Physical security systems designed around DfE protective security guidance, supporting safer schools — designed around the safeguarding, compliance and operational needs of education environments.
In short: most schools need five systems working together: CCTV designed to BS EN 62676, access control that keeps visitors at reception, a monitored intruder alarm, a fire alarm to BS 5839-1 and a network that keeps it all online. Fyrfly designs, installs and maintains all five as one system for schools, academies and multi-academy trusts, with the DPIA, CCTV policy and handover documentation governors need. Start with a free site survey or a fixed-fee security audit.
Educational settings must balance two responsibilities that can feel contradictory: maintaining an open, welcoming environment for pupils and the community, while ensuring that access is controlled and every person on site is where they should be.
Safeguarding obligations under Keeping Children Safe in Education place clear duties on schools to manage access, monitor their premises and respond to incidents. At the same time, the wrong approach to security can make a school feel institutional and unwelcoming.
Fyrfly Systems understands both sides. We design security that is proportionate, discreet and purposeful, with every decision grounded in safeguarding outcomes rather than technology for its own sake.
Each of our five service areas is applied with education-specific expertise, meeting the standards and sensitivities that school environments demand.
HD and 4K camera systems positioned to cover entrances, corridors, playgrounds and car parks, giving staff and governors clear visibility across the whole site. All systems are designed and operated in compliance with ICO guidance on CCTV in educational settings, including appropriate signage, data retention policies and a clear CCTV usage policy template.
Single point of entry systems, visitor management integration and staff credential solutions that ensure only authorised individuals can access the building. Designed around the safeguarding principle that schools must know exactly who is on site at all times.
Grade 2 and Grade 3 intruder alarm systems with 24/7 Alarm Receiving Centre monitoring and keyholder response protocols, protecting your site, equipment and data when the school is unoccupied.
L1 to M category fire detection and alarm systems designed to BS 5839, with addressable panels that identify the exact location of any activation. Designed for rapid, orderly evacuation of large numbers of pupils across complex building layouts.
A secure, high-performance wireless network is the foundation on which all your security systems depend. We design and install education-grade Wi-Fi infrastructure that supports both security devices and the school's wider digital learning environment.
Most schools inherit their security rather than design it: cameras fitted after a break-in, more added with a new block, door access that arrived with academy conversion, and an alarm nobody remembers commissioning. We take over and maintain systems others installed, whatever the make or age.
Every camera, recorder, door controller and panel found, tested and logged. Admin access recovered and handed over properly. Fixed price, credited against your first year of maintenance.
What is broken on day one, agreed in writing, with a costed list phased to your budget cycle. Sometimes the answer is to leave it alone.
Every discipline, one written report per visit and one point of contact, whoever installed the kit.
Intruder alarms with police response need an NSI or SSAIB certified maintainer. We tell you up front how that will be covered for your site.
From a single village primary to a large Multi-Academy Trust, we have the experience and scalability to deliver the right solution for your setting.
Proportionate, discreet systems focused on entry control and safeguarding, designed to feel welcoming rather than institutional.
Larger, more complex sites with higher footfall, more equipment to protect and greater out-of-hours risk requiring robust multi-zone security.
Open campus environments with high public footfall, student accommodation and commercial lets requiring layered access control and monitoring.
Centralised security management across multiple sites with consistent standards, unified reporting and cost efficiencies from a single trusted partner.
Multi-academy trust security →Prep, senior and boarding schools where parental expectations, duty of care and discretion are paramount, with boarding house and out-of-hours coverage designed around school life.
Independent school security →Large open campuses, halls of residence, libraries and research facilities requiring estate-wide CCTV, access control and centralised security management.
The statutory safeguarding guidance for schools in England. Our access control and CCTV systems are designed to support your obligations around site access management, visitor control and incident recording.
All CCTV systems we install in educational settings are designed to comply with the Information Commissioner's guidance, including data retention periods, access controls, appropriate signage and usage policy documentation.
Fire systems are designed and commissioned in accordance with the RRO, BS 5839, and local authority fire and rescue service requirements, with full documentation for your fire risk assessment.
Our approach aligns with DfE guidance on estate management, supporting responsible governors and business managers in meeting their duty of care for the physical safety of their school buildings.
Schools operate within a complex web of statutory guidance, codes of practice and insurance requirements. We design every system with these obligations already built in, so you are not left to navigate them alone.
The complete guide to integrated safeguarding & security infrastructure for UK schools — written for Headteachers, MAT Estate Directors, School Business Managers and DSLs.
We start every education project by understanding your safeguarding priorities. Technology decisions follow from that, not the other way around. The result is a system that your designated safeguarding lead will actually trust and use.
We plan all installation work around your term dates, using INSET days, half-terms and summer holidays to minimise disruption. Your pupils and staff will rarely know we have been there until the system is live.
We are experienced with public procurement frameworks, meaning schools and academies can often appoint us using existing frameworks without a full tender process. We are also experienced in working within the reality of school capital budgets.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 will require schools where 200 or more people, including staff, may reasonably be expected at the same time to notify the SIA and have documented public protection procedures in place. Commencement is expected from 2027. Use our free tools to assess your readiness and generate your lockdown procedure — in minutes, not days.
Answer four questions about your venue, capacity and current security measures to receive a personalised readiness report with your tier, obligations and priority actions.
Generate a complete lockdown procedure, structured around DfE guidance, specific to your school — including signals, key personnel, safe rooms, communications and emergency contacts.
Generate three essential CCTV compliance documents — Acceptable Use Policy, UK GDPR Privacy Notice and DPIA Summary — ready for governor approval and DPO review.
Upload your existing security policy, lockdown procedure or risk assessment and receive an instant AI review against Martyn's Law, DfE guidance and UK GDPR. Find out exactly what's good and what's missing.
Use our free interactive tool to assess your school or trust against the UK government's official Secure by Design framework — 73 questions, a RAG scorecard, and a prioritised action plan you can download or share directly with our team.
What school leaders ask us
No law gives schools a list of equipment. KCSiE requires appropriate arrangements to keep children safe, including control over who is on site, and DfE security guidance asks schools to assess their risks and put proportionate measures in place. In practice most schools need:
The right mix comes from a site survey, not a catalogue.
No. Under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, early years, primary, secondary and further education settings are always in the standard tier once 200 or more people may be on site at the same time. The standard tier requires notifying the SIA, having procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication, and making sure staff know them. It does not require CCTV or access control, although both make those procedures easier to carry out.
The duties are not yet in force. Commencement is expected from 2027 with no date fixed; check the Martyn's Law tracker for the current position.
Yes, when it has a clear purpose and is run properly. A school needs a lawful basis for the processing, a Data Protection Impact Assessment, clear signage, a documented retention period, restricted access to footage and a process for subject access requests. Cameras must not cover toilets or changing areas.
Fyrfly provides a DPIA template and CCTV policy with every installation, and the free CCTV policy generator produces both.
Agree one security specification for the trust and apply it school by school. That means common CCTV and access control platforms that can be managed centrally, the same design standards on every site, one maintenance contract with one service report format, and a lockdown procedure template each school adapts.
Fyrfly surveys each site against the trust specification and hands over documentation that governors and auditors can compare. See our guide to MAT security management and how we run trust-wide programmes.
It depends on the size of the site, the number of entrances and buildings, and how much existing equipment can be kept. The free cost estimator gives an indicative budget in a few minutes with no sign-up. For an independent view of what you already have, the annual security audit is £495 plus VAT per site and is credited against any works that follow.
BS 5839-1 requires fire alarm systems to be inspected and serviced at intervals of no more than six months. Remotely monitored intruder alarms are normally serviced twice a year, and CCTV and access control should be inspected at least annually so that recording, retention and door hardware are proven to work.
Fyrfly maintenance contracts cover all systems under one contract, with a written service report after every visit.
Yes. We take over and maintain CCTV, access control and fire systems of any make or age, and audit intruder alarms. A takeover starts with a fixed-price estate audit that finds, tests and logs every device, recovers admin access and agrees a baseline, with the fee credited against the first year of maintenance. Alarms with police response need an NSI or SSAIB certified maintainer, and we confirm how that is covered before taking anything over.
We are based in Whitstable, Kent, and design, install and maintain school security systems across the South East. Explore the counties we serve.
Every school is different. Tell us about your site, your priorities and your budget, and we will come to you for a free, no-obligation survey and proposal. We will bring our knowledge of safeguarding and DfE guidance, not just a product catalogue.