Welcome back to a new academic year! We hope you've had a restful summer. This month's newsletter is packed with tips to help you get your My School Portal set up and ready, guidance on the parent mobile app, and a customer story from St Edmund's School. Let's get started!
Starting the New Academic Year Right
📄 Content & Documents
Review your Sections, Pages and Documents. Update content for new year groups, disable or delete anything no longer needed, and check expiry dates on documents.
💡 Tip: Drag and drop Pages to reorder them — move disabled pages to the end for easy review.
🎉 Events, Trips, Clubs & Activities
Add new sessions for Clubs & Activities, create upcoming Events and Trips, and remove anything no longer running. Use the clone feature to speed up event creation.
💡 Tip: Bulk-delete past events using the filters in Admin Tools.
📋 Custom Forms
Download all form submissions from the current year, archive forms no longer needed, and clone existing forms to create updated versions for the new year.
💡 Tip: Clone forms rather than editing them — this preserves previous responses.
✉️ Communications & Mailing Lists
Draft year-group newsletters, set up templates for recurring sends, and review your mailing lists. Use AI tools in the editor to help refine your content.
💡 Tip: Save emails as drafts or schedule them to send at the right time.
👥 Staff & Admin Access
Review all admin users and Admin Groups. Add new staff who need access and remove or restrict access for those who have changed roles or left.
📌 Need help? Contact our Support Team via the Access Digital Assistant.
Want the full guide? Our complete step-by-step checklist covers every area of your portal setup.
Make the Most of the Communications Tool
Send a Message
Set up a Messages page and use the Communications tool to send messages to mailing lists or individual users.
Create a Mailing List
Build dynamic mailing lists based on year groups, student groups, clubs, trips, form packs, and more.
Build a Bespoke Message
Use the drag-and-drop editor to create a fully customised email, choose your recipients, and send or schedule.
Mobile App for Parents
Improve communication with parents and guardians by encouraging them to download the My School Portal app - available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The app gives families a mobile-first way to stay connected with school life.
What parents can do in the app:
Receive real-time in-app message notifications
View attendance, reports, exam results & timetables
Submit absence reports, leave requests & concern forms
Complete data collection forms (e.g. medical updates)
Book and pay for trips, clubs & events
Access important school documents
Use biometric login for quick, secure access
Access multiple schools from one account
Before you launch the app, make sure you've:
Reviewed and updated your Content Manager pages
Checked the Guardian Dashboard widgets and layout
Organised your App Manager navigation
Enabled the mobile app in your portal settings
Sent the built-in launch email to parents and guardians
New to the app? Read our full overview, including what to review before launch and how to prepare your school community. |
Customer Story: St Edmund's School
Unifying Communication Across a School Community
Edward O'Connor, Headmaster of St Edmund's School in Canterbury, shares how My School Portal transformed the school's approach to parent communication - bringing together fragmented systems into a single, seamless platform.
"My School Portal provided a way of unifying all of that while also drawing parents into ongoing communication, not just termly reports." - Edward O'Connor, Headmaster |
Key Outcomes
Unified communication across all school sections
Improved engagement for local and international families
Thousands saved by replacing multiple systems
Students empowered to take ownership of their learning