20 spy cams in school loos

Hardial Hayer: defends camera policy

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

Radclyffe tops national Big Brother list
RADCLYFFE School has the highest number of CCTV cameras in toilets or changing rooms in the country.

It has 20, according to figures today from civil liberties group Big Brother Watch.

But headteacher Hardial Hayer has defended the school by claiming pupils feel safer having the cameras around.

He said: “Our children feel safe going to the toilet. When I was at school and when my own children were at school that wasn’t always the case.”

The £28 million building opened in Hunt Lane, Chadderton, in 2008 and was designed with curved corridors, no blind spots and lots of light to make it harder for bullies to target victims in dark corners.

The school has 56 CCTV cameras, 20 of them in toilets, the traditional hot spots for trouble in schools. The cameras point at washbasins and doors - not toilet cublices. They are monitored by the school office. The school has no cameras in changing rooms.

Mr Hayer added: “The fact we have 20 cameras is just a reflection of the fact we have 20 small toilets around the school, instead of having one or two large toilet blocks. “It is not something we are concerned about. It has been a really positive development and we do not believe it compromises anybody’s freedom.”

Big Brother Watch says 825 cameras are in school toilets or changing rooms in 207 schools.

More than 2,000 schools provided figures.


Only a small number of our daily stories appear, heavily edited, on this site. For the full story read our print or eChron editions.
Follow us on Twitter - @OldhamChronicle