Revealed: how to manage school life online in one simple system.

Going all in with tech is great and often game-changing. But, in some cases, it comes with a downside.

The more platforms you use, the more effort you’re creating for the school team and also for parents, too.

Expecting them to login to multiple different platforms to participate in various aspects of school life is hardly making their busy lives any easier.

After all, didn’t you buy into the technology to streamline processes and save time?

When more platforms doesn’t mean more productivity

Take the example below of a school we’ve worked with recently.

This school had hoped to be super-efficient after going all in on a variety of platforms. In reality, they experienced almost the opposite effect, unintentionally generating a series of silos.

These platforms are all perfectly effective in their own right - but they’re unable to communicate with each other.

The result was school management across 9 completely different unaligned platforms:

• A payment platform.
• An app to share activities in the classroom.
• Outlook email.
• A website and app for English and Maths games.
• A cloud-based platform for creative software tools.
• A parents’ evening booking system.
• Microsoft Forms.
• School website.
• Text messages

For the school this broke down in to:

• 9 x separate systems.
• 7 x logins.
• 9 x URLs/website addresses.
• 2 x apps.

For parents it broke down in to:

• 9 x separate systems
• 8 x logins
• 8 x URLs/website addresses.

For both parties – the school and parents – it broke down in to:

• zero x any of the systems aligning with or talking to each other.

This volume of different platforms is tough to manage. Additionally, for both parents and staff it’s a nightmare trying to remember how to access all these different systems.

How can you remember all those logins and passwords?

Whether you’re managing your school across a few or many platforms, there’s a number of simple measures you should be taking to be safe and secure online:

• Use a password manager app to consolidate all your different passwords and logins. Some of the more sophisticated versions will also tell you if your passwords are strong enough and/or used elsewhere.
• Change your passwords regularly.
• Use a site such as haveibeenpwned.com where you can check if your email has ever been part of a data leak.

Your online security is critical. But, it’s also a job in itself when you’re managing multiple platforms.

Let’s be honest, it’s a job you could probably do without on top of everything else amidst fast-paced school life where you’re already stretched to snapping.

Less is more - so integrate!

Imagine the difference one school app with all the features you need can make.

Yes, that’s one system in place of the nine or however many platforms you’re currently using.

It’s convenient and time saving. In addition, it doesn’t compromise on quality. On the contrary, all the features work harder and better for you when they’re working as a team instead of autonomously.

Standard features cover everything you might have individual apps to manage, such as:

• Communications.
• Branded app.
• Payments.
• Home learning.
• Attendance management.

Besides having standard features seamlessly integrated with your MIS, there are also optional add-ons to really take things next level, such as:

• Websites.
• Custom branded app.
• Parents’ evening management.
• Visitor management.
• Transport management.

At Weduc, our tagline is ‘Effortless whole school communication in one app’.

Our mission is to serve educational establishments and Trusts with just one leading edge app that’s everything you need and more.

Want to retain some of your current systems - but lose the hassle?

If you’re not completely comfortable or convinced, there’s even wiggle room for compromise. For example, you might want to keep some of your existing apps, like a payments system you particularly like.

No problem. It can be added to the ‘Hub’ section of Weduc, which signposts to other systems, keeping everything together under one roof.

If any of this is resonating with you, let’s talk. Call us now on 01509 221 349.

Or click here to arrange a demonstration where one of the team will show you just how much less laborious and more efficient school management can be with less, not more, technology.