You can run a whole Week Without Walls or overseas trip programme in SchoolsBuddy. Parents pay a deposit through an instant book sign-up, which unlocks a preference-based trip sign-up. You then allocate students, generate fees and add final balances with Quick Charge.
For staff planning a trips programme. This page outlines the seven-step process and links to the guides for each part.
If this is the first time your school is using SchoolsBuddy for trips, we recommend booking a training session.
These guides assume you already know some SchoolsBuddy features. Depending on your needs, you may not need every step. Step 1 needs the online payments module.
The seven-step process
Set up the deposit. Create an instant book sign-up (a fee-only event) so parents can pay a deposit. Paying the deposit unlocks the trip selection sign-up, where parents or students choose their trips in order of preference.
Set up trip choices. Create a preference-based sign-up. Set the deposit payment group as a prerequisite. SchoolsBuddy creates this group automatically in step 1.
Open both sign-ups. Parents and students only see the trip options after they have paid the deposit.
Allocate students. After the sign-ups close, auto-allocate students to trips. You can adjust allocations manually if needed.
Communicate. Contact parents and students through the overall deposit group or the individual trip groups.
Charge the estimated cost. Each group has an estimated extra charge on top of the deposit. Use the Generate Fees process to charge students' accounts in one go.
Charge the final balance. Final costs per group can change because of flights, accommodation and other factors. Add the final balance for each group with Quick Charge.