Compulsory lanyards. Any other schools?

[Reba767]

So my dc school are brining in compulsory lanyards. It's a small secondary, around 600 children. They have their photo/info on the front and on the back, all their behaviour points.They spent a whole day going through this on the first day back.

I really don't see the need for this. Since the new headteacher has arrived its started to be like a boot camp.. Really strict rules and sanctions. I think they're preparing to join the really strict academy that are taking over the schools around here.

I've never heard of secondary school children wearing lanyards well it's the school around here that is.

Talk about clutching at straws.

Are you saying that someone is going to say look around a school as a prospective parent and then look at a student's lanyard and then use their name later to bundle them into a transit van?

They could also read names off the books they’re probably carrying, it would be a similar size font, shall we ban those ?

Lol, oh yes those books that all students walk around with holding up with their names clearly visible. Or do you mean the ones that are scribbled on and inside a bag... Those ones?

Ours are not allowed bags so carry them, and would be as easy to read as a lanyard

They also leave them on shelves by the toilets and canteen, so yes they would be easy to read - ‘Lol’

Do you even work in a school?

Every school I've worked in they keep them in bags or lockers.

But let's imagine your scenario, where a nefarious visitor loiters round the toilet, where a child happens to leave a book with their name on, and nobody ever questions why this person is there, and then they decide to read a...name off a book... Then what?

How many people do you think are trying and succeeding in getting into a school, have no lanyard or a visitor lanyard, to then be unsupervised to the point they can hang around pupil toilets in order to get access to a child??

They'd get more information from the school website... Or do better hanging round school gates/local shops etc when kids are all going "Oi Tyler!! Maria here thinks you're fit" "oh fuck off Mandy"

Ok. Off you pop try and read a name off a book of a passing kid next time you have a bunch of them walking by you...

In the meantime I'll just read the public website where a name and photo is given out freely. No need for me to sneak into a school to peek at a book...

You clearly and completely missed the point I was making

Nefarious visitors have a special colour lanyard so you can identify them easily.

I'm 99% sure our nefarious visitors ofsted inspectors had special "ofsted" ones. But they still had to wear the "must be accompanied" colour.

Nefarious is a light teal, mildly evil is turquoise, absolutely evil is mauve as far as I'm aware. Its the ones with the twinkly sparkly rainbows that give me the fear.

When I was at school anyone could waltz in. There wasn't even a "reception desk" in the entrance hall - there was a room marked reception where you had to go to knock.

As far as I'm aware, there was never any incident of dodgy types coming in and making off with a child.

On one occassion, someone nicked the school video player but that was it.

No lanyards, no security, nothing.

As far as I'm aware, there was never any incident of dodgy types coming in and making off with a child.

Even with current systems I know of "dodgy types" trying to come to schools to make off with a child.

Usually a father who isn't allowed contact for very good reason.

Well, why would you have been made aware of any such incident as a pupil? Tons goes on in a school that pupils are unaware of all the time. Heck tons goes on that half the staff are unaware of.

Just because you were unaware, doesn't mean nothing happened. And even if nothing happened in the 5 years you were at your school, doesn't mean nothing happened in any other school.

And besides the main reason behind the increased security is because... In Scotland a dodgy man "waltzed in" and did get access to children and shot and killed them. So, yeah, I'd rather lanyards and security gates and controlled access over dead children.

My dc went to primary school in another country, the school wasn't locked and neither were the grounds. The toilets were in a building that was accessible to the outside. People walked through the school grounds and it was also next to a park.

So a child could go to the toilet in their own school and when they got there an adult passing by could be using the toilets.

Whilst my children were at the school, there wasn't any issue that I know of. But that doesn't mean I would advocate for this to be how schools are. Six year old goes to the toilet alone at school as does man on his way to the shops,

Well, why would you have been made aware of any such incident as a pupil

It was the kind of school where everyone knew everything. Two of the teachers resigned because they were having an affair and all the parents knew way before it was announced.

Besides theres no way at that school if there was a risk and breach of security all the parents wouldn't have been told.

To be fair it was a very rareified private girls school in a very posh area so not representative .

Besides theres no way at that school if there was a risk and breach of security all the parents wouldn't have been told.

If a fee paying school let someone in that they shouldn't have done the last thing they are going to do is tell everyone.

I bet they have locks now.

I used to work at v posh girl's school with about 350 kids. I can tell you stuff happened that not all parents/pupils/staff were aware of.

Stuff that "justified" the increase in security as well as stuff that was confidential and/or safeguarding issues. Or stuff that just wasn't made wider knowledge.

I used to teach in a very prestigious public school. The head had a button under her desk she could press with her knee so that we knew when she was bringing people round. Then we had to stop what we were doing and launch into something else. I had reception and I had to do French whenever we had a visitor.

I don't suppose anyone could just waltz in to your former school now. Things change.

Why should they? They remember to put a tie on, so why not a lanyard?

We had these when I was in high school, and I left in 2007!

One of my old schools had ID cards we had to carry and this was back in the early 90s. They were colour coded - one colour if you were allowed to leave school at lunch, one colour if you stayed for after school activities etc

If they're the only way they can get around/print/buy meals etc they might lose/forget them once.

Normally a detention sorts out a "forgotten" lanyard.

Also, why would anyone steal it?

OMG. Surely they lose/break/steal them all the time?!?!

dc school replaces once for free. a tenner each if lost again.
teaches them to take care of their stuff.