Winter Term School Toolkit

As we welcome winter, let’s consider some instances of emergencies or events that may occur this term and will require your attention. Time-consuming tasks such as collecting cash payments and manually putting reports together can take your staff members away from focusing on the pupils and their education. How do you facilitate completing these tasks?

Snow day!

Wherever you are based, it’s always possible to wake up in winter to the streets around you being covered with white fluffy snow. While it always brings good spirits, snow can also be incredibly impractical. Icy roads, driveways blocked by thick layers of heavy snow, and slippery pavement are hard to get through and extremely unsafe, especially for children. Sometimes, you have no choice but to close the school: how do you let parents and guardians know instantly?

If you send over the school closure announcement directly to their mobile phone as a text message, parents and guardians will most likely see it before leaving the house (and maybe even before waking the kids up!). Gone are the days of waiting for the radio to announce school closures.

Consent forms

The holiday season is approaching, and with it, the fun events the school community loves, such as plays, fairs, and assemblies. A great idea when hosting events is to immortalise these moments, not only for the memories, but also because it’s great content to publish on your school website and social media channels. However, when taking pictures at school, you should always ask for consent: and sometimes, sending families a paper notice is not effective, especially if you’re expecting to receive a signature back! Paper slips get lost in children’s bags, or stained, or torn, or children forget to deliver them to their parents altogether.

So how do you ensure to get a signature back without having to send it over weeks in advance? Switching to digital forms makes it easy for parents and guardians to receive the notice on their mobile devices, and even lets them add e-signatures to virtually send back to you to share consent or any other response.

Christmas dinner

If you are planning to host a holiday meal for your pupils, not only should you let their parents and guardians know, you also need an easy and effective way to collect payment. Send families a text message or email informing them of the date and occurrence, and if needed, send out a form to be aware of any dietary requirements. Then, set up the dinner on your online payments tool to let parents book it in advance and send payment. If you have a meat and a vegetarian option, add them both in and allow parents to choose their preferred dish. Thanks to our Cashless Catering module on T2P Payments, lunchtime will be extremely easy to manage and you’ll be able to enjoy a stress-free Christmas dinner with your pupils.

Pantomime trip

Planning a trip to the local theatre with your pupils to see a pantomime? Looking for a way to manage bookings and payments easily? It’s behind you – it’s T2P Payments! We know how difficult it can be to liaise with different staff members and with parents and guardians when planning a trip. Instead of having to manually fill up reports, write notices, and count cash, our trips module allows for simple planning – just add a new trip on the system along with some details, such as destination, date, and cost. Once your families complete the payment, all you have to worry about is enjoying the show.

It’s that easy

Get to spring break relaxed and proud after such an easy winter term. Are you ready to simplify your winter strategies? Book a demo with the T2P team today to get started.