SALTO access control solution plays central role in new BSF School

Nailsea School in North Somerset, a One School Pathfinder project in the Government's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme has installed a stand-alone electronic access control solution from SALTO Systems.

As the biggest-ever school buildings investment programme, BSF aims to rebuild or renew nearly every secondary school in England. Its role is to ensure that secondary pupils learn in 21st-century facilities and investment enabling them to do so will be rolled out to every part of England over 15 waves, subject to future public spending decisions. So by 2016 major rebuilding and remodelling projects (at least three schools) should be underway in every local authority (LA) across the country.

North Somerset Council is among the most recent waves of this project, and was allocated just under £29 million to rebuild the school on its current site, turning it into an attractive and functional new hub for its role as a technology and media arts college. The result is a modern, steel-framed two-storey school clad with brick and coloured panels, which accommodates some 1,500 students and staff. It replaces the former 50 year old comprehensive school buildings which have been demolished to provide space for a new car park, playing fields, sports facilities and pitches.

"As the premier education sector tailored access control system, the XS4 solution was ideal for Nailsea School," comments Jim Caola, Sales Director of Gem Security Centre Ltd, SALTO's local Independent Business Partner who carried out the installation.

"Working in partnership with consulting and business services group Mouchel, who would deliver IT hardware, software and infrastructure as well as a five-year managed service for the new school, and Steve Richards Deputy Head and the school's Project Manager, we designed a flexible mix of on-line wall readers and stand alone handle sets, providing a highly secure access control solution that was perfectly tailored to meet their brief."