Custom messages

What it is for

For what the ready messages do not cover: a reminder, a follow-up, an announcement. You choose the pupils from the scope and write the text, and each guardian gets one message even when more than one of their children is ticked.

Who uses it

The page opens for whoever holds “View custom messages”, to look only, or “Notify guardians”, to work in it. In the built-in roles: Owner, Principal, Stage supervisor. A group grants these to any role under Settings → Roles and permissions, and everyone sees only what is within their own scope.

Step by step

1. Choose the school, stage, grade or class, or search for a pupil, for the list to show.
2. Tick the pupils, or “Select all”.
3. Choose the kind of message: a service message, or an optional message.
4. Write the message, then “Send”, check the count in the confirmation, then confirm.

How it works

Beside each pupil is the number the message will actually go to, for those whose contact permission reaches them. A “Service message” is about the pupil themself and rests on the enrolment contract, so it needs no consent. An “Optional message” (an announcement, an event, a survey) reaches only those who recorded their consent and did not stop optional messages, and carries the stop link. The text is up to 800 characters; on WhatsApp it arrives as one paragraph, its lines joined, while SMS keeps the lines. Every message is recorded in the message reports under its sender's name, and pressing send twice on the same page does not reach a guardian twice. The list shows 300 pupils at most. Only someone holding “Notify guardians” at the pupil's school sends.

On the page

• Choose the scope or search for a pupil for the list to show.
• Tick the pupils, or “Select all”. Beside each pupil is the number the message will go to.
• The kind of message and its text, then “Send”.

Questions

Why did some guardians not get the message?

The send's result says why: no guardian, no recorded consent for an optional message, the number stopped optional messages, or the send failed.

When do I choose “Optional message”?

When the message is not about the pupil themself: a general announcement, an event, a survey. These need the guardian's consent.