CCTV in girls school toilets?

[Ksb6]

My daughters have come home from Queen Elizabeth's girls school in Barnet and have told me that have put up CCTV cameras above the sinks in the girls toilets. There may be some elsewhere throughout the school. We haven't been informed as parents, and there are no warning signs up. Is this legal? Just who is watching them, and how secure is that footage? I'm a little concerned.....

What's the issue? They're not in cubicles. All they'll see is girls washing their hands (hopefully!) and it should serve as a deterrent to those that use them to bully.

I'd put money on bullying as well - thank god some schools are proactive

It will be to deter vandalism and to catch those who think they can hide in the toilets during lessons. It's legal and a good idea.

I used to work in a secondary and as long as they are not viewing the cubicles/urinals it is legal.

Is there a backstory here that made you feel you had to mention the school's name?

As long as the pupils know (so they don't change clothes, apply body spray in that area etc in that area), I don't see a problem. It's only the ones who bully, bunk off lessons or are up to no good who need to worry.

Schools are covered in CCTV these days, it helps catch bullies and vandals. At my school it's not monitored, they only look at the footage if there's an incident.

The kids will know, they're not daft.

I find this a bit unusual and would be checking with the school that the cameras don't cover the cubicles. Sounds a bit much to me so I would want to know the reasoning behind the decision.

I don't think a school would deliberately go out of its way too antagonise parents but, maybe worth an email to the school? Sounds like bullying & coke/ganja prevention to me

It seems that a lot of schools are using CCTV these days. I think that on balance its probably in the interests of the children's safety.

I'm completely ok with the anti bullying/ safety aspect, it's the fact that neither the pupils, nor parents were advised, and it's not signposted so they know not to change their clothes etc. I put the schools name up because I was wondering if any of the other parents at school had heard anything. Maybe I missed an email?

My DDs school also has CCTV in the loos, all the girls were outraged about it. But I've since learnt that they aren't operational, they're just a deterrent as the toilets had been vandalised in the past. The pupils aren't aware of this though.

Why would you need an email?