March 2020
- Mass Adjustments - multiple event charges can now be adjusted - read in detail below
- New Payment Provider - we have now added Braintree as a payment provider, this includes PayPal
1. NEW Mass Adjustments
We have been asked to provide a mass adjustment feature within our payments module by a number of schools - it is now live! This feature allows multiple event charges to be adjusted at once, whether it is for a particular student, or all students for one event. It also enables the admin team to enter different amounts manually, or use the quick adjust option if the same value should be adjusted for all.
This will help particularly when the charge for an event is reduced or an individual student is offered amendments to existing charges.
It is important to note, in the event a payment has already been made against a charge which is then adjusted, if the adjustment is lower then the difference will be transferred automatically to the parent wallet.
We have new support documents for this feature including a video tutorial:
Mass Adjustments
2. New Payment Provider Added - Braintree (PayPal) - Selected regions only
We have now added Braintree to our payment providers. Braintree offers PayPal as an option alongside regular card payments, or just PayPal if preferred. Contact help@schoolsbuddy.com if you would like more information about this provider.
February 2020
- We have made a number of improvements to taking attendance registers - read in detail below
- There is a new feature called "What's Next" for ease of viewing a group of students' event schedule - read in detail below
- The parents evening module has been enhanced and improved - read in detail below
- Some new reports have been added to the system plus enhancements to others - read in detail below
Other smaller, but helpful changes
- Single Sign On has been made easier [read more]
- New option to send an email to parents when raising a charge from the fees tab [read more]
- Option to hide parents evening appointments from staff diary to keep the view clearer
- Extra option to select event types when setting up a preference based container
- Changes to the default diary view - this now shows from today (not yesterday) for added clarity
- Added ability to delete unused groups from an active instant book & pay container to keep it tidier
- List of attendees within existing events in an instant book & pay container can now be downloaded
WATCH our video demonstrating our key updates (see text explanations below):
Release 30 Product Update
KEY UPDATE: 'What's Next' Feature
'What's Next' is a new feature which replaces and vastly improves the current tab 'Reg Groups' under Reception.
From the Groups tab you will be able to see what events those students have upcoming, as well as in the past, including attendance status.
Creating new groups of students you may wish to monitor is also a great benefit of this feature.
There is also the ability to download or print this page.
KEY UPDATE: Attendance Registers
There is now no need to click to save a register, it will auto-save and show a timestamp of the last update.
It is also easier for more than one person to be taking the attendance register at the same time as we have introduced conflict management. An on-screen warning will alert a staff member taking a register if another member of staff has already marked the same child with a conflicting status, and allow it to be resolved by overriding if required.
There is a new 'Previous Event' button, which works the same as the existing 'Next Event', so a staff member can quickly see where students may be arriving from to their event.
Extra sorting options are now available on the register view including Year/Grade, Class and Date of Birth.
The 'Add' button is now only visible to Admin users by default, to avoid staff mistakenly adding students to groups without charging them. You can opt to have this button turned on for 'All Staff' (or off for Admin), which is requested via SchoolsBuddy Support.
Read full support article for Attendance Registers
KEY UPDATE: Parent Teacher Conferences / Parents Evenings
Groups are now labelled as 'Teachers' for clarity.
When creating 'Teachers' using the bulk add button there are now extra filtering options, and a new step to allow you to review and amend if required.
A warning message will now show at the top of the Teachers page if more than one group has been created for the same teacher.
Read full support article for Parent Teacher Conferences