Click here for help on deciding whether to import contact details from SIMS or invite members to web register.

If you have chosen the Web Registration route for getting contact details in to Schoolcomms, you will need to create the security letters. When students are first imported, the system will prompt you to print a letter for each student’s parent introducing them to the system and inviting them to register their contact details on the Schoolcomms web site. Similarly, whenever an adult member is added to the system an introductory letter will be produced for them. There is a default text for these letters stored in the Schoolcomms application, which can be customised. You can store your school’s header and footer so that they appear on the Schoolcomms introductory security letters.

This facility enables you to customise the introductory letters to members.

Default page settings:

In order to insert your school’s logo or header on security letters and the paper distribution list you will need to have a .jpg version of the header. This should be a maximum of A4 width when printed and no more than 192Kb in size.  You can generate this file by scanning your current headed paper and saving it in .jpg format. If you need help with this, speak to your IT support team.

• Click on the ‘School preferences button on the left toolbar.
• Click on the ‘Default page settings’ button.
  
  
  
  Change the margin settings to suit your requirements. If you intend to insert a header, the top margin will need to be reset to about 50.
• Click on the ‘Find header image’ button.
• Find your header image by browsing to the location of your .jpg version, highlight it, and click on 'Open'.
• The path name will appear in the header box.
• Place the cursor in the footer text box. Type in a short message to appear at the foot of every message, or leave blank.
• Click on the 'Preview' button to see the layout of your page at any time. Click 'Print' to print out the sample, Click 'Close' to close the preview
• When you are happy with your settings, click on the 'Save' button. This will form the default setting for your school.

Tailoring student security letters:

When you import members into the database, the application will produce a security letter for each new member. This introduces them to the system and gives them a unique security number and password which they can use to register their own contact details on the Schoolcomms server. These details are then used by Schoolcomms for messages sent by you to communicate with your school members and their parents.

• Click on the ‘School preferences’ button
• Click on the ‘Tailor student security details letter’ button.
• Click on the 'Preview' button. You will see the text of the template letter that has been saved in Schoolcomms. You can enlarge it using the zoom tool.
• Each section of the text can be customised for your school.
  
  
  
  
• Replace any text that you would like to change. The letter must follow the outline format given and the two blue security detail tables cannot be removed. These will detail the unique numbers for the student. The student’s name will be automatically inserted in the first line after the text in the salutation line.
• You can preview the letter at any time by clicking on the 'Preview' button. Click 'Print' to print a sample letter. Click Close to close the preview page.
• When you are happy with the letter settings, click on the 'Save' button.

Tailoring the school member security letter:

This allows you to customise the text of introductory letters to adult members of the school community e.g. teachers, governors.

• Click on the ‘School preferences’ button
• Click on the ‘Tailor school member security letter’ button.
• Customise the text in the same way as for the student letter.
• Preview the letter at any time by clicking on the preview button.
• When you are happy with the letter settings, click on the 'Save' button.

Creating 'Security details' letters for new school members:

• NB: before creating 'Security letters', check the text of the school member security letter.
• Click the 'Security letters' button on the top tool bar of the 'School member import' screen. The following dialog will be displayed:
  
  
  
  
• Select the members that you wish to create 'Security letters' for on the left hand side and click the 'Add' button to move them to the 'Create' list.
• To select all members:
  • Select the member at the top of the list
  • Scroll to the bottom of the list
  • Hold down the 'Shift' key and select the member at the bottom of the list.
  • Click the 'Add' button to move the members over to the right hand side.
• To select a mixture of members:
  • Hold down the 'CTRL' key and select each member individually.
  • Click the 'Add' button to move the members over to the right hand side.
• When the right hand list contains all the members that you wish to create letters for, click the OK button. You will be able to create letters for those still on the left hand side at any point in the future.
• You will be prompted to select the folder to save the letters in. The letters will be saved as PDF files. One PDF file will be created for each student registration group. A separate PDF file will be created for each non-student role - e.g. teachers, governors. The files will be named and dated e.g. 7F(16-05-2007).pdf
• Use the 'Browse' button to select the location to save the letters in. You can create a new folder by clicking the 'Make new folder' button.
• Once you have selected the location, click the 'OK' button. The letter generation process will commence.
• A message will be displayed once the letter creation has completed.
• Open and print the PDF files from the location you selected to save them in.
• Distribute the letters to your school members and the parents of students. This will allow them to register so that Schoolcomms can be used to send them messages.
• The details of the import will also be saved in the same location in CSV format as a backup
  
  
  
• These files will also be named and dated (e.g. SecurityDetailsBackup (16-05-2007).csv) with the data for the batch of letters in one file.
• This file can be used for checking individual security passwords or to allow schools to create their own introductory letters for parents using a word processing application. NB: Please check that the details on security letters created outside of Schoolcomms are correct before distributing to parents.