted access?

If a number of schools have all done this all together I’d think they were probably in the same academy trust or federation, and that the trust/school group/LEA has upgraded its security across a number of schools, possibly to tighten up on safeguarding or in the expectation of an upcoming inspection. Nothing particularly sinister. Schools monitor their compliance with H&S and safeguarding all the time.

Are you in the UK? My children’s school now has posters inside of their lockdown protocols. I’m 100% supportive of anything that keeps my children safe but it is so sad that we got here

I remember when I was at school (all girls), the site was open and we regularly had a flasher that used to come onto school site.
The school I teach at - there is just no way this could happen. The only way you can get on school site during the day is through reception, which involves being buzzed through a door. Every other entrance is locked.
At the beginning and end of each day, the main entrance that pupils use is staffed by min 2 members of staff to ensure only pupils are coming on school site.
This helps to safeguard everyone.

A serious incident is pretty rare (but could have devastating consequences) but this security helps protect children from other angry parents, thieves, drug dealers, excluded pupils, previous pupils, etc etc.

I mean, I suggested you read more about it and told you that places like schools with large numbers have to take measures to protect the premises to abide by anti-terrorism laws.

I'm not sure how else to explain it to you other than to say that based on the capacity they must have security measures to protect against terrorist attacks.

It's a 2025 law, so schools (particularly ones bigger than 800 on roll) will have updated things over the summer holidays ahead of this academic year. They have to. And not because Ofsted say so. They're about standards in education and this is specifically about public premises mitigating against terrorist attacks.

I don’t know what you mean about no go corridors- why would that be the case?

I don't know why it's the case either given that as you say everyone who is in the building at all is dbs checked, id checked and signed in to a photo screen. That's my point. They're already checked, so why can't they walk down the corridor from one part to another? They can still go from one part to another, but just via a different route that is more physically risky for any of the children who are with them.

I'm sad we got here too and I'm not sure we got here due to actual risk.