Trips and events parents answer and pay for
Invite classes to a field trip, an excursion or the annual day with a consent form and a fee. Parents agree and answer on the portal or the Campus app. The fee lands on their dues, and attendance fills itself in.
PLANSFrom Growth
Why it matters
A school trip usually means a paper consent slip, a cash envelope and a list typed the night before. Slips go missing, money is collected by the class teacher outside the receipts, and a medical note never reaches the teacher on the bus. In SmartMy School the invitation, the consent, the medical note and the fee are one record. A parent who says Going is charged on the same fee ledger, with a proper receipt. The staff in charge carry a printed list with every note. On the day, attendance marks the travelling children present and can excuse those who stay behind.
The problem it solves
- Consent slips come back late, unsigned or not at all, and the class teacher chases each family.
- Trip money is collected in envelopes and never reaches the fee accounts.
- A child's allergy is written on a slip that stays in the office.
- On the day of the trip, the children who went are marked absent in class attendance.
How it works
- The office creates the event under Fees > Collect > Trips and Events: kind, dates, classes invited, seats, staff in charge and fee.
- On the Consent Form tab they write the rules, attach the programme and set Reply By, which is also the fee's due date.
- Send Invitations puts the invitation on each family's Fees page and in the Campus app, and parents get a message.
- The parent reads the form and adds a medical or special note. Then the parent ticks "I have read and agree to the above" and taps Going or Not going.
- Going charges the fee as an ordinary due, paid at the counter or online with the other fees. Not going cancels an unpaid fee; a paid one becomes credit.
- The night after Reply By, the replies close and families who did not answer count as not going. The office can still record late answers.
- Print List gives the staff in charge the students going, their consent, fee state and notes. Attendance on the event days fills itself in.
Everything it does
The event
- Kinds: Field Trip, Industrial Visit, Excursion / Tour, Annual Day, Sports Event, Other Event
- From and To dates; one-day events use the same date twice
- Mandatory: everyone invited goes and is charged at once; optional events charge only those who accept
- Fee per Student (0: free) and the Fee Head, filled from the kind
- Classes Invited, Sections Invited (empty: every section) and Also Invited for single students
- Seats (0: no limit); a full event refuses more answers with "... is full"
- Staff in Charge, and Notes for the office
- Statuses: Draft, Invitations Sent, Replies Closed, Done, Cancelled
Consent form
- Consent Needed: on to start with; parents must agree before saying Going
- Reply By: the last day for answers and the due date of the fee; without it the fee is due on the first day
- Documents attached for parents, and the text of the rules, what to bring, timings and medical information
- After invitations go out you can still change the dates, seats, staff and the form; not the kind, fee, invitees or Mandatory
Answers
- Each line: student, section, No Answer, Going or Not Going, Consent Given, Medical / Special Note, Payment state
- Who answered and where: Office, Portal, App or No reply by the deadline
- Counts on the event: Invited, Going, Not Going, No Answer, Paid
- Parents who said Going can press Not going after all while replies are open; switching back is done by the office
- Parents with view-only access see the invitation but the student answers
Money
- The fee is a normal due named after the event, on the receipt, the statement and the reports
- A fee manager can waive it to let a child go free; a waived fee counts as paid on the event
- Cancel Event cancels unpaid fees and turns paid fees into credit
- A compulsory Other Event charges a whole class at once, for example books or uniform
Attendance
- Students going are marked present on the event days, with the remark "On" and the event's name
- Invited students not going are either excused (not counted as absent) or attend normal classes, as the event says
- Applied again when an answer changes, replies close or the event is cancelled
The student list
- PDF on the letterhead with the event, dates and staff in charge
- Going: section, consent (Yes or Not yet), fee state and the medical note; then No answer and Not going
Who uses it
School office or event coordinatorCreates the event, writes the consent form, sends invitations and records answers given on paper or by phone.
CashierCollects the trip fee at the counter with the other dues.
Fee ManagerWaives a fee for a child who goes free and cancels events.
Staff in chargeTakes the printed list with consent and medical notes on the trip.
ParentReads the form, writes a medical note, agrees, answers and pays.
Where you use it
- Web: Fees > Collect > Trips and Events, with the filters Upcoming and Waiting for Replies
- Parent portal: a card at the top of the Fees page with "Please answer by ..."
- The Campus app: Fees > Plan and trips, and a "Please answer" line on Home (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not a separate events app: stage events with tickets and stalls are SmartMy Events
What you control
Settings
- Consent Needed: on
- Invited but Not Going: Normal classes or Excused, per event
- Seats: 0, no limit
- Fee Head: from the kind (Field Trip, Industrial Visit or Annual Day head), changeable
Notifications
- Trip / Event Invitation: to the father, mother and guardian when invitations go out, with the fee and reply date; push, WhatsApp, SMS, email, in-app
- New dues from the trip appear on the Fees page; the cancellation of an event sends no message, so tell families with a circular
- Each parent can switch off a channel, such as SMS, for themselves; the event itself cannot be switched off, and in-app notices always arrive
Questions
What if a parent answers on paper?
The office opens the event's Students tab and presses Going or Not Going on the child's line. Consent is recorded and the fee follows, also after replies have closed.Can we charge a whole class for books without consent?
Yes. Create a compulsory Other Event, untick Consent Needed, set the fee and Reply By, and send the invitations. Every student is charged at once.What happens to the money if the trip is cancelled?
Unpaid trip fees are cancelled. Fees already paid become the child's credit with the school, used for the next dues or refunded by a fee manager.Are the children on the trip marked absent?
No. Children going are marked present with the event's name. Invited children who stay behind are excused or attend classes as usual, as you choose.Do parents get told about the trip?
Yes. Sending the invitations sends the Trip / Event Invitation message, with the fee and the reply date, on your school's channels.Related features
FEESFee counter and receiptsYour cashier picks a student, ticks the dues and takes cash, cheque, UPI, card or a bank transfer. The receipt prints with a QR code that anyone can scan to check it, and a bounced cheque opens the dues again.FEESFees paid online by parentsParents see every due, receipt and the statement on the portal and the Campus app, and pay through your school's gateway. One payment can cover all their children at your school, and the receipts are made at once.ATTENDANCE AND LEAVEClass attendance, and attendance for parentsTeachers mark each period's register on the web or on their phone, starting from all present. Parents see the percentage, every absence and the figures by subject, and are told the same day when their child is absent.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.TIMETABLE, HOMEWORK, NOTICESCirculars and noticesWrite 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.
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.