Circulars and notices
Write a circular once, choose who it is for (parents, students, staff, chosen classes or sections) and how they are told. It is approved before it goes out, and families read it with its attachments on the portal and in the Campus app.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- A holiday notice goes to the class WhatsApp groups, and the families who left a group never see it.
- A circular with the wrong date goes out because nobody read it before it was sent.
- Parents of Class 9 get the Class 3 picnic notice, and the office spends the morning on the phone.
- Nobody can say afterwards who a circular was sent to, or when.
How it works
- A staff member with the Create role writes the circular: title, category, priority, the text and any files.
- They choose Send To (Parents, Students, Staff, Parents & Staff or Everyone) and narrow it to classes, sections or staff departments if needed. Reaches shows how many people that is.
- They choose Send Via: your school's usual channels, chosen channels (App Push, WhatsApp, SMS, Email), or Don't notify. Then they click Submit.
- An Approver reads it and clicks Publish, or Send Back to the writer. If your chain has more levels, it is published after the last one.
- On Publish, the circular appears on the portal and in the app for the people it is for, and the messages go out once.
- If it was wrong, an Approver clicks Unpublish, the writer changes it, and it goes through approval again.
Everything it does
Writing a circular
- Title, Category (your own list: Holiday, Exam, Fees...), Priority (Very Low, Low, Normal or High), Contents and Attachments
- Send To: Parents (to start with), Students, Staff, Parents & Staff or Everyone
- Only Classes / Courses and Only Sections for families; Only Staff Departments for staff
- Advanced: chosen students, parents, guardians, employees, departments, classes, sections or subjects
- A circular with nobody chosen is for the whole school
- Start and end dates: families see it only between them
- The reference number is given by the system
How people are told
- Institution settings (to start with): the channels your school set for circulars
- Choose channels: every channel you tick is used, for example SMS and WhatsApp for an urgent notice
- Don't notify: the circular is only shown
- The in-app inbox is always included; messages are sent once, and Notified on the circular shows they went
Approval
- Through the approval chain Circular: one level of Approvers to start with
- Statuses: Draft, Waiting for Approval, Published and Unpublished
- Publish, Send Back, Unpublish and Set To Draft
- A published circular cannot be changed: unpublish it first
- An Approver may publish a circular they wrote themselves, at the level they approve
What families see
- Portal, Circulars & Notices: circulars to the child, the child's class, section, subjects or parents, and those for the whole school; High priority marked Important
- Circulars for staff only are never shown to families
- The Campus app: School > Notices, circulars and notices together, with the date and the number of files; the three latest on Home
- Files open or download from the circular
The notice board
- Smart Notice Board: short notices with title, category, priority, contents and files
- Published at once by the notice board Admin, without approval; Unpublish takes a notice down
- Send To and Send Via work as on circulars
- Families see notices next to circulars
Dashboard
- Circular dashboard: drafts, circulars to approve, published, by audience and by type
Who uses it
PrincipalApproves and publishes circulars, or sends them back, and decides who may write them.
School office or teacher (Create role)Writes circulars and submits them for approval.
ApproverPublishes, sends back and unpublishes circulars; keeps the categories and the approval chain.
Staff (View role)Read the circulars meant for them in the back office.
Parents and studentsRead circulars and open their files on the portal and in the app.
Where you use it
- Web: Smart Circular (Circular, All Circular, Configuration, Approval Chains) and Smart Notice Board
- Parent and student portal: Circulars & Notices
- The Campus app for families: School > Notices and the Notices card on Home (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Staff: in the back office, and as alerts in the app's inbox
- Not in the app: writing or approving circulars is done on the web
What you control
Settings
- Circular categories: your own list
- Send To: Parents to start with; Send Via: Institution settings to start with
- Circular approval chain: one level of Approvers to start with; add levels, such as the principal after the coordinator
- Channels per event for your school: Notifications > Configuration
Approvals
- Circular: one chain per school; one level of circular Approvers to start with, more levels if you add them
Notifications
- Circular Published: to the student, father, mother and guardian of each student it reaches; informational, held for quiet hours
- Circular Published (Staff): to the staff it reaches; informational
- Notice Published and Notice Published (Staff): the same for notices
- With Institution settings, each goes in the app inbox and on the first channel that reaches the person: phone notification, WhatsApp, SMS, then email
- Request to Approve (level): to the approvers of the level; phone notification, by email and in the app
Questions
Can I send a circular to one class only?
Yes. Choose Only Classes / Courses or Only Sections. Reaches shows how many families that is before you submit. For a few students or parents, use the Advanced tab.Can a circular go out without the principal seeing it?
Only if you allow it. Every circular is published by an Approver. Give the Approver role only to the principal, or add the principal as a level in the Circular approval chain.What if we publish a mistake?
An Approver clicks Unpublish and it disappears from the portal and the app. Set To Draft lets the writer correct it and submit it again. Messages already sent cannot be called back.Does it cost money to send a circular?
Email and the in-app inbox are free, and so will be phone notifications once push is switched on. SMS and WhatsApp use message credits, one per person reached.What is the difference between a circular and a notice?
A circular goes through approval and can be aimed at chosen classes. A notice on the notice board is published at once by its Admin, for short announcements. Families see both on the same page.Related features
APPS AND PORTALCampus app for parents and studentsOne app on Android and iPhone for parents and students: attendance, timetable, homework, results, notices, leave, meetings, fees and chat with teachers. A parent signs in once and switches between all their children, even in different schools of your group.APPS AND PORTALParent and student web portalThe pages of the Campus app, in any web browser on a computer or phone. Attendance, timetable, homework, results, circulars, leave, meetings, certificates and fees are all there. One login shows every child of the family.ACROSS SMARTMY SCHOOLApproval chainsHomework, circulars, leave, certificates, fee structures, concessions, refunds and revaluations go to the right people in the right order. You set the chains up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.ACROSS SMARTMY SCHOOLNotificationsSmartMy School tells parents, students and staff when something needs them: an absence, homework, a fee due, a result, a child leaving the gate. Every message also lands in one inbox in the Campus app and the portal. Each parent chooses their channels and their informational messages.TIMETABLE, HOMEWORK, NOTICESHomework, classwork and study materialTeachers give homework, classwork, projects and study material to their sections from the web or the Campus app. Students and parents hand the work in online, teachers mark it and return it, and late or missing work is flagged by itself.CERTIFICATES, LIBRARY, PARENT CONTACTParent-teacher meetings and chatPlan a parent-teacher meeting in slots and let parents book a time in the Campus app. Record who came, and share notes and follow-ups with the family. Between meetings, parents and teachers chat about one child, the school can read those chats, and staff chat with each other.
See your own school year run in it.
Tell us how many students you have, which classes you run and how you collect fees today. We will show you SmartMy School set up that way.