Guide for school leadership and administrators

Who this guide is for

You run the school, or a part of it. This guide covers five roles. What each one sees in the side menu depends on the permissions its role holds, and these are the defaults a new school starts with:

An administrator can change what any role other than the two admin roles may do: see Manage roles and permissions below. On that page, and in the role picker when you add staff, some roles have fuller names: the subject teacher's role is listed as Teacher, the bursar's as Bursary, and the head of department's as Head of Department.

Getting started after registration

If your school registered on our website, nobody creates it by hand: it is created the first time you sign in.

1. When your registration is approved, you receive an email with a link to choose your password. The link works once and for seven days. If it has expired, ask us for a new one using the contact details in the email.

2. Open your school's own address, the one in the approval email. On the sign-in page, select Continue with Nexusdemics and sign in with the email address you registered and the password you chose. You are brought back to your school.

3. Your school is set up from what you registered, and you are its Institution Admin. This takes a moment. If you see We're still setting up your school. Please try again in a minute., wait a minute and sign in again: nothing is lost and nothing is created twice.

A new school starts with:

• your school's name, and the phone number and town you registered, on Institution under SETTINGS, with the currency of the country you registered in;

• the standard roles and what each may do, on Roles & Permissions;

• the standard class levels, ready for your first classes;

• the report card's traits, ready for Trait Scores.

It has no sessions, terms, classes, staff or students yet. Next:

1. Add the current session and term (Set up sessions, terms and campuses below).

2. Check your details on Institution, and add your logo and motto.

3. Create this session's classes (Create the classes below).

4. Add your staff and give them a sign-in (Add staff and give them a sign-in below). Anyone else from your school who is given access on our website arrives with the role they were given there, or with none until you give them one.

Before you start

A new school is registered on the registration page, and the platform team reviews and approves it before the school is set up. The person who registered is then emailed a link to choose a password; anybody else is added by an administrator and emailed a link of their own. Once you have a password:

1. Open your school's portal and go to the sign-in page. It shows your school's name.

2. Enter your Email Address and Password, then select Sign In. If you have a Nexusdemics account, you can select Continue with Nexusdemics instead. You arrive on the Dashboard.

If you would rather not use a password, select Sign in with an email code, enter your email and select Email me a code. If you have forgotten your password, select Forgot password? and follow the emailed code.

Read the Dashboard

1. Open Dashboard, at the top of the menu. On a phone it is the Today tab, and its figures sit two to a row.

2. Students enrolled is the number of students on the register, and External exam entries the entries for this calendar year's sittings.

3. For roles that can see fees, Fees collected is the share of this term's invoices that has been paid, with the amounts, and the chart below compares what is collected with what is outstanding.

4. Where your school has added learning products for its students, a Student add-ons card shows each one and who pays (see Student add-ons below).

Every figure comes from your school's own records: a school with no invoices yet sees No invoices.

Student add-ons

For roles that can see the school's settings.

Your school can add extra learning products for its students. When it has, the Dashboard shows a Student add-ons card.

1. Open Dashboard and find Student add-ons.

2. Each add-on is listed with who pays: Families pay, with how many students have paid, or School pays, with how many students it covers.

3. Every enrolled student is covered, and the student list is sent on its own every few hours. After enrolling a class, select Send the student list now to send it at once.

Turning an add-on on or off, and choosing who pays, is not done here: it is set in the Nexusdemics console. Students open their add-ons from More from your school on their own dashboard.

Find your way around on a computer

1. The menu is down the left side, in groups such as ACADEMIC, FINANCE and SETTINGS. This guide names the group for each page. Dashboard, Students and Admissions are at the top, under OVERVIEW.

2. Select a group's name to fold it away, or the arrow at the top of the menu to narrow it to icons. On a tablet, the same menu opens from the menu button at the top left.

3. At the top, EN and FR switch between English and French wherever a page has been translated, and the sun or moon button switches between light and dark. Until you choose, the app follows your device's setting.

4. To sign out, select your picture at the top right and then Sign out, or the sign-out icon beside your name at the bottom of the menu.

Your own pages are under FINANCE: My Payslips, My leave, and, once your school uses them, My attendance (staff clock-in) and My ID card.

Tables wider than the screen say More columns to the right: scroll the table sideways to see them.

If you run the website

The Website Manager's menu is the WEBSITE group (Hero Slides, Site Content, Testimonials, Contact Inbox, Pages, Menu, Gallery and News) and Announcements under COMMUNICATION.

1. Sign in and open the page you need from the WEBSITE group.

2. Language, theme and Sign out are at the top, as for everyone.

3. On a phone you have the Today tab; every website page is under More.

Use it on your phone

1. Open your school's address in your phone's browser and sign in as above.

2. The first time, a message may offer to install the school's app: select Install app, or Not now to carry on in the browser. On an iPhone or iPad it tells you to tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. The message is shown only once. The installed app opens from your home screen with your school's name and icon.

3. Use the bar along the bottom of the screen for your main pages. The Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal have Today (the Dashboard), Students, Attendance and Invoices. The Vice Principal (Academics) has Classes in place of Invoices. A Website Manager has Today.

4. Select More for every other page. It is the whole menu, with every group open. At the bottom of it are Appearance (System, Light or Dark), Language (English or Français) and Sign out.

On a phone, lists are cards instead of tables: one card per student, per invoice and so on, with every column labelled. The top bar shows your school's name and logo and your picture.

Change your own name, phone or photo

1. Select your picture at the top right, then My profile. On a phone, select More, then your name at the top.

2. Change your First name, Last name or Phone number, and select Save changes. The name and phone number on your staff record change with it, so colleagues see the same name.

3. To add a photo, select Add a photo (or Change photo) and choose a JPEG, PNG or WebP image of up to 3 MB. Remove photo takes it off. If there is no photo button, photo uploads are not set up for your school.

Your email address and password are how you sign in, so they are not changed on this page. Under Email and password, Change password opens the page where you set a new one. To change the email address you sign in with, ask your school's administrator.

Set up sessions, terms and campuses

Do this first: admissions, classes and fees all hang off the current session and term.

1. Open Academic under SETTINGS. The page is headed Academic Settings.

2. On the Session Management tab, select Add Session. Enter the Session Name, Start Date and End Date, then select Save.

3. Select Set Current on the session you are running now. It is marked Current.

4. On the Term Management tab, select Add Term. Enter the Term Name, choose the Session, set the dates and select Save.

5. If your school has more than one site, add each one on the Campus Management tab.

6. On the Marking & report card tab, choose whether the school marks Out of 100 or Out of 20 on the Marking scale card (see Mark out of 100 or out of 20 below), and the report card's look (see Choose the report card design below).

Update the school's details and logo

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

1. Open Institution under SETTINGS. The page is headed Institution Settings.

2. Change the School Name, School Motto, Principal's Name or the address, phone and email under Contact Information. To add your logo, drag it onto School Logo or select Choose File: a PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF image of up to 2 MB. The logo is the website's, so School Logo shows only for roles that run the website, such as the Institution Admin.

3. Select Save Settings. The top bar and the report cards show the new name and logo.

Text parents when something happens

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

Parent SMS alerts text parents about their child. Each alert is off until you switch it on, and each text is billed to the school per SMS.

1. Open Institution under SETTINGS and scroll to Parent SMS alerts.

2. Switch on the alerts you want: Absence (when a student is marked absent in the register, one text per student per day), Results published, Fee reminders (for each overdue unpaid invoice, at most once every 7 days), Payment receipts and Exeat overdue (a boarder not back from an exeat on time).

3. Each switch is saved the moment you change it, and the section says Saved.

Parents with no phone number on record are never texted. A parent can stop the texts under Text messages on their own My profile, and on a student's Profile each guardian has a Receive SMS alerts switch. If the section says text messages are not set up yet, nothing is sent until they are; your choices are kept.

Create the classes

Each session has its own classes, for example two classes of one level. Students are registered into a class, and teachers are given theirs. Creating a class is for the Institution Admin and Campus Admin.

1. Open Classes under ACADEMIC. This session's classes are listed by level; select a level to show or hide its classes.

2. Select New Class.

3. Choose the Academic Session and the Class Level, and enter the Arm, the letter or name that tells the classes of one level apart. If you like, set the Capacity, the Campus, the Class Teacher and the Subject Combination.

4. Select Save.

Name your class levels

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

Class levels under SETTINGS is what your school calls each class, in order. The names show on result sheets, ID cards, score entry and everywhere else, and a new name shows everywhere at once.

1. Open Class levels under SETTINGS. Each level shows its short code, its stage (Junior or Senior) and how many classes it has.

2. To rename a level, select its pencil. Change the Name and the Short code (used where space is tight, like ID cards) and select Save.

3. Use Move up and Move down (the arrows) to put the levels in order.

4. To add one, select Add level, give its Name, Short code and Stage, and select Add level. A level with no classes can be removed with its bin.

5. A school with no levels yet can choose one under Start from a ready-made list and select Use this list.

A level's stage cannot change once it has classes. Your final year is your last senior level: the final-year transcripts carry its name.

Choose how admission numbers look

1. Open Admission Numbers under SETTINGS.

2. Set the Prefix, Suffix, Separator and Digits in the number. Choose whether to Include the session year in the number, and whether to Start counting from 1 again each session.

3. Check the preview under The next few numbers will look like, then select Save.

Nothing is issued until you register a student, and students already registered keep their numbers.

Handle admissions

1. Open Admissions. Filter by status with the tabs: All, Received, Under Review, Waitlisted, Admitted, Registered and Declined. You can also search by name or reference.

2. Select View on an application to open Application Detail, with the applicant's details and their guardian and contact information.

3. Move the application on with the buttons at the bottom. Only the next steps allowed from its current status are offered: Start review, Invite to screening, Admit, Waitlist, Decline or Mark accepted.

Register an admitted applicant

1. Open an application that is admitted or accepted: select Admitted at the top, then View.

2. Under Register as a student, choose the Session and the Class.

3. Select Register student. This creates the student, gives them their admission number and enrols them in that class.

Set admission fees and the entrance examination

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

1. Open Admission fees under OVERVIEW (under More on a phone).

2. Current fees lists what applicants are charged. When nothing is set, applying is free and no entrance fee is charged.

3. To set a fee, under Set a fee choose the Fee (Application or Entrance examination), type the Level it applies to or leave it blank for every level, enter the Amount in your school's currency and select Save fee. Changing a fee never re-prices an application that has already been paid for.

4. To say whether applicants sit an entrance examination, under Entrance examination type the Level (or leave it blank for every level), tick or clear Applicants sit an entrance examination, and select Save.

The fee and the examination are set separately, because a school may examine without charging. An applicant is shown the entrance fee only when their level is examined.

Add and manage students

Students is the school's register: every student, with their photo (or their initials when there is none), admission number, class, subject combination, sex, status and guardian.

1. Open Students. Type in Name, admission number or guardian phone…: it finds a student by either name in any order, by admission number, or by a guardian's phone number or email, however the number is spaced.

2. Narrow the list with the filters: Status (it starts on Enrolled; choose Every status to see everyone), Section (junior or senior secondary), Session, Level, Class, Combination Arm, Gender, Day or boarding, and New or returning (New this session were first enrolled in the current session; Returning were enrolled in an earlier one). Sort by orders the list by surname, admission number, class, or when the student was added. On a phone the filters are behind the Filters button, which shows how many are on; select Show … students to close it.

3. Each filter that is on shows as a label above the list: select it to take that filter off, or select Clear filters. The count under the title is the number of students matching the filters. Move through the list with Previous and Next, and choose how many rows a page shows.

4. The filters are part of the page's address, so you can bookmark a filtered list or send it to a colleague, and the browser's Back button undoes the last change. Select Export CSV to download every student matching the filters, not only the page on screen.

5. To add a student directly, select Add Student, fill in the form and select Save.

To archive a student, select the delete icon on their row and confirm. They leave the active class lists, but their academic and financial history is kept.

A student's page

1. Select a student to open their page. It shows their photo, large, with their name, admission number, class, combination and status.

2. Profile has their personal details, whether they are a day student or a boarder, every guardian with their relationship, phone number and email (select a number to call it, or an email to write), and their medical record when the school has one. Staff who can edit students set Day or boarding here.

3. Class and progress lists every class they have been enrolled in, with the session, the combination and the date; their attendance this term, with Open the class register; and Open this term's report card. Each part is shown only to roles that can see attendance or results. Fees lists their invoices, for roles that can see fees.

4. Under the photo, Add photo (or Change photo) and Remove photo change it. A photo must be a JPEG, PNG or WebP image of 5 MB or less.

5. On Documents, choose a document type and select Upload document to attach a file (PDF, JPG, PNG or DOCX, up to 10 MB).

A student's photo is private: it is shown only to signed-in staff who can see the student, through a link that expires after a few minutes. A removed or replaced photo is deleted after 30 days.

Approve students' profile changes

Students can ask to change the name, phone number and photo on their own profile. Nothing changes until somebody who manages student records approves it: by default the Institution Admin, the Campus Admin and the Principal. When a student sends a request, everyone who can approve it is sent a notification and an email.

1. Open Profile changes under OVERVIEW (under More on a phone).

2. Each request shows the student's name, when they asked, and what they have Now beside what they Asked for: their name, phone number or photo. A request that changes the name or photo says Also updates the student's school record.

3. Select Approve to change their profile straight away. Or select Reject, type a Reason if you want (the student sees it), and select Reject request. A rejected request leaves their profile and their record as they were, and a photo they sent is deleted.

Approving changes the student's own record as well: their first name, last name and photo on their record under Students become the ones you approved, so registers, report cards and the student list show them, and removing the photo removes it from the record too. The phone number changes on their profile only; their parents' phone numbers are never changed. If no student record is linked to the login, the message after Approve says so, and only their profile changes. You cannot approve your own request.

A student can have only one request waiting: if they send changes again, the new ones replace it. They can also withdraw it before you decide. Approvals and rejections are recorded in the audit log.

Add staff and give them a sign-in

1. Open Staff and select Add Staff.

2. Enter the First Name, Last Name, Email and Phone, choose a Role and a Department, then select Save.

3. Select the new staff member and open the Roles & Access tab.

4. Under Assigned Roles, tick every role they hold and select Save Role Assignment.

5. Under System Access, select Create Login Account. A temporary password is shown once: share it with them securely.

Give teachers their classes and subjects

Class teachers and subject teachers see and work on their own classes and subjects for the current session, and nothing else in the school. Give each one theirs at the start of the session:

1. Class teachers. Open Classes under ACADEMIC. Each class has a Class teacher picker: choose the member of staff. Only staff with a sign-in are offered.

2. Subject teachers. Open Staff, select the teacher and open the Teaching tab. Choose a class and a subject and select Assign. Repeat for each subject they teach in each class. Select the remove icon on a row to take one away.

A teacher with nothing assigned sees no classes or students. The principal, vice principals, heads of department and administrators see the whole school.

Manage roles and permissions

1. Open Roles under SETTINGS. The page is headed Roles & Permissions, and lists System Roles and any Custom Roles, with how many permissions and staff each one has.

2. To change what a role can do, select its edit icon, tick or untick permissions, and select Save Changes. The two admin roles show All permissions (locked).

3. To add a role of your own, select Create Role, give it a Role Name, a Description and its permissions, then select Create Role. Only custom roles can be deleted.

Staff who hold a role you changed see the change in their side menu the next time they sign in.

Add departments and assign their heads

1. Open Departments under ACADEMIC to see each department with its head, its subjects and its number of staff.

2. To add a department, select Add Department, enter its Name and, if you like, a Description, then select Save.

3. To change a department's head, select Assign as HOD, choose a member of staff and select Assign.

Both need the Manage departments permission, which administrators and heads of department hold by default.

Set up the tests and exam for each level

Score Entry offers teachers one column for each test, assignment and exam your school marks a class level on. You set these columns up on CA Config under ACADEMIC, for the current session.

1. Open CA Config and choose the Class level.

2. Select Add column. Enter a Name, the most marks it allows and its Weight as a percentage. Tick This is the exam for the exam column: each level has one.

3. Select Save. Repeat for each column. The page tells you whether the weights add up to 100%.

4. To change a column, select its edit icon. To remove one, select its delete icon and confirm.

A column that already has marks entered against it cannot be deleted, and one whose marks have been locked shows Locked.

Online exams and the question bank

An online exam can count as one of these columns. Its teacher chooses the column and the term under Marks sheet on the paper's page in Online Exams, and selects Release scores once every written answer is marked: each student's score is then written into that column on Score Entry, scaled to the column's maximum mark. A student who did not hand the paper in is left blank. Release is refused while a script still has answers to mark, while a student is still writing, or once you have locked the column.

The Question Bank under COMMUNICATION holds the questions teachers write once and reuse, by subject and class level. From it they make papers, by hand or from a blueprint, import and export questions as a spreadsheet, and print a paper and its marking scheme on the school's letterhead. Administrators and the Principal can write in it; the Vice Principal (Academics) and heads of department can read it. Questions a teacher keeps in their own bank are seen only by that teacher, until they share them with the school. The steps are in the guide for teaching staff.

Offer subject combinations

The Institution Admin and Campus Admin set up the combinations. The Principal can put students in them.

Senior students take a combination of subjects, such as science or arts: some subjects every student in it must take, and electives to choose from.

1. Open Subject Combos under ACADEMIC (under More on a phone).

2. Combinations shows each combination your school offers, with its Mandatory Subjects and Electives, and whether it is Active.

3. To add one, select Add Combination. Enter its Name and choose a Colour (it colours the combination's card on your school website). Under Subjects, set each of your senior subjects to Compulsory, Elective or Not included, then select Save Combination. Two combinations cannot have the same name.

4. To change one, select Edit on its card. You can rename it, change its colour and its subjects, or clear Offered to stop offering it: it shows as Inactive and can no longer be chosen for a student, but the students already on it keep it. Select Save Combination.

5. To remove one, select Delete on its card and confirm. A combination that students or classes are on cannot be deleted; clear Offered instead.

6. To put a student in a combination, open Student assignment, choose the Student and the Combination, and select Assign. The student is placed in it for the current session, in their current class. The table below lists every student's combination.

A student's combination is shown on their record and on the final-year transcripts.

Build a class timetable

This section is for the Principal and the Vice Principal (Academics), who can change timetables, and for administrators.

1. Open Timetable under ACADEMIC and choose the Class.

2. If the class has no timetable for the current session, select Start its timetable.

3. Select a cell to set that day's period: choose the Subject (or leave it as a free period), set when it Starts and Ends, add a Room if you like, and select Save. A new cell takes its times from the same period on another day.

4. Select Add a period for another row.

5. When the week is right, select Publish. The timetable shows Published.

Heads of department can open Timetable to see a class's week, but not change it.

Run online and blended classes

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

An online or blended class gets a live lesson in every lesson period of its published timetable. Students join with their own sign-in.

1. Open Online school under SETTINGS.

2. Under How the school teaches, choose On campus, Online or Blended (both).

3. Set Present when in at least (the share of a lesson a student must be in to count as present) and Room opens before the period (minutes).

4. Under Classes, give a class its own choice where it differs; a class with none follows the school.

5. Under Lesson recordings, tick Let teachers record live lessons and set Keep recordings for (days), if your school records lessons.

6. Select Save.

Teachers, students and parents then find the day's lessons on Live lessons. If the page says the built-in video room is not switched on yet, add a meeting link to each period on Timetable instead.

Switch on teaching records

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

Teaching records are the scheme of work, teachers' weekly lesson notes and the record of work, kept in the app instead of on paper. They are off until you switch them on.

1. Open Teaching records under SETTINGS.

2. Switch on Keep teaching records in the app.

3. Leave Lesson notes need the approval of the principal or a head of department on if notes should wait for approval; off, a submitted note counts as approved straight away.

4. Select Save. Staff now have a TEACHING group in the menu: Scheme of work, Lesson notes, Record of work and Syllabus coverage.

Approve lesson notes and schemes of work

The Institution Admin, the Principal, the Vice Principal (Academics) and heads of department.

1. Lesson notes. Open Lesson notes under TEACHING and choose the Term and Week. Week … : notes not yet submitted lists every class and subject still without a note. Open a note marked Waiting for approval, read it, and under Review this note select Approve, or write a comment and select Return with comment.

2. Scheme of work. Open Scheme of work, choose the Class level and Subject, and select Open scheme. When it is right, select Publish: students and parents then see its weekly topics. Unpublish lets the teachers change it again.

3. Record of work. Open Record of work, choose a class, and select Sign off this week once its lessons are recorded. After that only you can change the week.

4. Syllabus coverage shows, for every class and subject, the weeks taught against the weeks planned, the lessons recorded and the notes approved.

Compute a class's results

This section is for the Institution Admin, Campus Admin, Principal and Vice Principal (Academics) roles. Computing and publishing results needs the Publish results permission.

Subject teachers enter the marks on Score Entry. Once a class's marks for the term are in:

1. Open Results under ASSESSMENT and choose the class from — Select Class —. The page works on the school's current term, shown under its title. Beside the class it shows where that class's results stand: Not computed, Computed with the date and time and · not published, or Published · computed with the date and time.

2. Select Compute results, then select Compute results again to confirm. Each student's total, grade and remark in every subject, their position in each subject, their average and their position in the class are worked out from the marks entered. A message gives the number of students, subjects and results computed, and the table lists the class in order of position.

3. Check the results. Select Print on a student's row to see their report card.

On a phone, open Results from More. Each student is a card, and a report card is laid out as one column to scroll; it still prints on a full page.

Publish or unpublish the results

1. On a computed class, select Publish, then select Publish again to confirm. Students and their parents can now see the term's results and report cards.

2. If your school uses the shared suite sign-in, each student with published results is also sent their report card, as are their parents at the email addresses on the student's record, and the message says Report cards are on their way to the students and their parents.

3. To withdraw a class's results, select Unpublish and confirm. Students and parents no longer see them until you publish them again. Report cards already sent cannot be recalled; publishing again sends the new ones.

Computing a published class again updates what families see straight away.

Remarks and promotion

1. Once a class's results are computed, select Print on a student's row.

2. Above the report card, under Remarks and promotion, write the Class teacher's remark and the Principal's remark, and choose the student's Promotion: Not decided yet, Promoted, To repeat the class or Graduated.

3. Select Save remarks. The remarks and the decision appear on the report card and its PDF; while the promotion is Not decided yet, the report card says nothing about promotion. Computing the results again keeps what you wrote.

The principal's remark and the promotion decision need the Publish results permission. A class teacher can write the class teacher's remark for their own class.

How the results are worked out:

• A subject's total is its test marks and its exam mark added together; at a school that marks out of 20, that total is converted to marks out of 20 (see below). Its grade and remark come from the scale marked Default on Grade Scales for the way the school marks (see Grade with your own scale below). If the school has no default scale, the built-in scale is used. A total with a fraction is graded as the whole mark it rounds to, with a half rounding up: 74.5 is graded as 75, and 74.4 as 74.

• A student's position in a subject ranks the students who took it by their total. Their position in the class ranks every student by their average across their subjects. Students with the same total, or the same average, share a position and the next position is skipped: two students in first place are followed by one in third.

• A student's average is the mean of their subject totals, to 2 decimals.

• Computing again after marks change replaces the class's previous results, and removes the results of any subject or student that no longer has marks. It does not change whether the results are published. If they are published, students and parents see the new results as soon as you compute, and the page tells you so before you confirm. The report cards are sent again only if a result actually changed.

Grade with your own scale

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

1. Open Grade Scales under ACADEMIC. It shows the built-in reference scales and your school's own. Each scale is for marks Out of 100 or Out of 20, and each of the two has its own default.

2. Select + Add Custom Scale and give the scale a Scale name. Under Bands are marks, choose Out of 100 or Out of 20.

3. Adjust the bands: each has a Grade, the lowest (Min) and highest (Max) mark it covers, and a Remark. Add band adds one, and Remove takes one away.

4. Tick Grade results with this scale (make it the default) and select Save scale. The bands must cover every mark from 0 to the top of the scale with no gap and no overlap; if they do not, the message says where.

Mark out of 100 or out of 20

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal can change it.

Every school marks out of 100 until it chooses otherwise. A school that marks out of 20 can switch, and its subject totals, averages, report cards, transcripts and analytics are then marks out of 20.

1. Open Academic under SETTINGS and select the Marking & report card tab. The Marking scale card is at the top. (Change the marking scale on Grade Scales opens it too.)

2. Choose Out of 20 and select Save marking scale. The change is recorded in the school's audit log.

3. The first time you switch, a grade scale called Out of 20 (standard) is created and made the default for marking out of 20: 18 to 20 Excellent, 16 to 17.99 Very good, 14 to 15.99 Good, 12 to 13.99 Fairly good, 10 to 11.99 Average, below 10 Fail. Grade Scales also shows these bands as Standard, out of 20. To use your own, select + Add Custom Scale, choose Out of 20 under Bands are marks, and tick Grade results out of 20 with this scale (default). Its bands must cover every mark from 0 to 20. Each scale carries Out of 100 or Out of 20, and each of the two has its own default.

4. Open Results and compute each class again. Results already computed keep the scale they were computed on until then, and the page says so beside the class.

How a total out of 20 is worked out:

• Teachers still enter each test and the exam out of its own maximum on CA Config, and those marks are kept exactly as entered.

• A subject total is the marks entered, divided by what the class level's columns add up to this session, times 20, rounded to 2 decimals (a half rounds up). 67 out of 100 is 13.40; 45.5 out of 60 is 15.17.

• A total out of 20 is graded on its exact value, not rounded to a whole mark first: a band of 16 to 17 covers 16.00 to 17.99, so 17.99 is Very good, not Excellent. A band starting at 10 or more counts as a credit.

• Averages are the mean of the subject totals, to 2 decimals, and positions compare the exact averages.

Report cards and their PDF say Total /20 and show the average as, for example, 13.40/20. Switching back to Out of 100 works the same way: compute each class again afterwards.

Choose the report card design

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal can change it.

One design is used for every report card: on screen, printed, and in the parents' and students' view.

1. Open Academic under SETTINGS and select the Marking & report card tab. Report card design is below the marking scale.

2. Select one of the twelve designs. The preview below shows an example student with your school's name and logo; switch it between Term result and Session result.

3. Under Colour, keep the design's own colour or choose another (Other picks any colour). Designs with a second colour also offer Second colour.

4. Under Show on the report card, untick what to leave off, such as Position in class or Student photo. The school's name, the student's details, the subjects, the average and both remarks are always shown.

5. Under Verification, tick Print a QR code on published report cards so anyone who scans it sees the result on your school's website.

6. Select Save design.

Choose which assessments are sat online

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

1. Open Online or paper under ACADEMIC.

2. Under Whole school, set each column (each CA and the exam) to Paper or Online. Anything not set is on paper.

3. For a different choice in one subject, use Exceptions: choose the Column, the Subject, where it Applies to (every class in a level, or one class this term) and Online or paper, then select Add exception.

A column sat online is filled by releasing the online exam's scores. Teachers can still type a mark there, but only by hand with a reason.

Check marks typed in by hand

Roles that can publish results.

1. Open Hand-entered marks under ASSESSMENT.

2. Every mark typed by hand this term into an assessment sat online is listed with the Student, the Assessment, the Mark, the Reason the teacher gave and who it was Entered by.

Check these before you compute and publish the class's results.

Enter candidates for external exams

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal. The Vice Principal (Academics) can view the entries.

1. Open External Exams under EXAMS (under More on a phone). There is a tab for each examining board your school's students can sit. Only the boards for your school's country are offered.

2. Choose a board's tab and the Year of the sitting. Each student entered for that board and year is listed with their admission number, Subjects, Candidate Number and Registration Fee status (Paid or Pending).

3. To enter students, select Enter candidates. Choose a Class, tick the students to enter (or Select all), tick the Subjects they sit, and select Enter. They are entered for the board and year on screen. A student already entered for that board and year is left as they were, and the message says how many.

4. To change one student's subjects, select the pencil icon on their row, tick or untick subjects and select Save.

5. When the board issues the candidate numbers, select Enter Candidate No. on a student's row, type the number and select Save.

6. To withdraw a student, select the bin icon on their row and confirm with Remove. An entry whose registration fee is paid cannot be removed.

7. Select Export CSV to download the list on screen as a spreadsheet, with each student's admission number, name, board, year, candidate number, subjects and whether their fee is paid.

Whether an entered student may sit is shown on Exam Permits: see Clear an exam permit in the bursar's guide.

Import external exam results

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

When a board releases its results, load them from the file the board gives you.

1. Open Result Import under EXAMS (under More on a phone).

2. Choose the Exam Body, then select the upload area and choose the results as a CSV file. The expected columns are exam_body, year, candidate_number, subject_code, subject_name and grade.

3. Under Column Mapping, match each expected column to a column in your file, or leave — Auto-detect —, and select Validate.

4. The Validation Report counts the valid records and lists each row with an error, and shows a preview of the first ten records. Select Back to fix the mapping, or Confirm Import.

Results are matched to students by their candidate number, so enter the candidate numbers on External Exams first. Imported results appear on each student's record, and students see their own under their results.

Read a final-year student's transcript

Institution Admin, Campus Admin, Principal and Vice Principal (Academics); heads of department and teachers too.

1. Open the transcripts page under ASSESSMENT (under More on a phone). It is named after your school's final class level, the last senior level on Class levels: that level's name followed by Transcripts. It lists the students in the final-year classes with their combination.

2. Select View on a student. Their published results are shown term by term, each with its average, and the overall average across their published subjects at the top. Terms computed out of 20 show their totals and average out of 20; if a transcript mixes terms computed out of 100 and out of 20, the overall average is given as a percentage. Select Hide to close it.

3. Select Print Transcript to print it or save it as a PDF.

Only published results are included: a term whose results have not been published yet is not on the transcript.

Approve payroll

The bursar builds each month's payroll run. The principal, or an administrator, approves it and records it as paid. Two different people, so that nobody both prepares and signs off the school's pay.

1. Open Payroll Runs under FINANCE.

2. Select Payslips on a run to check each member of staff's basic, gross, deductions and net pay.

3. Select Approve on a draft run, and confirm. Approving freezes the run: its totals and payslips cannot be changed afterwards.

4. When the money has left the school's account, select Mark paid and confirm. This records the payment. It does not move any money.

Pay a run by transfer

Where your school is connected to the payments service. Marking a run paid by hand works as before.

1. Open Payroll Runs under FINANCE and select Payslips on an approved run (you need the right to approve payroll).

2. Below the payslips, the page shows the Settlement balance available for salaries: the school's fee collections not yet sent to its bank. Select Pay by transfer.

3. Read the confirmation, which names the net pay and the balance, and confirm. The run is refused, and nothing is paid, if the balance will not cover it.

4. The result says how many salaries were paid, how many the bank has accepted and not yet settled, and who has no account. Salary transfers lists each one with its state and the bank's Transfer reference.

A Pending salary is money that has left or is leaving: never pay that person again; the list updates by itself. After adding a salary account for someone who was left out, open the run again and select Pay the rest. Nobody already paid or pending is paid twice.

Switch on staff clock-in

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

Staff clock-in is off until you switch it on. Staff then clock in and out on their own phone or browser, or at a desk in the staff room.

1. Open Staff attendance under COMMUNICATION and select the Settings tab.

2. Switch on Staff clock in and out in the app.

3. Under School hours, switch on each school day and set when school Opens, when staff are Late after, and when it Closes. A day switched off is not a school day.

4. Under How staff clock in, choose On their own phone or browser, At a desk in the staff room (PIN or ID card), or both, and any checks: Only inside the school grounds, Only on a registered phone, With a selfie.

5. Select Save. If you chose the school grounds, add a pin under School location: stand at the school gate and select Use where I am, give the Radius (m) and select Add.

Below, Days the school is shut lists holidays (nobody is late or absent on them), and Not expected to clock in excuses part-time staff on the days they do not work. Under Payroll, Suggest deductions for lateness and absence on payroll runs shows the bursar suggestions on a draft run; nothing is deducted by itself.

Run the staff attendance register

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

1. Open Staff attendance under COMMUNICATION. The Register tab shows a Day: who is On time, Late, Not yet in, Absent or On leave, and how many Requests waiting.

2. To put a record right, select Correct on a row, choose the Clock (In or Out), the Time (school clock) and a Reason, and select Save. The original stays on record.

3. Requests lists clock-ins from outside the school grounds, with how far away each was and the reason. Add a note if you like and select Approve or Decline.

4. Phones lists the phones staff clock in on. Select Approve on one waiting for approval, or Revoke to stop it being used.

5. Monthly report gives each member of staff's school days, days present and minutes late for a Month. Select Download spreadsheet or Download PDF. Days before the school switched staff attendance on are not counted as absences.

Set up a clock-in desk in the staff room

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

A desk is a shared tablet in the staff room that nobody signs in to. Staff clock in at it with a PIN, or with their ID card and PIN.

1. Open Staff attendance under COMMUNICATION and select Desks and cards. Under Desks, type a name such as Staff room and select Add a desk. A pairing code is shown: it works once, for 30 minutes.

2. On the tablet, open the address given on the page. Under Set up this desk, type the Pairing code and select Pair this desk.

3. Under PINs and ID cards, give each member of staff a four-digit PIN: type it beside their name and select Set. Give each PIN to its owner in person. Replace beside a card number gives that person a new card number.

4. At the desk, a member of staff selects their name under Find your name, types their PIN and selects Clock in or out. With an ID card, on a tablet whose browser can read QR codes, they select Scan my ID card, show the card, then type their PIN.

The desk takes a photo of whoever clocks in. With no connection, clock-ins are saved on the tablet and sent when the network is back.

Decide staff leave

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal decide. Heads of department and the bursar can view the list.

1. Open Staff leave under COMMUNICATION. It starts on Only those waiting for a decision; untick it to see every request.

2. Each request shows who asked, the type of leave, the dates, the number of days and the reason.

3. Select Approve or Reject.

Approved leave shows as On leave in staff attendance, not as an absence. Staff ask for leave on My leave under FINANCE.

Print ID cards

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal change the settings; roles that can see the settings can look.

Bank-card size ID cards for students and staff. Each card has a QR code that opens a check page on your school website, showing the person, their photo and your school.

1. Open ID cards under SETTINGS and switch on Print ID cards.

2. Choose a Design for students and a Design for staff from the twelve designs, the School colour and, if you like, a Second colour for badges, lines and edges.

3. Under Printed on the card, tick what to print, set Valid until (or leave it empty for the end of the session) and choose where the QR code goes. Show the photo on the check page lets a gate keeper compare the face. Select Save.

4. Select Print ID cards. Choose Students (and a Class, or Every class) or Staff, and select Make cards.

5. Tick Print the backs too (double-sided) if you like, and select Print with the number of cards. Print on A4 card or sticker paper and cut along the lines.

A card keeps its number when printed again. For a lost card, select Replace lost card beside the person: the old card then scans as replaced.

Post announcements

Administrators post notices to the parent and student portals.

1. Open Announcements under COMMUNICATION and select New Announcement.

2. Enter a Title and a Message.

3. Under Audience, choose Everyone, Parents, Students or Staff.

4. A new announcement is set to Published — visible in portals. Select that switch to change it to Draft — hidden from portals if it is not ready. Select Create Announcement.

Run the school website

Everything under WEBSITE in the menu changes your school's public site.

Your public site is the home page of your school's web address — the address itself, with nothing after it. This system lives under /app on the same address; visitors never need to go there to read your site, apply, follow an application or check a document. Older links that pointed at /app/school/... still work and open the same page on the site.

Pages

1. Open Pages under WEBSITE and select New Page.

2. Enter the Page Title, the Slug (URL path) that becomes its address, and the Page Content.

3. Choose a Page Template and, if you like, an SEO Title and Meta Description.

4. Choose a Status, then select Save Draft or Publish Page.

News

1. Open News under WEBSITE: the News & Blog list. Select New Post.

2. Enter the Post Title, write the post and its summary, and add a category, tags and a featured image.

3. Select Save Draft or Publish Post.

Hero slides

1. Open Hero Slides under WEBSITE: the image slider on your home page.

2. Select Add Slide, set the background image and the text, and reorder the slides with the arrows.

3. Select Save All Slides.

Site content

1. Open Site Content under WEBSITE: your school's identity, contact details and social links, headline figures, admissions details, board members and story.

2. Change a section and select its own save button, for example Save identity or Save stats. Changes appear on the live site straight away.

Testimonials

1. Open Testimonials under WEBSITE and select Add Testimonial for a quote from a parent, student or alumnus.

2. Enter the Author, their Role and the quote. Choose whether it is Visible on site.

3. Select Create Testimonial.

The menu

1. Open Menu under WEBSITE: the Navigation Menu of your public site.

2. Select Add Top-Level Item, or add a sub-item to an existing one. Write a link to one of your own pages as its path, for example /about or /admissions/apply.

3. Select Create Item. Changes take effect immediately.

The gallery

1. Open Gallery under WEBSITE.

2. Select Upload Photos, or Add Video for a video link.

3. Star an item to feature it on the home page.

The contact inbox

1. Open Contact Inbox under WEBSITE: messages sent through your public contact form.

2. Filter by All, New, Read or Archived, and open a message.

3. Select Mark read, Archive or Reply by email.

Connect your own domain

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

Custom domain under SETTINGS is where you add your own domain, prove you own it and connect it, so that your school's website and app answer at it. Your included address keeps working alongside it, so a mistake in the domain's settings never locks you out.

1. Open Custom domain under SETTINGS (under More on a phone).

2. Enter the Domain and select Add domain. It shows Awaiting DNS, with a Record name and a Record value.

3. At your domain registrar, add a TXT record with that name and value, and leave it in place afterwards.

4. Select Check DNS. Changes can take up to an hour to spread, so if the check fails, select Re-check later.

5. When ownership is confirmed the domain shows Verified, and anything still to do before the address works is listed under Still to do before this address works. It shows Live once visitors are being served at it.

To stop using the domain, select Remove. If the page says custom domains are not available yet, contact us.

Set up your school's domain and email

Institution Admin, Campus Admin, and any role allowed to manage staff.

School email works only at your school's own domain, such as yourschool.org. Until the domain is set up, Email in the menu brings whoever may manage staff email to the School email domain section of Staff email, which says Set up your school's domain to get school email.

1. Open Staff email under SETTINGS (under More on a phone). School email domain is at the top of the page.

2. Enter your school's domain and select Use this domain. The page lists the records to add and what each one is for: a TXT record that proves the school owns the domain, an MX record that brings the mail in, a TXT record that lets the school send mail, and a recommended TXT record that protects against forged mail.

3. Sign in where your domain's DNS is managed (see the list below) and add each record exactly as the page shows it: its type, name, value and, for the MX record, its priority. Use Copy beside each name and value.

4. Back on the page, select Check again. Records can take up to an hour to appear. Each one shows a tick once it is found, and the page says when the domain is ready.

5. Give staff their addresses in the list below the domain.

If the page offers Set it up for me, your domain's DNS is one we can manage for you: select it and the records are added for you. If records already there are in the way, such as another provider's MX record, the page lists them and changes nothing.

Keep the records in place afterwards. If one goes missing, the page says so, and school email stops after a week unless it is put back.

Where to add the records

Most DNS hosts want only the part of the name before your domain: for _verify.yourschool.org type _verify, and for the domain itself type @. Add a TXT record, an MX record and the other TXT records, as shown on the page.

• Whogohost: sign in to the client area, open Domains, choose the domain, then Manage DNS.

• Qservers: sign in to the client area, open Domains, then My Domains, choose Manage beside the domain, then DNS Management.

• Web4Africa: sign in to the client area, open Domains, choose Manage beside the domain, then DNS Management.

• GoDaddy: open My Products, choose DNS beside the domain, then Add New Record.

• Namecheap: open Domain List, choose Manage beside the domain, then Advanced DNS and Add New Record. For the MX record, set Mail Settings to Custom MX first.

• Cloudflare: choose the domain, open DNS, then Records and Add record. Leave the MX and TXT records as DNS only.

See your payslips

1. Open My Payslips under FINANCE. On a phone it is under More.

2. Each month you have been paid for shows your net pay.

3. Select Breakdown on a month for your basic pay, allowances and deductions.

Clock in and out

Only when your school uses staff clock-in. Until it does, My attendance is not in your menu.

1. Open My attendance under FINANCE (under More on a phone).

2. The first time, read Before you clock in: what the school records when you clock in, and who can see it. Select I understand and agree.

3. When you arrive, select Clock in. If your school asks for a photo, select Take photo first; if it asks where you are, allow your location when the browser asks. At the end of the day the same button says Clock out.

4. If you are outside the school grounds, the page says how far away you are. Type Why are you away from school? (for the head) and select Send request: it counts once the head approves it.

5. My month lists each school day with your times and On time, Late, Absent or On leave, and the month's totals. Choose another month above the list.

With no connection, a clock-in is kept on this device and sent, with the time you made it, when you are back online. If the page says the school takes clock-ins at the staff room desk only, clock in there with your PIN or ID card.

Your ID card

1. Open My ID card under FINANCE (under More on a phone). It is in your menu once your school prints ID cards.

2. The front and back of your card are shown. Anyone can scan its QR code to check that the card is yours and that you belong to the school.

3. Select Print to print it. If you lose your card, ask the school office for a new one.

Ask for leave

1. Open My leave under FINANCE (under More on a phone).

2. Choose the Type of leave, such as Annual leave or Sick leave, set From and To, add a Reason, and select Send request. The page says Sent. The head will decide it.

3. Your requests are listed below with the head's decision. Taken this year: adds up your days of each type.

Approved leave shows as On leave in staff attendance, not as an absence.

Follow your school's support tickets

Institution Admin, Campus Admin and Principal.

1. Open Support Tickets under COMMUNICATION. It shows how many tickets your school has, how many are open or pending, and how many are resolved.

2. Select All Tickets to see every ticket anyone at your school has opened. Search by subject, or filter by status and priority.

3. Select Open on a ticket to read it and reply.

Tips and common questions

• A menu item is missing. The side menu shows only what your role's permissions allow. Ask an administrator to check your role on Roles & Permissions.

• Compute results says no scores have been entered. No marks have been saved for that class in the current term. Subject teachers enter them on Score Entry.

• Publish cannot be selected. There is nothing to publish until the class's results have been computed.

• Why can I see a page but not save on it? Some roles can view a page without the permission to change it. The principal, for example, can view website pages but not edit them.

• Where are the report cards? On Results: choose a class and select Print on a student's row. A report card is always one student's.

• How do I take a register or enter marks myself? The steps are in the guide for teaching staff. The Principal and Vice Principal (Academics) are offered every class on Attendance.

• Can I clear a student to sit an external exam although fees are owed? Yes, with the Override permits permission. See Clear an exam permit in the bursar's guide: the steps are the same.

Getting help

Open a support ticket

1. Open My Support under COMMUNICATION. On a phone it is under More.

2. Select Open Ticket, enter a subject and describe the issue, then select Open Ticket.

3. Replies from the support team appear in the ticket. Select it on My Support Tickets to read them.

Ask the AI Chat

1. Select the support button at the bottom of any page. On a phone it sits above the tab bar.

2. Ask the AI Chat assistant a question about using the portal.

3. Or open a Support Ticket from the same panel.

Watch the help videos

1. Open Help videos. On a phone it is under More.

2. The videos for your role are in three groups: Start here, Every day and Now and then, each with its length.

3. Select one to play it. Where there is a phone version and a computer version, you can switch between them. A line marked Coming soon is not recorded yet.