In SchoolsBuddy, we refer to 'Containers' when talking about activities and clubs. A 'Container' is just a wrapper that holds all activities together in one place. In the screenshot below, there are four containers.
Containers will usually have within them multiple activities/groups and are organised differently by type. Preference-based containers are used for school activities, clubs, and sometimes for overseas trips, to give parents and students multiple options.
Within a Preference Based Container, there are many options. To view these options:
- On your homepage, click the Activities & Clubs Admin tab (this may be labelled differently due to your School's preferences).
- Click on 'Preference Based Sign Up' (1) as the container type.
- Click on 'Manage' (2) for a container
You will then be presented with all the different tabs within the container:
Please read below for more information about each of these tabs.
1. Groups/Clubs
The Groups/Clubs tab is where activities/groups are created. When the activity/group is created, it will be listed in this tab. Also within this tab for each group/activity, it will show:
- Day of the week the activity is taking place
- Start and End time
- Cost (if applicable)
- Location of activity
- Maximum/Minimum number of places
- Number of Students requesting the activity
- Number of Students that have been allocated (post allocation of events)
- Join request (on or off)
- Status of the activity (for example, available for sign up, allocation completed etc)
Activities/groups can be edited on this page prior to the allocation of places. You can also manually allocate places from within the group's tab.
To learn how to do this, click here.
2. Student Selections
The Student Selections tab is an overview of the preference-based selections in which students/parents have made during the sign-up period. A list of every student in the school is on this page and listed by each student is an overview of who the selections were made by (either student, parent or staff member) and how many selections and allocations were made. Within this tab, you will be able to see how many students have confirmed selections, student selections that are in progress, and students that have made no selections.
You are also able to manually make selections for students, to learn how to do this, click here.
3. Auto Allocate
The Auto Allocate tab is where students are allocated activities/groups based on their preference selections. Within this tab, there are different options to customise your allocation process. Within a matter of seconds, students can be allocated or not allocated activities using their preferences. A list of all the activities/groups within your container will be listed with the number of students and their preference selections.
To learn more about the auto-allocation process, click here.
4. Student Allocation Overview
The Student Allocation overview tab is only relevant once students have been either auto-allocated or manually allocated activities/groups. A list of students that made selections will be shown and an overview of their allocations. In this tab, you will be able to see:
- Students that have not been allocated any activities
- Activities students have requested but not allocated.
- Each student is given a score between 1-6 regarding low preference or high preference allocation. Students given a score of 1 represents high preference allocations. Students given a score 6 represents low preference allocation.
- Students that have selected more than one activity on the same day.
Also from this tab, you will be able to manually allocate places and increase activity places. The student allocation overview tab is a great tab to view the activities which students have been allocated to in regards to their preference selections.
To learn more about this tab, click here.
5. Block Dates
Block Dates are dates on which activities do not take place. The Organisation Block Dates will also be displayed here and apply to the whole school. Any dates entered on this tab will only apply to this container. For example, if the container is for Primary Activities only and there is a date when only Primary Activities will not run, it should be entered here. If you would like block dates to apply for all events on SchoolsBuddy, you will need to make the block dates on Organisation Block Dates. When the allocation has been done and the events are generated this means events will not be created for the dates entered in this tab.
6. Generate Events
The Generate Events tab is only relevant once all the desired student allocations have been made and you wish to generate the events for each activity. When you generate events, students/parents will be notified of which activities they have been allocated and not been allocated from their desired selections. This is sent via an email to the address associated with their SchoolsBuddy account. Their diaries/calendars will also be automatically filled with the activities they have been allocated and they will become a part of the relevant group (activity). Registers will also be generated.
To learn how to generate events when a sign-up allocation has finished, click here.
7. Manage Events*
This tab will only appear once the events have been generated. It provides an overview of the number of students whose selections are confirmed/unconfirmed or who have made no selections. Any additional events can also be generated here, as well as deleting or cancelling existing events. If you wish to cancel an event, it will send an email to everyone who was in that group. However, if you delete an event, no email will be sent out.
To learn more about creating new events mid-term, click here.
8. Generate Fees*
This tab will only appear once the events have been generated. Once the activities have been allocated to the students, you will need to generate any fees that the activities/events incur. This can only be generated once, therefore we recommend not generating any fees until you are sure of the costs associated, in case you need to make any amendments.
To learn more about generating fees, click here
9. Join Requests
The Join Requests tab is only relevant if the join request option has been turned on when creating the activity and container. This will give students/parents the ability to request to join the activity after allocation has been run and the events have been generated. The staff member in charge of the activity and anybody with the Join Requests Admin role will be notified if the activity receives a join request from a student or parent. They can choose to add the student to the group if they have places available, and then confirm back to the parent by accepting or declining the request.
To learn more about Post Allocation Join Requests, click here.
10. School Locations
The School Locations tab is where all the locations that have been entered into your Schools SchoolsBuddy. New locations and current locations can be edited and removed from this tab. If you are selecting a location when creating an activity, the information for this option will be withdrawn from this tab.
11. Reports
The Reports tab is where you can export reports to a spreadsheet. Reports include the following:
- An allocation Report (this shows what activities have been allocated to each student)
- A sign-up overview (list of all the activities and the relevant details regarding the activities)
- Export events for calendars
- Attendance overview (attendance record for all the container activities)
SchoolsBuddy reports are not just limited to the following listed above. To learn more details about available reports, click here. If you wish to gain more report access, please contact help@schoolsbuddy.com.
12. Archive
The Archive tab is only relevant once a container's sign up has ended and all the events in that container have ended. The Archive Tab is good way to keep your Activities & Clubs Admin tab looking clean and organised.
To find out how to archive a Preference Based Container, please click here.
If you still have any further questions, please contact us here: help@schoolsbuddy.com.