Article by Katherine Keable

Unsurprisingly, when you check online parenting forums such as Mumsnet you find hundreds of parents who are concerned about the health and safety of their children when they’re at school, especially when they’re out on school trips. Alert ID Group, based in East Tuddenham, Norfolk, has developed a service to assist schools with their student records and provide peace of mind for the parents.

The last ten years has seen a decline in the amount of school trips being offered to children in the UK, partly due to the increasingly litigious nature of society causing teachers to be concerned. This is a huge shame when you consider the many benefits to children of learning outside the classroom.

The Alert ID Group originally specialised in providing visible identification for sportspeople and horse riders, with athlete Steve Cram MBE playing an active role as a business partner in the company. Now the company is expanding to offer a new and unique service for schools, travel and health organisations.

Focusing on education, Alert ID is providing an efficient way of identifying pupils, something that will prove especially useful on school trips. Many parents worry that in a large class, the teacher will not be able to keep track of their child’s individual needs. This can be especially true if the child has any medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, allergies or conditions such as autism or ADHD.

Schools have to put a lot of effort in when planning to take their pupils on a school trip and despite the Department for Education dramatically cutting their guidelines, it can still involve a fair amount of paperwork, for parents as well as teachers. Probably the most important information that a school requires is contact details for the children’s next of kin and any medical information. Rather than filling in this information by hand every time there is a school excursion, Alert ID provides an easy way for it to be completed online.

The personal details, which can include next of kin contact details, medical information, allergies and a crisis plan for emergencies, can easily be registered online by the child’s parents. This profile is available as a pdf to be printed out and carried by the student and can also be emailed to all of the necessary people. These could be secretaries at schools, school trip organisers or sports club leaders. The beauty of this system is that it reduces paperwork for the schools and, as the profile can be updated at any time, the parents can be sure that the school will always have the most up to date information.

Although this is a relatively new venture for Alert ID, they have already had lots of support from schools in Norfolk. A contract has already been arranged to register the 14,500 students and staff at City College Norwich and Langley Independent School, with more partnerships with local schools lined up for the near future.

Find More School Articles