What's new
Key features
Guardian App: Admin – User Impersonation.
Enhanced Student Filtering: Mailing Lists and Student Manager.
Guardian App: Admin – User Impersonation
We’re pleased to introduce a significant enhancement to the Guardian app that will transform how your admin team interacts with the platform and supports parents. This update enables faster, more accurate assistance and allows admins to preview the app as a parent before it goes live — helping ensure everything is configured correctly prior to launch — all while maintaining the highest standards of security and privacy.
Benefits
Faster Issue Resolution: Admin staff can see exactly what guardians see, eliminating guesswork and reducing back-and-forth communication.
Improved Support: Guide new users through the app with real-time, contextual assistance.
Enhanced Quality Assurance: Verify that guardian accounts display correct information and permissions.
Pre-Launch Setup: Validate the app configuration before releasing it to guardians.
How it works
Starting an impersonation session:
In the Admin Portal, open User Manager.
Locate the parent user who needs assistance.
Click Impersonate in App.
A secure QR code or direct link is generated.
Scan the QR code or click the link on your mobile device.
Log in securely with your credentials to access the parent’s app view.
Security and privacy features
Time-Limited Sessions: All impersonation sessions automatically expire after 60 minutes.
Clear Visual Indicators: A prominent banner displays throughout the session, clearly showing Impersonation Session is Active.
Comprehensive Audit Trail: Every impersonation session is logged, including who initiated it, when, and for which user.
Permission-Based Access: Only administrators with the specific “Can log in to Guardian App as other users” permission can use this feature.
Privacy Protection: Admin contact details remain hidden from the parent’s account view during impersonation.
Permission management
The feature introduces granular permission control to ensure only appropriate staff members have access:
A new permission “Can log in to Guardian App as other users” has been added to the admin permissions system.
This permission is automatically granted to administrators who already have web impersonation rights.
School administrators can manage this permission through the Admin Groups interface.
The permission can be assigned or revoked for specific user groups as needed.
Session management
Intelligent session handling:
If an administrator starts a new impersonation session whilst one is already active, the previous session automatically terminates.
Sessions can be manually ended before the 60-minute limit through the app interface.
Network disconnections are handled gracefully, maintaining session integrity where possible.
The system prevents notification prompts for the impersonated user to avoid confusion.
Areas to note
Session Expiry on Android: When a session expires on an Android device, the app displays a blank white screen. The user must fully close the app to continue. Impersonation Banner Padding on Android: During impersonation on Android devices, additional padding appears beneath the impersonation banner. Notification Handling During Impersonation: If an admin is also a guardian user and is impersonating another account, notifications sent to the guardian account will not open during impersonation.
Enhanced Student Filtering
We’re delighted to introduce comprehensive filtering improvements that transform how you locate, manage, and communicate with your users. These powerful enhancements are now available in both the Student Manager and Communications mailing lists, providing a consistent and intuitive experience across the platform.
Benefits
Precision Targeting: Highly specific filtering using five new filter categories alongside existing options, enabling more effective communications and efficient record management.
Unified Experience: The same powerful filtering interface whether you’re managing student records or creating mailing lists, reducing training time and improving workflow efficiency.
Time Savings: Eliminate manual list compilation and reduce time spent searching through extensive student records with intelligent multi-select filters.
Better Organisation: Gain clearer visibility of student distributions across houses, forms, and boarding arrangements for improved administrative oversight.
New filter categories
Five additional filters now complement your existing search capabilities:
Sex – Filter by biological sex.
Form – Select specific form groups.
House – Identify students in particular houses.
Boarding House – Target students in specific boarding houses.
Boarding Type – Differentiate students by boarding type.
How it works
Multi-select capability: each filter supports multiple selections with intelligent logic:
Within a single filter type: OR logic applies. For example, selecting “Red House” and “Blue House” includes students from either.
Between different filters: AND logic applies. Students must match all selected criteria.
Combine any number of filters to create a precise list of students.
📌Note: Filters will only be displayed if there is data to support them. The filtering experience is identical whether you’re in Student Manager or creating a mailing list using the student source.
Student Manager
Mailing Lists – Students Source
Practical applications
Communications – Mailing Lists:
Send house competition announcements to specific year groups within selected houses.
Target boarding students with weekend activity information.
Communicate form-specific messages about timetables or assessments.
Administration – Student Manager:
Quickly locate groups of students using the new filters.
As always, if you have any questions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!
— The My School Portal Team