Tuesday 21 February 2012

Access to School Grounds After Hours



What happens at your school when you're not there? Do the locals spend much time there? Walking dogs, playing on the swings, defacing the buildings, keeping an eye on the place, climbing the trees?


Some schools are quite hidden from the road where others are very open. Many schools have a lot of traffic through after hours through community hiring of the buildings, after school care programmes, school pool hire, etc.


At SchoolDocs we were asked some time ago about guidelines for closed circuit surveillance cameras. These guidelines are available - see them on the Demo site. Obviously, some schools have a serious problem with vandalism or illegal activities on the grounds.


We like to think that most schools DON"T have a problem and are happy to host the odd extended family cricket match on a Sunday. What's your school's tolerance for people on the grounds after hours?


Have you had any serious issues? How did you manage them?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love to wander on the school ground with my family. It will be a sad day if we are ever not allowed access.

Marriene Langton said...

We love having our community on our grounds. We will soon have a big new playground and I hope the local children make use of it. We have minimal hire on our hall and buildings and have martial arts, theatre group, rugby teams, Wise-up etc using our grounds. We want to be an important part of the local community so people are welcome. I love seeing families here for a game or picnic. The after school programme SHARP comes down to use our grounds and used our pools before the earthquakes tipped them in the river.
Their dogs, drugs, smashed bottles and condoms are not welcome however. We are having to investigate a surveillance system sadly as we get braindeaders in here on Saturday nights and the occasional sleepover on the verandah. The neighbours are pretty good at alerting the police if the folk are up to no good.