The safety and protection of students and staff members is one of the most important things to be on top of when managing a school. Whether you’re a teacher, member of the admin team, cleaner, or anything else in between, it is your responsibility to provide protection and safety to the pupils under your care. Here at GSM Barcoding, we understand this, which is why we do our bit for the safety of the students in your school by providing the best ID card printing hardware available on the market at a fantastic price.
ID cards are essential in schools for both the students and the staff as they confirm someone’s identity, ensuring they are in the right place for the right reasons. In this blog, we’re looking into how you can improve your school’s ID cards with the help of the card printers we provide here at GSM Barcoding.
Who Needs ID Cards at My School and Why?
Every school would benefit from the use of ID cards. As well as safeguarding pupils, ID cards allow people to be quickly identified in the event of a fire. Everyone who has scanned into a building can be checked and counted. Here is a list of everyone who would benefit from carrying ID cards
- Students. They can be used to clock in and out of buildings, assisting with fire safety and attendance regulations. Additionally, they can be used in exam halls to identify the pupils without any need for talking, which would disrupt other pupils. ID cards can also be used to pay for goods at schools such as library books and food. Some systems allow money to be used to top up the card and the card scanned as a payment method. This means less cash will be on school premises which will reduce lost or stolen money.
- Staff. Teachers, office staff, and cleaners alike should be carrying ID cards for the same reasons as students. Additionally, teacher ID cards could grant access to rooms, buildings, and locked doors that student ID cards would deny; for example, office and welfare staff ID cards could allow access to confidential student files. This protects personal data and supports the safeguarding of everyone at the school.
- Visitors. Most schools will have a policy in place that means visitors must be easily identifiable. Nobody should be able to enter the building without speaking to a staff member about the purpose of their visit first. Perhaps they’re delivering a talk at the school, or they’re a parent coming in to meet with a teacher. Visitor ID cards are usually visually different to teacher and staff ID cards and aren’t permanent. They won’t usually have a photograph or a name, so they can be returned to office staff and re-used for a different visitor.
Why Should I Print My Own ID Cards?
Printing your own ID cards at school is a much easier, faster solution to providing cards for students, staff, and visitors alike. Here at GSM Barcoding, we can provide you with the best card printers on the market so you can benefit from all the advantages discussed above. But first, why should you print your own cards as opposed to using a third-party card printing company?
- Visitor cards are provided instantly. If there is a large group of visitors attending the school in one day, you may find that you need extra visitor ID cards. In most schools, nobody can be without identification due to the safeguarding policies, so this means you would have to print additional cards on the day. There is no time to order cards from a third-party company – it’s much simpler and quicker to use your own card printer.
- New pupils or staff members. Although the process of moving schools or starting a new job at a school takes time, ordering new ID cards may take longer. Provide new pupils and staff members with their own identification on their first day with the help of a card printer from GSM Barcoding.
- Lost or stolen cards are replaced immediately. If a pupil or staff member’s card goes missing, don’t leave them waiting weeks for a new one. Print new ID cards instantly by implementing a card printer into your school.
- Safeguarding issues. ID cards can include a photograph of a student, their name, and the school they attend. Sending this information to a third-party card printing company may pose some safeguarding issues. Avoid this by printing your own cards at school, so no data is lost or stolen in the process.
What ID Card Printing Hardware Can We Supply You with at GSM Barcoding?
We offer a fantastic range of card printing solutions at GSM Barcoding, including the Zebra Professional Card Printer and advanced desktop printers. This product provides single or dual side printing in monochrome or full colour, so you can produce the best quality ID cards for your staff and students. To view its full spec and to order a printer for your school, head to the Zebra Technologies page of our website, where you can find full details of this incredible product.
These technologies are beneficial for all the reasons discussed above and can help your school’s identification system, access control, financial transactions, and safeguarding.
We hope that this has helped you understand how GSM Barcoding can improve your school’s ID cards. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – a member of our experienced, knowledgeable team will be more than happy to help.
