Mount Grace School

	Welcome to Mount Grace	Committed to Excellence	©Mount Grace School
	Home Notice Board Parents Students Sixth Form Faculties Governors PTFA VLE Contact Details Site Map Emergency Notices Letters Vacancies Local Press Gallery School Uniform School Presentations School Prospectus Admissions Student Booklet Application form English Maths Science Business D & T Languages Humanities PE Music SEN Pastoral Strategic Vision Strategic Plan Minutes of FGB Whats on next Calendar of events PTFA Purchases Admin Admissions Attendance Catering Finance Lettings Travel

Site hits: -

Occupying 17 acres of beautiful grounds in a picturesque park landscape. It has a genuine partnership with the local community and it aims to be the community school of Potters Bar, with our wide-ranging facilities serving both the students and adult population of the town.

MGS goes Biometric

Five years ago, the school opted for a swipe card system to replace the cash tills in the canteen. Although very successful at the time, we have had to upgrade the system and replace some of the software and hardware. One of the disadvantages of the swipe card system was that cards could be forgotten, lost or damaged, which meant that some students were unable to get a school meal without waiting in reception for a temporary card. In addition, replacement cards cost the school time and money for which students were reluctant to pay.

What the school needed was an “unforgettable” swipe card. Some schools have opted for fingerprint recognition to replace the swipe card. Four colleagues visited a school in London which successfully introduced this technology last year and they were very impressed with what they saw.

Literally, biometrics is the technology of measuring and analyzing biological data. In our case, biometrics refers to the technology that measures and analyses fingerprints for identity and authentication purposes and will replace the swipe card used for the same purpose.

One of my concerns was about the possibility of misuse of the fingerprint data. However I have been completely reassured in this respect. The finger or thumb print is converted into a unique sequence of 16 numbers which is stored on the individual’s file. It is impossible to “recreate” the thumb or finger print with this very limited data. When the individual leaves the school, this data would be permanently erased (as directed by the Data Protection Act).

At the tills in the canteen, students use their thumb or finger prints to authorise payment for their food through their account in the usual way with two distinct benefits: you can’t lend your finger to someone nor can you leave it at home!

Data for use next year will be collected from students during the last week of term.

If you have any queries about the new system, which will be introduced in September, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Peter Baker

zjl 07/09