How to Know Which Students Are at School Right Now
It is the simplest question a school can be asked, and on paper it is surprisingly hard to answer: who is here, right now?
A parent rings at 2pm: is my son at school? On paper, the office has to find the class, find the register, and hope the lesson was marked. Even then, the register says he was in the lesson this morning — not whether he is still on the compound now.
Why manual records cannot answer it
Paper registers are snapshots taken at particular moments, in particular rooms. Nobody records who leaves between them. So "who is here now" can only be answered by walking the compound.
Live visibility from the gate
When every arrival and departure is scanned at the gate, the answer is always available: pupils who came in and have not left are on site. The office can check any pupil in seconds and answer the parent before the call ends.
GatePass shows who is on site right now — pupils, staff and visitors. Try it free for a term.
Start freeKnowing who is missing, early
The same view shows who has not arrived. By mid-morning the school knows which pupils are absent, and can follow up while it still matters.
The emergency case
In a fire or lockdown, "who is here right now" becomes the only question that matters. A school with a live gate record can start its roll-call from the real number of people on site, including staff and visitors.
Common questions
What about pupils out on a school trip?+
They are shown as on a trip, not as absent or missing.
Ntale Livingstone
Founder, GatePass
I started GatePass because no parent should have to phone the school to find out if their child made it there. I write here about what really happens at the gate, in the register and at home, and what we're building to fix it.
