Head defends use of CCTV in toilet blocks (From The Oxford Times)
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Head defends use of CCTV in toilet blocks
9:40am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News
AN OXFORD headteacher has defended his decision to have cameras in school toilet blocks.
St Gregory the Great School, in Cricket Road, was one of four county schools which told campaign group Big Brother Watch it had cameras in changing rooms or bathrooms.
Headteacher John Hussey said incidents of misbehaviour in the toilets had dropped since the installation of four cameras, which were pointed at wash basins.
He said: “Parents want their children to feel safe when they come to school and we have a duty to safeguard them.”
He said events caught on camera were monitored by himself and the deputy headteacher.
Banbury School has four cameras in toilets or changing rooms, while Wood Green School, Witney, has two cameras and The Marlborough School, Woodstock, one.
Big Brother Watch asked 2,017 UK schools under the Freedom of Information Act how many CCTV cameras were used, and where they were located. About 10 per cent – 207 schools – had cameras in toilets or changing rooms.
