How to manage the Parents App – for schools

This guide is aimed at Pupil Asset MIS users and explains how to set up and manage the Parents App. 

If you are a parent, looking for more information, see ‘Parents App overview – a guide for parents‘. 

Please ensure that parents have the latest version of our mobile app which is available for download across iOS and Android.

Features include:

Pupil lunches – The ability to record pupil’s meal choices for the week, up to three weeks in advance.

Payments – Allows parents to make payments for specific trips, clubs or items, top-up school meal balances and see their payment history.

Attendance – Shows attendance for the year as well as giving parents the ability to log absences.

Reports – The ability to download pupil reports.

Achievements – The ability to see pupil’s recent milestones.

School information – The ability to see school contact information.

Messages – The ability to message teachers or the school office.

Profile – This is the parents’ profile. When they make changes to contact details they will also be notified by email.

Many of these features have to be enabled by you. See below to find out how.

Getting started

A step by step guide

1. Ensure all parents have an email address.

You can check who has one by going to Pupil List and adding the column Parent Email. This will bring back the email address from the top priority contact.

Should you wish to see all email addresses you can add the All Contact Information column.

You can also see a contact focused report in Messaging > Parent List.

Add missing email addresses for parents that require App/Portal access. Pupil Record > Family tab > Click Edit next to the contact and add the email address to the Email field.

Parents will then need to be directed to ‘Parents App overview – a guide for parents‘ where they will find instructions on how to register on the app.

2. Tick Online Access for any parent you wish to be able to access the App.

You can either do this by going into each child’s Family tab and ticking the Online Access box – or do it en masse through Admin > Advanced > Online Access Setter. Pick the pupils whose parent you’d like to grant access to using the Filter, then either set Access for First Priority or Access for Parental Responsibility.

3. Configure the app for your parents using the app/parent portal in Admin > School Options > MIS Options.

4. This step tends to be the one that is most often overlooked but is crucial in terms of a parent being able to access the Pupil Asset Parent App/Portal. All parents must be sent an ‘App Invitation’ in order to gain access. Go to Admin > Advanced > Parents to use the ‘Send App invites’ routine. The routine will identify parents based on the following criteria:

  • has a valid email address and is linked to a pupil
  • has ‘Online Access’ set to allowed in the Family tab within a Pupil Profile (see above)
  • does not have a Court Order preventing contact with a pupil
  • has not previously accessed the Parent App/Portal.

You can also go to Messaging > Parent List and press the Email App Signup button next to each parent. This will send a link to their email address that they can follow to choose a password and gain access.

  • Tell your parents to download the app/go to the portal (secure.pupilasset.com) and follow the link in the Sign-Up email to set a password. It will then email them a link they can follow to choose a password and gain access.

 

5. If using the Parent App to take payments, you will also need to ensure your Payment Options have Accept Stripe switched on and include a linked Stripe account (For more information on managing payments, see ‘How to manage payments‘).

The name displayed on outgoing SMS and the required User Access Level for sending messages can also be set from MIS Options:

Any changes to Parent settings will be reflected in the Parent App the following day.

To avoid any potential issues, please make sure that parents have the latest version of our mobile app, which is available for iOS, or Android.