Latest News
Careers
Contact Us
Sign in or register

Email Invalid Email Address

Password Invalid Password Address

Forgot your password?

Don't have an account yet?

Create your YPO account today to enjoy exclusive offers and discounts, easy order tracking, saved wishlists and more.
Register

Is Your School Ready For September

Blog
02 Sep 2026

Is Your School Ready For September?

Back to School is about more than new timetables, classrooms and supplies. It is also an important opportunity for education providers to review school security, safeguarding and access control before pupils, students, staff and visitors return.

From nurseries and EYFS environments to schools, sixth forms and universities, knowing who is currently on site plays an important role in maintaining a safe learning environment. Simple measures such as clear staff ID cards, visitor identification and consistent security procedures can make it easier to recognise authorised individuals and reinforce a strong safeguarding culture at your site.

In this guide, we explore practical ways education organisations can strengthen school safety and security for the new academic year and how the right ID solutions can support everyday safeguarding without adding unnecessary complexity for staff.

Why school security should be on your Back to School checklist

At the start of a new academic year, we know that education sites are particularly busy. New pupils arrive, staff roles may change, and parents or guardians may need to visit reception more frequently.

For universities and sixth forms, the challenge can be even greater. Large campuses may have thousands of students and staff moving between multiple buildings, alongside prospective students and other visitors. That makes Back to School an ideal time to review the systems used to identify people and manage access to your premises.

Good school security needs strong reactive measures to respond when something goes wrong, but proactive measures are just as important. Consistent, everyday processes help staff understand who should be on site, where they should be and what to do if something does not look right, to protect your organisation.

A review could include:

Checking staff, student and visitor ID processes
Replacing expired, damaged or outdated ID cards
Reviewing visitor sign-in and identification procedures
Checking access permissions for different areas
Refreshing staff guidance around safeguarding and site security
Ensuring lost ID cards or passes can be replaced efficiently and on-site

Making these checks part of your regular Back to School preparations can help bolster your everyday security operations, ready to tackle those busy first few weeks back.

Bring ID card printing in-house

Back to School can bring plenty of last-minute changes. A new teaching assistant starts earlier than expected, a university department takes on additional staff, cards are lost on the first day of term, a temporary employee needs identification…

Waiting for externally produced cards in these situations can create unnecessary delays.

An ID Card Printer that produces durable and waterproof name badges gives your organisation the ability to produce professional ID cards on site, helping teams respond quickly when new or replacement cards are required, which we know is always more frequent than expected!

This can be particularly useful for organisations with changing populations throughout the year, such as schools using temporary or agency teachers, universities welcoming new cohorts and nurseries onboarding new staff.

In-house ID card printing can also help maintain a consistent design that uniquely reflects your organisation. Staff photographs, logos, job titles, departments or other visual identifiers can follow an agreed template, making cards easier to recognise at a glance. Having an ID Card Printer that includes our free DURAPRINT® design software allows you to create professional, consistent IDs that are customisable to your organisation’s colours, logo and brand (without the need to contract external suppliers!).

Don't overlook visitors and guests

Not everybody entering an education setting will need a permanent ID card. Parents, maintenance staff, guest speakers, external professionals and other visitors may all need temporary access.

This makes visitor identification another important part of school security.

A visitor process should make it clear where people need to report when they arrive and how they should be identified while on site. The exact procedures will vary depending on the setting, the visitor and your organisation's safeguarding policies.

A clearly distinguishable visitor pass or badge can help staff recognise that someone has followed the appropriate sign-in process. Using a visibly different design for visitors or a different lanyard can also make it easier to distinguish permanent staff from temporary visitors at a glance.

For education buyers reviewing their ID arrangements, it is worth considering the complete journey: how is a visitor identified when they arrive, how do they display that identification while on site, and what happens to their pass when they leave?

Think about security from nursery to university

There is no universal approach to education security, because every learning environment has its own complexities and different operations.

In a nursery or EYFS environment, safeguarding processes need to account for young children who depend heavily on adults to create and maintain a secure environment. Clear staff and visitor identification can support those wider procedures by making authorised adults more readily recognisable.

In primary and secondary schools, identification can help distinguish teaching and support staff from visitors and other adults on site. This can be particularly useful during busy periods such as drop-off, pick-up, parents' evenings, open days and school events.

Colleges and universities face a different challenge. Larger campuses, multiple buildings and a high volume of people can make access control and identification particularly important. Student and staff ID cards can help institutions create consistent identification procedures across departments and facilities.

The requirements may change with the age of learners and size of the site, but the same principle remains relevant: education organisations benefit from having a clear understanding of who is on site and how authorised individuals can be identified.

Make ID cards easy to display and protect

Producing the card is only part of the process. Staff and students also need a practical way to carry and display it. Badge Holders can help protect printed cards against everyday wear while keeping important information visible. This is especially useful in education settings where cards may be used throughout the working or academic day.

Lanyards provide another simple way for staff, students or visitors to keep identification accessible and visible. Organisations can also use different designs or styles to differentiate staff and visitors.

Your Back to School ID security check

Before the new term gets fully underway, ask a few simple questions:

Can staff be easily identified?
Are ID photographs and details still accurate?
Is there a clear process for lost or damaged cards?
Can visitors be distinguished from employees?
Are new starters issued identification promptly?
And do people know what to do if they spot someone without the identification they would expect?

If any of those questions are difficult to answer, your ID processes may be worth adding to this year's Back to School security review.

Start the new academic year with confidence

Whether you're preparing an EYFS setting for its youngest learners, welcoming pupils back to school or managing thousands of people across a university campus, a safe learning environment starts with consistent everyday practices.

Reviewing your identification process now can help make sure staff, students and visitors are appropriately identifiable throughout the academic year. Explore our ID Card Printer and free, simple design software to help support a safer, more secure learning environment this Back to School season.

Author: Grace Fredericks, Marketing Executive at DURABLE.