SchoolDayHub: School Admin Setup Guide

Setting up your school on SchoolDayHub shouldn't become another lengthy admin task. The idea is to bring the everyday information parents regularly look for into one easy-to-access place, while continuing to use the systems your school already relies on.

SchoolDayHub can sit alongside your website and platforms such as ClassDojo, Arbor, Tapestry and other school systems. You don't need to migrate everything or change the way your school works. Instead, you can use SchoolDayHub as the convenient front door for parents – with important dates, weekly activities, lunch menus, newsletters, announcements and useful links all within easy reach.

Here's how to get started.

1. Set up your school profile

Begin with your school's main details. These provide the foundation for your SchoolDayHub and help make it immediately recognisable to parents.

Add or check:

School name
School logo
School address
Contact details
Main school website
Introductory information
School branding and colours

Use the same logo, colours and imagery that parents already associate with your school. SchoolDayHub should feel like an extension of your existing communications rather than a separate, unfamiliar service.

2. Create your classes

Next, add the class names used by your school or pre-school.

These might be year groups such as:

Reception
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3

Alternatively, you can use your school's own class names, such as Owls, Robins, Badgers or Butterflies.

Setting these up makes it easier to organise information that's relevant to particular groups of children.

Keep class names consistent with those used elsewhere by the school. Parents shouldn't have to work out whether two slightly different names refer to the same class.

3. Add regular weekly activities

Once your classes are in place, add the activities that happen on a regular basis.

These are the small pieces of information parents frequently need to remember but which don't necessarily warrant a new email every week.

For example:

Monday – Year 3 PE

Tuesday – Reception Forest School

Wednesday – Year 5 Swimming

Thursday – Year 2 PE

Friday – Nursery Outdoor Learning

Include any useful preparation notes where appropriate, such as bringing a PE kit, swimming equipment or suitable outdoor clothing.

Keeping recurring activities visible in SchoolDayHub gives parents somewhere to check when the inevitable "Is it PE tomorrow?" question comes up.

4. Import your school calendar using ICS

You don't necessarily need to recreate your school calendar manually.

SchoolDayHub supports ICS calendar imports, allowing you to bring existing calendar information into the hub.

An ICS file is a widely used calendar format supported by many calendar systems. If your school already maintains a digital calendar, you may be able to export it as an `.ics` file and import those dates into SchoolDayHub.

This can include:

Term dates
INSET days
Parents' evenings
School trips
Sports days
Performances
Fundraising events
Clubs
Non-uniform days
School holidays
Other important dates

After importing your calendar, give it a quick check. Remove anything intended only for staff and make sure event titles make sense to parents without additional explanation.

5. Check upcoming events

Alongside your imported calendar, you can add individual events when parents need more information.

A calendar entry might simply say "Year 4 Trip", for example, whereas the SchoolDayHub event can provide useful details about timings, location, what children need to bring or any changes to the normal school day.

Think about what a parent is likely to ask and include the most useful information upfront.

6. Add your lunch menus

Upload your current lunch information so parents can quickly check what's being served.

Depending on your catering arrangements, this could be a weekly menu, a multi-week rotation or individual daily choices.

When a menu changes, update it within SchoolDayHub so parents have a reliable place to find the latest version.

Where appropriate, include information about how parents can find further dietary or allergen guidance.

7. Add your latest newsletter

School newsletters contain plenty of useful information, but finding one from several weeks ago can mean searching through an increasingly crowded inbox.

Adding newsletters to SchoolDayHub gives parents somewhere convenient to find them again.

You can continue distributing newsletters exactly as you do now. SchoolDayHub doesn't replace that process; it provides an additional place where current information can be accessed when it's needed.

8. Publish important announcements

Use announcements for information that parents need to notice promptly.

This could include:

Changes to an event
School closures
Trip updates
Changes to collection arrangements
New newsletters
Upcoming deadlines
Non-uniform days
Changes to clubs or activities
Weather-related information
Important notices from the school office

Keep announcements clear and relatively short. If parents need more information, you can point them towards the appropriate page, document or existing school platform.

Push notifications can help bring particularly important announcements to parents' attention without requiring them to repeatedly check for updates.

9. Add links to the platforms you already use

SchoolDayHub isn't intended to replace your school's existing systems.

If your school already uses platforms such as ClassDojo, Arbor, Tapestry or another parent portal, these can continue to serve their existing purpose.

Instead, add useful links within SchoolDayHub so parents have a convenient route to the services they need.

For example, your hub might provide links for:

ClassDojo
Arbor
Tapestry
School website
Online payments
Breakfast or after-school club bookings
School meal providers
Uniform suppliers
Forms and surveys
Local authority services

This is one of the main advantages of treating SchoolDayHub as a central hub rather than another replacement system. Parents don't necessarily need fewer services; they need an easier way to find the right one.

10. Check weather and traffic information

SchoolDayHub can also provide useful information about the day ahead, including local weather and traffic conditions.

Make sure your school's location information is correct so these updates are relevant to your area.

Weather information can help parents make everyday decisions about coats, suncream, hats and suitable clothing, while traffic information provides useful context when local disruption could affect the school run.

11. Review your hub as a parent

Before launching, spend a few minutes looking through SchoolDayHub from a parent's perspective.

Can you quickly answer questions such as:

What's happening at school today?

Does my child need their PE kit?

When is Forest School?

What's for lunch?

What's the next important school date?

Where is the latest newsletter?

Has the school published any important announcements?

How do I get to ClassDojo, Arbor or another service?

If those answers are easy to find, you're ready to share the hub.

12. Share your SchoolDayHub QR code and access password

SchoolDayHub includes a built-in QR code that makes it easier to introduce the app to parents.

Share the QR code together with your school's access password. Parents can scan the code to get started and use the password provided by the school to access your hub.

You could include the QR code and password in:

Parent emails
Printed letters
New starter packs
School newsletters
Reception displays
Parents' evening materials
Noticeboards
Welcome packs

As the access password is intended for your school community, avoid publishing it openly on public-facing websites or social media.

The QR code can be particularly useful at the beginning of a new term. A parent can simply scan it while they're at school rather than needing to remember to find the app later.

13. Tell parents what SchoolDayHub is for

Parents are more likely to use SchoolDayHub if they understand where it fits alongside your other communications.

Make it clear that they don't need to stop using ClassDojo, Arbor, Tapestry or your school website.

SchoolDayHub brings frequently needed information together and provides quick links to other services where required.

You can adapt the following email when introducing it to your school community.

Sample parent email

Subject: Introducing SchoolDayHub – a new way to keep up with school

Dear Parents and Carers,

We're pleased to introduce SchoolDayHub, a new app that gives you a quick and convenient way to keep up with everyday information from school.

You'll be able to use SchoolDayHub to check useful information such as upcoming dates and events, weekly activities, lunch menus, newsletters and important school announcements. You'll also find helpful information for the school day, including local weather and traffic conditions.

SchoolDayHub doesn't replace the other services we already use. We'll continue to use platforms such as [ClassDojo/Arbor/Tapestry/other platform] where appropriate, and you can find links to these services from within SchoolDayHub.

Getting started is simple:

Scan the QR code below.

Follow the instructions to access SchoolDayHub.

When prompted, enter our school access password: [PASSWORD]

[INSERT SCHOOLDAYHUB QR CODE]

We recommend keeping SchoolDayHub handy so you can quickly check what's happening at school, whether it's remembering a PE kit, checking an upcoming event or finding the latest school newsletter.

We hope it makes keeping up with school life that little bit easier.

Kind regards,

[School name / Headteacher / School Office]

14. Build SchoolDayHub into your existing routine

Once your hub is live, keeping it useful shouldn't mean creating an entirely new workflow.

When you publish a newsletter, add it to SchoolDayHub. When an important date is confirmed, update the calendar. If a regular activity changes, amend the weekly schedule. When parents need to know something quickly, publish an announcement.

Because your existing services can be linked from SchoolDayHub, there's no need to duplicate information unnecessarily. If something is already handled perfectly well through Arbor, ClassDojo, Tapestry or your school website, simply direct parents there.

Final setup checklist

Before launching SchoolDayHub to parents:

[ ] School details are correct
[ ] Logo and branding have been added
[ ] Class names have been created
[ ] Weekly activities such as PE, swimming and Forest School have been added
[ ] Existing calendar dates have been imported via ICS where applicable
[ ] Upcoming events have been checked
[ ] Current lunch menus are available
[ ] Latest newsletter has been added
[ ] Important announcements have been reviewed
[ ] Links to ClassDojo, Arbor, Tapestry or other existing services have been added
[ ] School website and other useful links are working
[ ] Weather and traffic information is displaying correctly
[ ] The hub has been checked from a parent's perspective
[ ] SchoolDayHub QR code is ready to share
[ ] School access password has been included in parent communications
[ ] Parents have been told how SchoolDayHub fits alongside existing school systems

Ready for parents

That's it. Your SchoolDayHub is ready to share.

The aim isn't to introduce another platform that schools have to constantly feed with information. It's to make the information you're already producing easier for parents to reach.

Your website can remain your main public presence. Arbor can continue handling school administration. ClassDojo can continue supporting classroom communication. Tapestry can continue documenting children's learning.

SchoolDayHub sits alongside them, bringing the practical details of the school week together in one convenient place for parents.