A lot of the calls a school office takes are really the same few questions. How much do we owe? Did you get our payment? Why was my child marked absent? Is the certificate ready? Each one takes a minute to answer, but a school with a thousand families answers them hundreds of times a term.
A parent portal is meant to take those questions off the phone. It only works if it shows parents the things they actually want to know, and nothing that makes them worry.
Start with money
Fees are the first thing most parents look for. They want to see what is due, the invoices that make up that amount, and the receipts for what they have already paid. If a refund is being processed, they should be able to see that too, instead of wondering where the money went.
The key is that the parent sees the same record the accounts office sees. When a parent calls about a figure, both sides can look at the same invoice and the same receipt.
Tell parents what happened, when it happens
The second thing is timely, specific updates. A few are worth sending every time:
- when their child is marked absent
- when a new invoice is raised, with the amount
- when a payment is received, with the receipt number
- when leave is approved or declined, or a certificate is ready
Just as important is what not to send. A child marked late does not need an alert home, and a parent who applied for leave does not need to be told again that their child is on leave. Send too many messages and parents stop reading them.
For cheque payments, it is better to wait until the cheque has cleared before confirming it, so a parent is never told something is paid when it is not.
Only their own child, always
A portal holds sensitive information, so it has to be strict about access. Each family should sign in with its own login and see only its own children. That rule has to be enforced on the server, not just by hiding other children from the screen.
Keep it simple on a phone
Most parents will open the portal on a phone, often in a hurry. A clear page with the amount due, the latest updates and the most recent receipt does more good than a dashboard full of charts.
How the parent portal works in CrossKloud School
In the CrossKloud School parent portal, parents see their child's dues, invoices, receipts and refunds, and the ledger of what has been billed and paid. Access is limited to the signed-in family, so a parent only ever sees their own children.
Parents are notified in the portal when their child is marked absent, when an invoice is raised, and when a payment is received, with the receipt number. A cheque payment is confirmed only once it has cleared. They are also told when leave is approved or declined and when a requested certificate is ready, and they can request certificates for their child from the same login.
Parents can pay fees online from the portal through Razorpay. Payments made at the school by cash, cheque or bank transfer are recorded by the office alongside them.
To see the parent view on your own phone, book a free demo.