St Dominics College was established in 1979 from St Dominics Independent Girls School. Originally set up as a girls boarding school in 1878 it is located on the site of the convent in Harrow on the Hill.
The college has used an analogue radio system for many years to provide staff with site wide mobile communications. In 2023 it was decided to upgrade the radio system to a new digital mobile radio [DMR] solution.
Brabourne Ltd were commissioned to recommend a solution that offered better site and off site coverage with greater capacity and improved safety features. A further challenge was the location, high up on the hill and adjacent to RAF Northolt.
The proposed solution was based on Motorola DMR radios including a new SLR5500 UHF repeater and compact DP3661 hand held radios. These high performance radios are ergonomically designed for ease of use. The college reception also benefits from a desk mounted DM4601 radio with a telephone handset so that radio conversations remain discreet in what is a public area.
The BrabourneProtect lone worker solution is also integrated to enhance the safety of staff members at the end of each school day.
The new radio system was commissioned in February 2024 and provides better radio coverage, improved communications and increased staff and pupil safety.
Network Manager, Bradley Reffold said
“Thank you for the new radio equipment. Its great we started using it yesterday and feedback from staff has been great. Really pleased with Mark’s work also, extremely efficient and attention to details was awesome.”
“The team at Brabourne were fantastic throughout, from the very first meeting I felt I was in safe hands, with a team who really knew what they were talking about, they even dealt with OFCOM for us, which saved us a massive headache!!
