CCTV Policy
Last Reviewed: | September 2024 | Next Review: | September 2025 |
Committee Responsibility: | Finance, Audit, Risk and Personnel | Approved on: | September 2024 |
Approved By: | Trustees and Governing |
Introduction
Barnby Road Academy uses closed circuit television (CCTV) images for the prevention, identification and reduction of crime and to monitor the school buildings in order to provide a safe and secure environment for pupils, staff and visitors, and to prevent the loss or damage to school property.
CCTV surveillance at the school is intended for the purposes of:
The system comprises of 21 (twenty-one) fixed external cameras around the school site.
The system is owned and operated by the school and the deployment of which is determined by the SLT. The CCTV is a standalone system.
The CCTV is monitored centrally from the school office by the Senior Leadership Team and the Site Manager.
The use of the CCTV system will be conducted in a professional, ethical and legal manner and any diversion of the use of CCTV security technologies for other purposes is prohibited by this policy. e.g. CCTV will not be used for monitoring employee performance.
Justification for use of CCTV
The use of CCTV for security purposes has been deemed to be justified by the SLT and the Governing Body. The system is intended to capture images/video footage of intruders or of individuals damaging property or removing goods without authorization or of anti-social behaviour.
Location of Cameras
Cameras will be sited so they only capture images relevant to the purposes for which they are installed and care will be taken to ensure that reasonable privacy expectations are not violated.
The school will ensure that the location of the equipment is carefully considered to ensure that images captured comply with the Data Protection Act.
CCTV will not be used internally within the school.
CCTV Video Monitoring and Recording of Public Areas may take place for the following purposes:
Notification
A copy of this CCTV policy will be made available on the school website.
There will be adequate signage on the school site indicating that CCTV is in operation at the school.
Storage and Retention
The images captured by the CCTV system will be retained for a set period of time. However, the recordings are on a continuous loop and are dependent on the amount of recording usage on each camera.
Access will be restricted to the SLT and Site Manager.
In certain circumstances, the recording may be viewed by other individuals in order to achieve the objectives set out above. When CCTV recordings are being viewed, access will be limited to authorised individuals on a need-to-know basis.
Access
Recorded footage and the monitoring equipment will be stored securely. The screen will be switched to standby when the office is not used, with a security code needed to access the screens.
In relevant circumstances CCTV footage may be accessed:
All other access must be authorised by the SLT, prior to any viewing of the CCTV.
Subject Access Requests
Individuals have the right to request access to CCTV footage relating to themselves under the Data Protection Act.
Individuals submitting requests for access will be asked to provide sufficient information relating to them to be identified, for example date, time, location.
The school will respond to requests within 30 calendar days of receiving the request, in line with the school data protection policy.
The school reserves the right to refuse access to CCTV footage where this would prejudice the legal rights of other individuals or jeopardise an on-going investigation.
In giving a person a copy of their data, the school provide a still/series of still pictures with relevant images. However, other images of individuals will be obscured before the data is released.
Where footage contains images relating to 3rd parties, the school will take appropriate steps to mask and protect the identities of those individuals.
Complaints
All complaints and enquiries about the operation of CCTV should be directed to the Head Teacher in the first instance. Contact can be made via the school office.