The Shrubbery School

Summary/background

Founded in 1930, The Shrubbery School is the oldest co-educational independent school in Sutton Coldfield. Catering for children aged 3-11, the school operates from a part listed building and was acquired by the present owners in July 2021. Since then, it has continued to embark upon a steady expansion programme, increasing pupil numbers, which has gone hand in hand with the upgrading and extending of the current property.

The Shrubbery has been a client of Justice Fire & Security since 2005.

Challenges the client faced

Historically, we have looked after the intruder and fire alarms, CCTV and emergency lighting within the school.

More recently, we were asked to install a Kitchen Fire Suppression System in the school kitchen. When the new owners took over the running of The Shrubbery, under the terms of their insurance, it was stipulated that fire safety equipment was essential to cover the main cooking hobs, should a fire break out.

The kitchen currently caters for around 100 pupils, handling a limited breakfast service and a comprehensive lunch service from Monday to Friday. The equipment includes 2 double fronted ovens, an electric hob with 4 hot plates. There are no fat fryers or gas on the premises.

Equipment we installed – and what happened next

For this project, we designed and installed the Jactone KitchenGuard ™ PAFSS system, for which we are approved installers and meet the requirements of LPS 1223.

The system consists of detection tubes fixed to the cooker hood, the plenum and the ducting. The way this works, is that if a fire should start, the detection tube bursts and releases the extinguishing agent through separate pipework and nozzles to douse the fire. The system also automatically cuts the power supply off to the hob, thereby disconnecting any further heat source to the fire.

The Shrubbery now has a state-of-the-art kitchen fire suppression system, which has been given a full seal of approval by the school’s insurers.

The final outcome

As Director at The Shrubbery School, Matthew Lees, explained: “When we took over the running of the school, our insurance company made it known that a kitchen fire suppression system was an essential element of their coverage, so the installation provides us all with peace of mind.

“Our existing relationship with Justice Fire & Security was a major factor in our decision to engage them once again and I really appreciate the support and advice they have given us throughout this period.

“We were extremely grateful that they agreed to work around our daily commitments. With the school providing a lunch service until 2pm each day, it wasn’t possible for them to have access until this was over which meant they had to spread the work out over 4 days, rather than 2. We sincerely hope that it will never be necessary to call on the equipment that’s been installed, but it is a huge weight off our minds that, in terms of the fire safety equipment within the kitchen area, everything is now fully compliant,” Matthew added.

Meanwhile, Justice continues to work closely with The Shrubbery whilst further modernisation continues throughout other areas of the school buildings. This will necessitate an upgrading of the current security systems, moving more towards a fully integrated, wireless system throughout.