Chrissie Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 As a non-parent, I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is moving to northern France soon. They've just come back from visiting their daughter's new (secondary) school and she isn't impressed! It's behind high walls and gates and students have to swipe a card and enter a pin to get in! The mother is happy with this security but daughter is "freaking a bit". Can anyone say if this is typical for city schools in France?Chrissie (81) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourangelle Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Having been in quite a few secondary schools in (two) cities in France,I can say I have never heard this before. Gates and walls ok,swipe cards, I've never seen. But for the pupils in college toget in and out of school it is quite normal for them to have to showtheir carnet de correspondance, to show that they are not supposed tobe in lessons, and that their parents have signed for them to beallowed to go out, for example, if they finish at 11.00 and don't go tothe canteen to eat. You don't say whether it is a lycée or acollège. Your friend's daughter may well find she has morefreedom rather than less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 There have been lots of problems in city establishments here over the years ranging from murders to drug dealing and bullying with knives etc especially in "hot spots" and carried out by the pupils themselves in many cases but outsiders have also got in. Unfortunately if you live in such an area, you should be prepared for such measures unlike out in the sticks where any tom,dick or harry can wander into any educational building without hindrance, I know as I have often wandered in and out of the Lycée and collège when my kids were there for one thing or another and there isn't a soul in sight. The nearest we have to security here is a phone call asking why the child isn't attending and always a letter in the post where absence from a class has been noted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmto Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 When I was at school at the time of the Paris bombings, the Plan Vigipirate consisted (amongst other things) of heightened security in schools and checks on people entering the school premises. Given the current climate it wouldn't surprise me if it were the same kind of thing, except more technologically advanced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 The schools round here are waled and gated as well, I would sugest that the swipe card is just another added system to the current school management system. Actually it sounds like a good idea to me, better than finger printing as I saw on the news in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I don't think anywhere in the UK is fingerprinting - there was an outcry about retinal pattern recognition (completely hysterical and whipped up by the media and some daft parents) so I imagine fingerprinting would send them into a frenzy. Given the sort of stakes we play for now with intruders in schools it isn't surprising that there is more emphasis on security, but there are always 'civil liberties arguments' used against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Our daughters old school in Saint Malo (Intra Muros) use swipe cardsand/or intercom, major reason was of course security and theother was just simply to keep nosy strangers inc.tourists, fromwandering around the school, which was something her school in Dinan,was extremely bothered with.The first time I remember security being stepped up was inthe mid ? 90's when parking was banned around most schoolsand barriers put up and that was in the country (some schools stillseem to have this years later) and inner cities security was evengreater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 [quote user="Dicksmith"]I don't think anywhere in the UK is fingerprinting - there was an outcry about retinal pattern recognition (completely hysterical and whipped up by the media and some daft parents) so I imagine fingerprinting would send them into a frenzy. Given the sort of stakes we play for now with intruders in schools it isn't surprising that there is more emphasis on security, but there are always 'civil liberties arguments' used against.[/quote]Dick, it was on the news at least 5 times yesterday (07-02-06) and one specific area they used it for was to take the dinner money of kids, bank it, then they spent it in the canteen. It also allowed them to see who was missing dinner and who eat what. The kids thought it was a great idea as they could not get robbed of their dinner money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Fingerprinting or swipe cards? A school in Putney had swipe cards which meant that some kids just sent their card to school...Some schools are using barcodes, but I don't know where they tattoo them. I think kids should be chipped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owens88 Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Fingerprinting is being used for registration.Some schools think that teachers have better jobs to do than 'call' a register and log it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 John - you have opened my eyes. I've done a bit of googling and there are several 'solutions' available - though I don't know of any in the UK, as I said there was an outcry against retinal scanning a year or so ago, and I imagine that the same lobby that was against (and still is against) security cameras in schools will rise up.We use electronic registration, but with positive audial identification methodology and visual confirmation protocols. The teacher calls the pupil's name and looks up to check that they are there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tag Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Lets have bar codes on foreheads and chips under the skin. After all pets have it. Though I like you 'audial identification methodology and visual confirmation protocols', Dick. Did you receive in-depth training in voice and visual recognition techniques, followed by counselling and stress management? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 It took a lot of training to be able to point my head just in the right direction of the voice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opalienne Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Our local college (in a small and peaceful town) has a secuity guard on duty at all times to ensure that people arriving are supposed to be there and that pupils leaving are allowed to do so (i.e. not skipping lessons or other activities). I guess that swipe cards etc are just another version of the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 [quote user="Tag"]Letshave bar codes on foreheads and chips under the skin. After all petshave it. Though I like you 'audial identification methodology andvisual confirmation protocols', Dick. Did you receive in-depth trainingin voice and visual recognition techniques, followed by counselling andstress management?[/quote]Not to mention the customers at one of Barcelona's more exclusiveclubs. It allows them to wave their arm in the general direction of thetill in order to pay for their drinks and is seen either as a badge ofdistinction or deeply moronic, depending on your point of view.10,000 plus years of civilisation have brought us to this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 [quote user="Opalienne"]Our local college (in a small and peaceful town) has a secuity guard on duty at all times to ensure that people arriving are supposed to be there and that pupils leaving are allowed to do so (i.e. not skipping lessons or other activities). I guess that swipe cards etc are just another version of the same thing.[/quote]Here's a little add on to this thread, which I could have renamed What Sarko Did Next.The resident School Police Officer, starting with a 6 month trial in Nanterre (ouside Paris) and coming to a school near you afterwards!http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/22/content_4209805.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pouyade Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 We are currently enjoying the presence of a 19 year old French boy who is working near us in a cafe as part of a week-long exchange programme. Sounds like a good idea all round and this programme has been arranged between my daughter's college and a school in Montpellier for some years. In a few weeks my daughter will stay with his family and work in Montpellier (hope she can understand the local accent, I can't!!). She is to be placed into a nursery school for 3-6 year olds. What is of interest to me is that there have been no checks as to my daughter's character/ background whatsoever. The idea that French schooling establishments are apparently not checking all those with close access to childern is incredible, and surely as important as physical security.........................Pouyade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgina Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 I waited outside my boys' school with another child for half an hour. The school had locked the doors and nobody even knew he was still waiting. He is only seven.I have been 5 minutes late and my boys have been locked out of school and nobody checking where they are (they are 8). It's shocking really but what's the alternative, high walls and swipe cards, I think not. Depends where you are I suppose. My boys' UK old nursery had 8 ft high steel railings, not to keep kids in, to keep burglars out.Georgina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Un homme armé retenait en otages jeudi après-midi 18 élèves, un professeur et un employé dans une salle de classe du lycée Colbert de Torcy à Sablé-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe), a-t-on appris auprès de la préfecture.Le preneur d'otages, qui dispose d'une arme de poing, est un enseignant contractuel de 33 ans, actuellement sans poste, qui a enseigné il y a deux ans dans ce lycée public, a précisé la préfecture.Les jeunes pris en otage sont des élèves d'une classe de BEP-ventes âgés de 16 à 18 ans, selon une employée du lycée, Bernadette Mercier, jointe par téléphone.Le reste de l'établissement, où sont scolarisés environ 1.500 élèves, a été évacué, a-t-elle indiqué."Actuellement, les gendarmes sur place sont en train de discuter avec le preneur d'otages à travers une porte qui a été barricadée", a indiqué le directeur de cabinet de la préfecture de la Sarthe.Le préfet s'est également rendu sur les lieux.Deux équipes du Groupe d'intervention de la gendarmerie nationale (GIGN), soit une quarantaine d'hommes, ont quitté jeudi après-midi la région parisienne pour Sablé-sur-Sarthe, a-t-on appris auprès de la gendarmerie.Plusieurs gendarmes spécialisés dans la négociation, figurent parmi eux, a-t-on précisé de même source.Le preneur d'otages, arrivé au lycée vers 15H00, "traverse sans doute une crise dépressive", a estimé le directeur de cabinet de la préfecture."On savait qu'il déprimait, apparemment parce qu'il n'avait pas retrouvé de travail depuis qu'il a quitté le lycée il y a deux ans", a témoigné l'employée du lycée, Mme Mercier. "Mais on ne s'attendait absolument pas à un tel comportement", a-t-elle ajouté.Situé à proximité du centre de Sablé-sur-Sarthe, au sud-ouest du Mans, l'établissement Colbert de Torcy comprend une section professionnelle et un lycée d'enseignement général. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 As he's an ex-employee at the school, he was presumably aware of the security arrangements and probably able to evade them.No news of developments at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 On the news they said that they had let him in because they knew him, so it sounds like he had not tried to avoid any security systems they had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastobe Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Sounds like he has a long standing grudge against the school - echoesof Dunblane come to mind - let's pray with a much better outcomehere. Hastobe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 He's surrendered:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4791408.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 You know, when I read this post, I thought it was about something that happened a few weeks ago.Am I having déjà vu, or was there another similar incident recently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 It's resurrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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