It seems there are many professionals that now use lanyards within their businesses, but few can be as important as the roles that they play within schools. School security is of paramount importance, and everyone involved needs to be confident that only the right people are ever on-site.
Lanyards play a huge part in this and are involved in almost every school, nursery, or college setting for this reason. Lanyards are now recognised as an important part of school security, and here are just a few of the reasons why.
What is a lanyard?
A lanyard is usually a cord or strap that is worn around the neck. It has a form of plastic wallet which can then carry a visible form of identification. This ID can take any form and can include photographs or even cards that can be scanned to prove the wearers’ identity.
They are often used to identify staff members in a variety of settings and have become a firm favourite in schools because they are easy to wear and are visible at all times.
Identifying members of staff
For understandable reasons, schools need to go to great lengths to ensure that unauthorised people cannot access their premises. They need to protect the school from anyone who might be considered a risk to children or to one child in particular, and so gaining entry should e as difficult as possible in order to offer the greatest amount of protection. However, on big sites with a lot of staff, it can be difficult to remember every face and know who has the right to be in the building.
A lanyard that incorporates photo identification is a quick and easy way to tell who really should be there. Some lanyards might have built-in security features that can be scanned to be allowed through doors, whilst others provide a visual check that anyone is able to make.
Correct designated lanyards can ensure that anyone who is on-site is supposed to be there, whether they are staff, governors, visitors, outside providers, or contractors.
There can be different lanyard designs that will identify different people depending on their purpose. This means that it is possible to spot why they are in school simply at a glance and can give confidence that they have been through the relevant checks in order to be there. This can help to give everyone peace of mind in rapidly changing and growing schools.
Specific roles
Should an incident occur, children, staff, parents, and visitors need to know who they should approach for help? A lanyard can help to identify staff who have particular roles such as security or First Aid. This means the right kind of help can be reached more quickly as the nearest available person can be easily spotted, and incidents can be dealt with in a timely manner before they have a chance to escalate.
Spotting students
In settings where students are becoming older and do not necessarily wear uniforms anymore, such as colleges and sixth forms, it can start to be difficult to tell the difference between who is a student and who is a staff. Offering lanyards that have been specifically designed for students means that no one can become confused or deliberately mislead.
These can even be branded in different colours according to the year group or form that they might be in so that it is even easier to check whether everyone is in the right place at the right time.
More than just ID
Malcolm Humphreys, Director of We Print Lanyards commented, “We typically tend to think of a lanyard as just a form of ID, but it can play many more roles than this as other items can be clipped to the strap or stored in the wallet. It means that keys can be kept handy, important phone numbers or passcodes are within reach and other cards can be kept securely with a member of staff at all times, instead of leaving them in a staff room. This means that everything a teacher could need in an emergency is always close at hand and not at the bottom of a drawer or handbag.”
School trips
Lanyards can be of vital importance during a school trip, particularly on a site like a museum or a gallery where there might be more than one school paying a visit. All staff and students can wear a lanyard branded with your school’s colours and logos to make each person easily identifiable even at a distance. This helps to prevent anybody from getting lost or getting back on the wrong bus and ensures that everyone returns home from a good day out safe and sound.
Rights of access
A lanyard can not only help to determine whether you should be in the school but also whereabouts in the school you are allowed to be. For example, there may be areas that are for staff only, not for visitors, certain year groups, or particular levels of seniority.
A lanyard can make it easy to see if someone is in the wrong place or make it possible to point them in the direction of where they need to be. Some cards will have access options that can be scanned to let them into certain areas and keep others out.
Knowing names
It is important to know the names of everyone you deal with from a social perspective, but also from a security one. If an incident occurs in school a parent, child or visitor may not know the person is involved. A lanyard helps to identify them and makes it easier for them to get help or make a complaint if they know who it is that is in front of them.
Lanyards can play a huge role in school security, making it easy for everyone to know who everyone else is and whether they have the right to be there. Schools need to be kept secure at all times and this one little item can be a very powerful tool for doing that.
