Parents at Kambala School in Rose Bay concerned about surveillance cameras in change rooms
Surveillance cameras at prestigious Sydney girls’ school, Kambala, have been installed in a bid to monitor which students are vaping — and parents are not happy, Annette Sharp reveals.
Education
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Parents at prestigious Sydney girls school Kambala have expressed concern about security cameras the school has recently installed in the anterooms of students’ change rooms.
According to one parent, the Rose Bay school is jeopardising students’ right to privacy with the installation of what they’re calling “spy cams”.
Sources have told this column the cameras have been installed to monitor which girls are vaping near their toilet facilities.
The mail comes a year after the school set up an external complaints channel after graduates tabled their concerns about the school’s historical responses to grooming behaviours allegedly displayed by some staff members.
The graduates claimed the grooming, such as when staff were “being overly interested in the sexual development of a student … making jokes or innuendo of a sexual nature with a student”, needed to be reported to the school board and disciplined.
“(There is a) need to foster an environment where students’ opinions, experiences and personal development in these matters, is deemed important and respected,” former students wrote.
The graduates demanded Kambala make its reporting processes clearer and requested teachers be educated about consent and Kambala’s child protection policy.
In a statement to parents, Kambala explained that a contractor “erroneously installed a camera in a locker area where students change their clothes”.
“This camera was never activated and the error was noted and rectified immediately. The camera was never in operation,” the statement from principal Jame Danvers said.
“We take our students’ right to privacy seriously and their wellbeing will continue to be of the utmost importance.”
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