Theft in secondary schools - has your school found any way to deal with it?

[Jo258]

I am a teacher (primary) but I'm actually picking your brains from a parent viewpoint today as my dd is in secondary school. Her school seems to be having a spate of thefts - in dd's group of friends alone I think nearly all have had money stolen at least once, including dd, and one girl has had money taken three times (I know, she should learn!)

The children generally carry their bags around with them all the time. They have lockers in their form rooms which they can put them in at certain times. The most common times that they don't have their bags with them is at lunchtime in the canteen where dd tells me that everyone leaves their bags on the a trolley/heap outside the canteen - talking to another friend, it is the same at her son's school too so I wonder if this is fairly common practice.

The school's only visible response to these thefts has been to tell the children in assembly that they had been getting a lot of complaints from parents about the thefts so the children need to be more careful securing their money (I have given dd advice too about not leaving her purse unattended so whilst I appreciate this is good advice, from the school in the context, it seems to have more than a whiff of victim blaming to me - 'well if you hadn't left it there it wouldn't have been stolen').

Has anyone successfully addressed a spate of thefts in their school? If so, what strategies did you use?
From the top of my head I would suggest one cctv camera outside the canteen or lockers?

I did ask dd why everyone didn't just leave bags in their form rooms but she said they go straight from lessons to the canteen as the queues are massive and if she wants any chance of getting to her lunchtime clubs in time (she does three per week) she just hasn't got time to go back.

So does anything work?

Camel: They wouldn't need 1000 lockers because the girls could share them but of course you are exaggerating to make your point and I do understand the point. I don't understand the school's tough shit attitude. You said you caught some pupils at your school - how?!

Noble giraffe: I'm afraid my dd and her friends (yr 7 so probably a bit naive) were 'so stupid' as to leave valuables in their bags, hopefully they won't anymore. Unfortunately thought they don't have blazers and neither their summer or winter uniform has any pockets (girls school) on them so carrying stuff in pockets is not an option.

Momtothree: great idea about the phone case for the emergency tenner, I'll look into that

Hag: also a good idea but unfortunately inaccessible in summer dresses

Thanks for all the replies!

Jo, in answer to your CCTV question: no, it doesn't need to be monitored permanently. The system will record video files to a hard drive, and periodically files will be wiped to record new ones over the top. It isn't a panacea, though. The school I went to after my first, described above, had the dubious honour of significant CCTV coverage around the site, only one grade below prison standard (!). We used it a lot to show reluctant parents what had happened during incidents, particularly fights or vandalism. The files aren't terribly user-friendly, and as a member of SLT I spent a lot of time in front of a screen, going through hours of footage. Be warned that CCTV images aren't great quality and can be very ambiguous, throwing more confusion than clarity onto some situations. I have heard of schools putting up a dummy camera. You might consider this, although the pretence can only be maintained until an incident occurs and someone demands to see the CCTV footage!

It sounds like your main priority is to get the HT to acknowledge the problem. If you're determined, then I suggest that you gather reliable evidence of the thefts to date and request a meeting. The HT won't like the PR of acknowledging a problem and I'm afraid that any measures s/he does agree to are likely to be little more than lip service. You may consider security to be a valid spending priority but I'm afraid that you may not find many people who agree with you.

You could approach the PTA to fundraise for CCTV but again, expect resistance from those who don't want the school to be seen as the 'type' of place which needs CCTV.

One final point - don't assume that the school's affluent setting and excellent facilities necessarily equate to a healthy cash flow. Having recently moved to a leafy shire from London, I've quickly learned that the low staff turnover of such schools means that staff are very experienced and very, very expensive.

At dd2's secondary you basically lugged your books, bags and pe kit around with you all day. All the lockers had been trashed and it was the only way to protect your belongings! No amount of communication from me would they be moved in providing a secure place for musical instruments. You put your instrument inside the door of the music block in the morning and hoped it was still there when you needed it. This block was open to any passers-by and amazingly I never heard of any thefts. I was a nervous wreck on tho days!

Meant to say that blazers are a must! Money, passes, keys and phones all need to be kept on the person all day unless a secure place is provided. Dd3 also carries an inhaler and epipen. I can't think how students manage without a blazer!

Why on earth do they all dump their stuff outside the canteen anyway?

And even if they do, isnt it normal common sense that the boys have their wallets in their pockets, and the girls do the same or in a purse they keep with them.

It seems to obvious to need to mention that you dont leave your property unattended, and if for some reason they cant all bring backpacks in, then cash isnt left in the backpacks. That isnt victim blsming, it is the normal, usual way that people di things. Isnt it?

OP, not a solution to the theft issue, but when I was at secondary (1980s) I sowed a tiny pocket under the waistband of my skirt to hold a fiver & a tissue.

Re. the getting-lunch-before-clubs problem, DD has given up trying to use the canteen, and just takes sandwiches - much less stressful.

In my DCs school the bag dumping place is in the canteen, right under the nose of the teacher doing lunch duty and in sight of students eating.

Would there be space for that at your DD's school?

On a more positive note, I think it's great that pupils feel able to leave their backpacks in a pile. At my school most likely someone would have taken them, trashed your books, and chucked the bag somewhere inaccessible

Momagain - as I said earlier, it is an all girls school, their uniform has no pockets and they aren't allowed to take bags in the canteen which is why they leave bags outside

The victim blaming part of my post was in reference to the school complaining at the girls that they (the school) had been receiving complaints from the parents about all the thefts so the girls need to start looking after their stuff.

Add message | Report | Message poster Jo258 Sat 20-Jun-15 07:12:52
Yes there is a cashless system at dd's school. However lots of children travel from long distances on public transport and school buses so, for example, we have given dd an 'emergency £10' to keep for if her bus doesn't turn up etc.