As the place where the next generation learns important academic and life skills, schools are a crucial part of any community. That’s why it is essential that school premises are kept as secure as possible. Avoiding unwanted guests and intruders on school grounds should be a key priority for any staff member. Controlling access is easier when you have quality locks, like mortice locks, fitted.
We wanted to gain more insight into the best lock types for schools and whether mortice locks were the right choice. For more information about mortice locks in schools, we contacted Locksndhardware.co.uk, a UK specialist in all things related to locking systems. What did we find out from the pros?
If you are in charge of a school and want to make the building more secure, read on to discover the value of installing 5-lever mortice locks on entrances, classrooms, and staff rooms.
Why Door Security Should Be A Priority In Any School
When children attend school, they do so with the aim of learning new skills they can use later in life. That could involve learning critical skills for their intended career path, or even just developing crucial life skills that benefit them beyond any academic discipline. While parents and children expect a quality learning experience, they also expect to remain safe – that’s where mortice locks come in.
Security is something that can often feel like an afterthought – until a problem emerges and disaster strikes. Door security is critical because they are the first line of defence against intruders. If someone has to barge through a door to get into the school itself, they might be less likely to try.
However, if a school has cheap and basic locks on entrances and class/staff room doors, entry is much easier. A mortice lock is one of the best ways to make sure that intruders and troublemakers are put off trying to even attempt entry into the building. Let’s look at why – and how to choose the right type of mortice locks for your entrances, classrooms and staff rooms.
Choosing The Right Mortice Lock For Schools
It should be noted that there are several types of mortice locks out there. Picking the right style for each door is very important.
Your two main options are a mortice lock and a mortice deadlock. Mortice locks are operated with the use of a key, while mortice deadlocks are operated with a bolt that is fitted into the wall. The ‘mortice’ part of the name comes from the fact that the lock – or deadbolt – is fitted directly into the door itself. While other lock types sit externally, any mortice lock is installed inside the door for extra durability.
Mortice Locks For School Entrances
The best place to start is with a traditional mortice lock. These are designed to provide heavy-duty security to your premises. Most of the time, you want five-lever mortice locks – that may also incorporate a deadbolt into the design – on external doors, such as school entrances.
Mortice locks remain a very popular choice for external doors, as they are hard to pick, tough to smash through, and also nearly impossible to remove. Externally fitted locks, like many cylinder locks, can be unscrewed and taken off with relative ease. Mortice locks, meanwhile, are fixed in place.
Mortice Locks For Classrooms & Staff Rooms
Many class and staff rooms rely on generic cylinder locks to make entry nice and easy. However, while access is easier with a basic cylindrical lock, it provides a fraction of the durability of mortises.
We highly recommend installing mortice locks for your classroom instead. They tend to look quite pleasing aesthetically, too, and since they blend into the door itself, they remain quite low profile. That makes it harder for criminals to look for potential weaknesses in the door’s design.
The heavy-duty nature of these locks means that, once locked, they remain nearly impossible to force open. In the event of a security breach, classrooms can be locked and secured to keep intruders out.
Balancing Safety With Accessibility
It should be noted that just about any mortice lock suitable for a school will use a key to control the lock itself. That means that your school needs to be very strict about who has access to the keys.
Losing a key means having to get a locksmith out to fix the door, which could cause problems. It could result in students and/or staff being locked into the school until a locksmith arrives, or the risk of the key being used to break into the school after hours.
There also needs to be consideration for the size of the pocket – or mortice – cut into your doors. Some classroom and staff room doors might not be large or thick enough to have mortice locks fitted.
What’s The Right Choice For Your School?
Generally, most schools will find that installing five-lever mortice locks is the best place to start. These provide an additional layer of security and tend to be easier to keep secure as they have a multi-layer locking mechanism. Someone would need to really work hard to break into your school!
However, we would recommend contacting a locksmith for a professional review of your doors. They can determine where mortice locks would be most beneficial and where they could be installed.
Pro Tip: Secure Your School Premises With Mortice Locks ASAP
Using the above, we hope that you can see the benefits that come from having a mortice lock fitted into your school security system. Many mortice locks can even be paired up with electronic and smart security systems, making them easy to pair up with more modern access control systems.
Generally, mortice locks remain very easy to use so long as you have the key. They make it easy to secure your classrooms while also reducing the risk of intruders getting into the building itself. At the same time, they remain sturdy and steadfast in the face of physical damage, wear and tear, and weather changes.
For a school lock system you can trust to keep staff and students safe, go for a mortice lock. Work with a local locksmith for installation for complete peace of mind that your locks are fitted correctly.
