Welcome to our F.A.Q’s page. These questions have all been submitted by teachers, I.T managers and headmasters interested in the Parent Portal. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Questions about Concept247 / Parent Portal:
- Does the information Concept247 is serving on parent portal come from the VLE interface?
No, this is a completely separate programme
- Does the design of the parent portal mimic the school website design?
The parent portal application is a bespoke application and can be created in any format/design as wanted by the school. This can be the same as the school’s website, or different, whatever may be required. As shown by the St.Paul’s version of Parent Portal which is completely different to our demo version, it is completely customisable, with regards to both design and content.
NO. SIMS runs on an SQL platform. Parent portal doesn’t rely on anything as it is programmed using PHP and an SQL interpreter. The data is taken from SQL and transferred to the webpage by Concept247.
- Do we need to log on to all our accounts separately, ie: V.L.E, SIMS, parent portal?
For security purposes we strongly recommend that yes, all the accounts logins are kept separately, however, if this was what the school wanted Concept247 would be able to accommodate this.
- Do Concept247 have the capacity to handle increased demand of the Parent Portal product?
Yes, we are fully prepared and able to take on a large number of school’s, and deliver the application to a high quality standard and in a pre-determined timeframe.
- Does the Parent Portal require any additional data input?
No, the data comes live from SIMS and with regards to user names, these can be simply imported from the SIMS database into the system using a CSV file.
Our product is a very high quality application, and completely bespoke and compatible with any systems you have at the moment. This makes us unique. However we are not only offering a better product and service, but also at a much lower price. Please click here to contact us if you would like further details on our pricing structure.
- Is this a passive system, i.e. Can we push information to parents, e.g. email newsletters etc?
We are currently developing this and other upcoming features, click here for further details on features, and welcome any further ideas to improve our product for you.
- If we take on the Parent Portal are we able to add features etc?
Yes, our pricing structure is a one off fee followed by a yearly maintenance cost. This fee includes development and adding of features within the first year.
Question’s about St.Paul’s adoption of the Parent Portal:
- How long has the parent portal been live at St Paul’s school?
The school started its first trial four months ago, in February, with its year 7 group. This proved a great success, with 105 out of 180 parents logging in on the first day, and all of them by day 4. Parent portal was rolled out to the whole school a month later.
- What kind of support do St.Paul’s School offer their parents using the portal?
St. Paul’s have a help email address and telephone number (which is manned during school hours) for parents to contact with any problems/queries.
- How have staff/teachers reacted to the application:
There has been a very positive reaction from all staff, and a significant increase in staff use of the recording system. Please click here to see our videos by Simon Uttley, the headmaster, and Mathew Bennett the I.T teacher at St.Paul’s for a teacher’s perspective on the Parent Portal, click here.
- What was St.Paul’s time frame with Concept247?
When we initially started the application we set a timeframe of 6 months, Concept had the application ready in one. Implementing the system into the school took a couple more months as we wanted to do a pilot test on one year before rolling it out to the whole school.
For further information on St.Paul’s adoption of the Parent Portal, please watch this video by the Headmaster Simon Uttley.
If you have any further queries you would like to add please feel free to contact us any time.
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