Revealed: List of Yorkshire schools with spy cameras in the toilets

34 SCHOOLS in Yorkshire are using CCTV cameras in toilets or changing rooms, figures have revealed.

A total of 825 cameras were located in the toilets or changing rooms of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales, showed figures provided by more than 2,000 schools.

Almost one in 10 of the schools which use CCTV said cameras were positioned in such places, while 54 have more than one camera for every 15 students.

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Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: “This research raises serious questions about the privacy of schoolchildren across Britain, with some schools having one camera for every five pupils and hundreds of schools using cameras in toilets and changing rooms.

“The full extent of school surveillance is far higher than we had expected and will come as a shock to many parents. Schools need to come clean about why they are using these cameras and what is happening to the footage. Local authorities also need to be doing far more to reign in excessive surveillance in their areas and ensuring resources are not being diverted from more effective alternatives.”

Big Brother Watch, which published the figures following a Freedom of Information Act request to more than 2,000 schools, also warned that the Home Office’s proposals for a new regulatory structure was “not fit for purpose”.

The new post of Surveillance Camera Commissioner “will have absolutely no powers to do anything”, Mr Pickles added.

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“Parents will be right to say that such a woefully weak system is not good enough.”

Responses from 2,107 secondary schools and academies showed they used 47,806 cameras, including 26,887 inside school buildings. With 1.8 million pupils being taught in these schools, there was an average of one camera for every 38 children.

In all, 90% of schools had CCTV cameras, with an average of 24 cameras in each of the 1,537 secondary schools that responded and 30 cameras in each of the 570 academies. The estimated number of CCTV cameras in secondary schools and academies across England, Wales and Scotland was now 106,710, the campaigners said.

This is the list of Yorkshire schools with the number of CCTV cameras in toilets and/or changing rooms:

Ecclesfield School Sheffield - 12

King Ecgbert School Sheffield - 12

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St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School and Sixth Form College Wakefield - 12

Roundhay School Leeds - 12

John Smeaton Community College Leeds - 11

Sydney Smith School Kingston upon Hull - 10

Ralph Thoresby School Leeds - 10

Hinde House 3-16 School Sheffield - 10

Sir Henry Cooper School Kingston upon Hull - 10

Carr Manor High School Leeds - 8

Sowerby Bridge High School Calderdale - 8

Benton Park School Leeds - 8

Woodkirk Academy Leeds - 8

Boston Spa School Leeds - 8

Abbey Grange Church of England Academy Leeds - 7

Lawnswood School Leeds - 6

Whitcliffe Mount Specialist Business and Enterprise College Kirklees - 6

Westborough High School Kirklees - 6

Parkside Secondary School Bradford - 5

Kettlethorpe High School Wakefield - 5

Dixons Allerton Academy Bradford - 4

Priesthorpe School Leeds - 4

Horsforth School Leeds - 4

Salendine Nook High School Kirklees - 4

City of Leeds School Leeds - 2

Almondbury High School and Language College Kirklees - 2

The Challenge College Bradford - 2

Hessle Federation East Riding of Yorkshire - 2

Wetherby High School Leeds - 2

Titus Salt School Bradford - 2

Earlsheaton Technology College Kirklees - 2

St Bede’s Catholic Grammar School Bradford - n/a