In a nursery, cyber security and physical security are the same problem. Both come down to one question: who is allowed in, and how do you know? A door code that everyone has known for years fails in exactly the same way as a password that former staff still remember. Our other guides cover the digital side. This one is about the front door, and in particular the humble push-button lock.
The push-button lock is security theatre
Most nurseries have a keypad by the door that opens on a four-digit code. It feels secure. Mostly, it isn't.
Think about who knows that code. Current staff, certainly. Former staff too. Some parents. The cleaner, the handyman, the agency cover who did two weeks last winter. And the code rarely changes, because changing it means telling everyone the new one, and that is a job nobody wants.
So ask yourself three questions:
- When was the code last changed?
- Who knows it right now?
- Does someone who left years ago still know it?
If the answer to the last one is "probably", then you have a lock that everyone past and present can open. That is a doorbell with extra steps.
Why this is a safeguarding issue, not just a security one
In most businesses, a weak door lock puts stock or equipment at risk. In a nursery, there are children behind that door, and the stakes are different.
Ofsted and CIW reasonably expect providers to control who can get into the building and to be able to demonstrate how they do it. "We have a keypad" is not a convincing answer when the code has not changed in three years and nobody can say who knows it.
Safeguarding depends on knowing exactly who is in the building and being able to account for them. A shared code that never changes makes that impossible. Individual access that is removed the moment someone leaves, together with a record of who came in and when, puts you in a much stronger position with inspectors, with parents and with your own peace of mind.
Picture the questions after an incident. Who was in the building on Tuesday afternoon? Who opened the door after closing? Was the person who left last month able to get in? With a shared keypad code, the answer to all three is a shrug. With individual access and an audit trail, it is a report you can print in a couple of minutes.
The keycode lockbox moment
While you are thinking about the door, look around. Many nurseries also have a metal key lockbox by the entrance, a small safe in the office or an alarm panel, each opened with a code.
The same questions apply to every one of them, and these boxes often hold the things that matter most: the master key, the alarm fob, the petty cash. Change those codes today, and write down the date you did it. Next time someone asks when they were last changed, you will have an answer.
What proper access control looks like
The fix is simple in principle: give each person their own credential instead of sharing a secret. That might be a fob, a card or their phone. Once access belongs to individuals rather than to a code, everything else gets easier:
- Leavers lose access instantly. You remove one person's credential and nobody else is affected. No new code to circulate. This fits neatly into the routine in our leavers checklist.
- You get an audit trail. A record of who came in and when is gold for safeguarding, and for answering questions after an incident.
- Access can be time-restricted. Someone who works mornings does not need to be able to open the door at 9pm.
- There is no shared code to change ever again.
We recommend and install Paxton, a UK manufacturer. Paxton gives every person their own credential, keeps a full audit trail and supports time-restricted access. With Paxton10, access is managed in the cloud, so you can grant or revoke someone's access remotely, without being on site. For a nursery it is a proportionate upgrade, not enterprise overkill.
For settings using Nursery Genie, our access control can integrate with your nursery management software, so the door can respond automatically when a staff member's status changes rather than relying on someone remembering to update it separately.
How we can help
We install CCTV and Paxton access control ourselves, with our own engineers, and we look after it alongside the rest of your IT. That means the same team that manages your Microsoft 365 accounts, your devices and your cyber security also manages who can open your front door, so a leaver is handled in one place rather than three. You can read more on our CCTV and access control page.
If you are not ready for a new system yet, start with the basics: change the codes, record the date, and make changing them part of every leaver's last day. The same thinking applies to shared passwords, which we cover in our guides on strong Windows passwords and two-factor authentication on Microsoft 365.
The one thing to take away
A door code that has not changed in years, and that every former employee still knows, is a safeguarding gap as well as a security one. Give access to individuals, not to a shared secret. And today, change the codes on the door, the lockbox and the alarm, and write down the date you did it.