Rationale
St. George International School and Preschool has a duty to safeguard the wellbeing of students and to protect them from any risks. COBIS standards regarding safeguarding require that strict controls are in place to control and regulate the movement of people in and out of the building, not only for child protection/abduction, but also in the event of a building evacuation.
Policy
Safeguarding is the responsibility of all members of staff.
All personnel in the school must be registered and issued with a badge before they are allowed to access the building.
The right to access the different specific areas is provided by means of RFID cards, which are used on the technical devices, specifically installed for limiting the access - turnstiles, electrical locks with RFID identifiers, RFID identifiers of barriers and gates of the parking lots, RFID identifiers of the elevators, limiting the free movement in the separate specific areas in the building. The cards are issued and managed by the Manager Security and Operations.
Giving the personal access cards to other persons is strictly forbidden.
The access rights of the visitors who have been provided with an access card are defined in correspondence with the purpose of their visit and performing of certain obligations:
Access to sports facilities and halls (events and/or performances) Access to the School Access to the Preschool Combination of the above-stated.
Visitors can be divided into the following categories:
Personnel who have a long-term relationship with the school, who require day to day access to the building (i.e. teachers, cleaners, kitchen staff etc.) Personnel who require occasional access to the school (i.e. photographers, parents, coaches, guests, lecturers); Visitors (anyone who will be visiting the school on a one-off, temporary basis) Students Access of external visitors without RFID card is ensured during the common use of the building, including during events - with a preliminary coordinated plan for ensuring internal order measures. In case of a temporary cessation of operation of the school and/or the preschool, due to an order by a competent state or municipal authority, the access to the building is subject to change in compliance with the requirements.
Category 1 Personnel - Green
This category includes staff who require continuous access to the building on a regular basis and may be granted freedom to move around the building without being accompanied. In order to be granted access to the building, Category 1 Personnel must pass strict safeguarding checks and be included in the Single Central Register. These checks include a criminal record check, a check of their CV ensuring that any gaps in employment are addressed, receiving of two confidential references from previous employers or members of the community in ‘good standing’, information about their personal data. Category 1 Personnel will have an employee file kept with HR, which will be retained, according to Bulgarian legislation.
Category 1 Personnel will be granted a Green lanyard with an access card with their photograph, name, and role. The access permissions will be restricted to their area of work. Category 1 Personnel are responsible for keeping their access card. In case of termination of the labour/civil relationship with the school/preschool, the Security and Operations Manager terminates the access of the employee, after receiving information by the HR Coordinator and/or by the Payroll.
Category 2 Personnel - Orange
This category includes staff who have an occasional need to access the building, but who have not been ‘checked’. They must be supervised at all times by a Category 1 person. On file should be kept their name, contact details and information about their personal data, which will be kept for a period of 3 months following the termination of their relationship with the school/preschool. The Security and operations Manager terminates the access of the person after completion of their work in the building.
Category 2 personnel will be granted an Orange access card which shows their name and role. Their names and purpose of visit must be logged by the security staff and be taken from the entrance of the school by the person responsible for them.
Category 3 Personnel - Red
This category refers to personnel who are unchecked and may be visiting the school/preschool on a one-off basis. They must be supervised at all times and will be granted a temporary visitors badge.
To be granted a Red visitor’s badge, the name, purpose of visit, date, time of arrival and departure, and badge number, must be logged with security along with the signature of the security guard on duty in the visitor’s book. The visitor's badge should be returned to the security guard at the end of the visit.
The details of the visitor’s book may be kept for a period of no longer than 3 months following the departure of the visitor by the Security and Operations Manager.
The personnel for maintenance or deliveries are granted access to the building only by permission of the Security and Operations Manager. This personnel enters the building only through entrance B or D, and in some cases, through entrance E. The Security and Operations Manager informs the security staff two days in advance for the planned access relating to the maintenance works or deliveries.
Student cards
At the start of the year, all new students are issued 3 /three/ access cards with their name, date of birth and photograph. Two of the access cards serve as spare ones and are kept at Reception. All issued cards have consecutive numbers, certifying the sequence and number of issued cards. The first access card is provided to the student free of charge.
The personal card of every student, except for accessing the building is also used for:
Moving around and access to a room or a floor Access to the sports halls or the swimming pool Use of personal wardrobes and lockers Registration in the school canteen Control of the security and safety of the people present in the school building, information about student’s location at any time, when they have entered or left the building Control - who are the persons with whom students leave the building
Parent cards
Personal QR code of a parent/guardian/third authorised person is issued based on a declaration-request submitted to the school /preschool along with 2 (two) photographs. The administrator issues the parent/guardian 1 (one) QR code for access to the building of the school/preschool, access to the indoor car park and taking/ registering children from school/ preschool.
In case of forgotten or lost access card:
Students
When entering the building: In case of forgotten or lost access card, the first spare card is activated, and the missing card is automatically deactivated.
When leaving the building: In case the student has lost the personal access card in school and wishes to leave the building, actions for activating a spare card and deactivating the lost card are undertaken.
At the beginning of each month, all access cards which were issued in the previous month are invoiced to the parents/guardians. The price of one card is BGN 12.00 and is payable through the Payment Portal.
The procedure repeats each time the student enters or leaves the building without a personal access card.
Personnel
Forgotten access card: Administrator/Security Guard issues a temporary access card with adjusted levels of access, which is returned by the employee at the end of the working day. The procedure is registered in the Temporary Cards Register.
Lost access card: The employee informs the Manager of Security to email access.cards@stgeorgeschool.eu that the card is lost, and on the next working day, he needs to receive a new access card with the respective levels of access in compliance with their role.
Use of the turnstiles
The entrance and exit of the school is ensured through two entrances - central entrance A (for Lower and Upper Secondary students) and second entrance B (for Primary students) ensuring the access to the underground parking. Both entrances lead to the central lobby of the building. The parents/guardians leave and pick up the students without the right to pass through the turnstiles which secure the A and B entrances. The students who are not yet picked up remain in the area defined by the school administration and are handed over to the parents/guardians in order defined by the school.
The entrance and exit of the preschool for parents/guardians/authorised persons is ensured directly through entrance C with access to the underground parking. The children aged 2-3 years are taken and handed over to the parents/guardians/authorised through entrance D. The parents/guardians leave and pick up the children without the right to enter inside the building. Parent/guardian/authorised person may have access inside the building only in case accompanied by an employee for a certain reason.
All personnel, except chaperones and cleaning staff, must enter the building through the turnstiles at entrance/exit A or entrance/exit on -3 level to the company parking and they need to check their access cards on the access control devices. The chaperones and the cleaning staff should use only entrance/exit D and should check their access cards on the access control devices.
A separate entrance E is available, located along the side of the building but it is locked and is used only in case of receiving larger deliveries - water, sanitary materials, equipment, books and others, as well as in case of evacuation.
End of the School Day
Student dismissal is carried out in three time slots, depending on the chosen Extracurricular activities, after the regular school day.
Completion of the School Day
The class master is responsible for releasing students to their parents/guardians/authorised persons after the school day ends. The class master must return personal phones and electronic devices to the students.
Exit for Primary Stage Students – Reception B: Between 15:40 and 16:00, the class master hands over the student to the parent/guardian/authorised person.Exit for Secondary Students – Reception A: Between 15:50 and 16:10, the class master hands over the student to the parent/guardian/authorised person if the student is not allowed to leave the school building unaccompanied.
For students using organised transport:
The class master must hand over the student to the bus escort for the designated route at Reception A.
For students participating in Extracurricular Activities:
The class master hands over the student to the respective activity leader in the Sports Hall.
Dismissal after Extracurricular Activities – First- and Second-Time blocks:
First Time Block- ends at 16:55. The activity leader accompanies students to the main reception, where they can be picked up by their parents/guardians/authorised persons by 17:00, as follows:Primary Stage Exit: Reception B
Secondary Stage Exit: Reception A
For organised transport, the duty teacher hands over the student to the bus escort at Reception A.
If Extracurricular Activities are scheduled, the leader from the first-time block hands over the student to the respective activity leader in the Sports Hall.
After the second time block of Extracurricular Activities, students must leave the school premises by 18:00 through the designated exits for their respective stages: Reception A or Reception B.
For students using organised transport:
The duty staff/receptionist hands over the student to the bus escort for the designated route at Reception A.
