Dear parents and carers,
Keeping children safe and ensuring the well being of our students is the priority for every school in the country, not just McKee College.
As part of our efforts to ensure that all students and staff feel safe in our school we have introduced a metal detecting arch into the start of our school day.
You may have seen on the news or social media that the introduction of such airport style arches is now common place in schools up and down the country and there is pressure on the government to make it legislation that all schools screen students for banned items.
The rise of knife crime among young people grabs the headlines and is a very serious concern however what is more relevant for our school is the carrying of vapes and phones.
The arch allows for non-intrusive scanning of students without the need for a physical search.
The arch identifies where on the body the object is and the use of a hand held scanner pinpoints exactly where the metal is.
Students are given the opportunity to hand in all of their belongings at point of entry to the school.
Failure to hand in any school banned item which is subsequently discovered will fall foul of school rules and will be dealt with appropriately.
Link to DFE Guidance on Searching, Screening and Confiscation – Searching, Screening and Confiscation
Kind regards
Andrew Murray