Based in the Dingle, not far from the River Mersey, Shorefields College (now University Academy) has specialist status for technology and has made a substantial investment in cutting edge ICT support and equipment. A large LCD screen display sits above the reception desk showcasing Shorefields computer and multimedia skills. As a school who embrace the digital age, Shorefields is a perfect candidate for SG World’s VisIT ED Visitor Management software.
VisIT ED is a cost effective software solution for schools with the benefits of digital management and photo ID. Using intuitive user screens, VisIT ED manages visitor, staff and student IDs with an additional benefit of an incident/accident reporting feature.
Shorefields is a thriving school environment with a busy reception desk already using SG World’s Visitor Pass system. It was important to the school to mange a steady stream of visitors whilst still maintaining a professional, secure booking-in procedure. One advantages of VisIT ED is an innovative pre-booking feature where visitors can be pre-registered so their passes are ready for collection in reception and just swiped through a reader to log them on to the premises. Large groups can be uploaded directly from an Excel spreadsheet and staff can even pre-register their own visitors over the network.
At the time of introducing VisIT ED, Shorefields were undergoing the consultation process to convert to academy status. With a proposed name change in the offing, Shorefields wanted a solution that would be flexible enough to grow alongside them. SG World provided paper based cards and a printer for the 6th form, with the longer term option of moving to plastic photo ID cards incorporating any required new academy branding. SG World offers a number of print options – providing a range of dedicated printers for in-house card creation or a fast-turnaround Bureau service. For environmentally conscious schools – SG World can also offer eco print options.
Shorefield’s are justly proud of their 6th form where over seventy students enjoy a broad study curriculum and excellent academic and recreational facilities. “ VisIT ED is perfect for busy 6th form schools” commented Annette Kerr, Shorefields Office Manager. “A 6th form student has greater flexibility as to the hours they are expected on campus – you can’t employ a traditional registration system. Coupled with the fact that 6th formers look and dress like adults, it isn’t easy to keep track of who is on campus at any given point in time. This makes it extremely difficult to make keep an accurate fire register in the case of an emergency. A specific feature of VisIT ED is a realtime Evacuation List which can be printed off at the click of a button. The simple swipe in/swipe out mechanism makes it easy for pupils and staff to record entrance and exit from the building, generating a central attendance record”.
In June 2012, after a thorough consultation, Shorefield’s went on to achieve Academy status under the sponsorship of the University of Chester Academies Trust (UCAT). The students, staff and Shorefields community are excited about the transition to Academy status.
“We are very proud to be the sponsor for University Academy and feel confident that together we will become an outstanding place of learning and continue to be an important central resource within the community . . . now University Academy in Liverpool has joined UCAT’s ‘family’ of Academies; we will continue to provide expert support and quality services, which will be the first step towards outstanding achievement and success for your child and unique opportunities for the whole of the Academy community.”
Dr Colin Hankinson
UCAT Chief Executive