A summer of retyping
Each June, the admissions office sends new families a welcome pack: a data collection form, a medical questionnaire, a photo and media consent form, a school transport request, a lunch preference sheet, a uniform order form and a copy of the acceptable use policy to sign. Some families fill them in online as PDFs, some print and scan them, some bring them to the new parents' evening.
Over the summer, the school office types it all into the MIS. By the start of term, a few forms are still missing, one pupil's allergy was mistyped, and the transport team is still waiting for bus requests from several families.
A pack of separate forms, all asking the same things
The welcome pack grows over the years as each department adds its own form. Each asks for the child's name, date of birth and parent contacts again, and each ends up somewhere different: the office, the school nurse, the transport coordinator, catering. Nobody has a single view of what each family has returned.
- Families fill in the same details on several forms.
- PDFs are printed, scanned and emailed back.
- Answers are retyped into the MIS over the summer.
- Each department tracks its own returns.
- Missing forms are discovered in September.
What the summer pack costs
Office time in the summer, when staffing is thin. Mistakes introduced by retyping, which matter most in medical and dietary information. Families frustrated at filling in the same details repeatedly. And a first day where staff are still chasing forms, rather than welcoming new pupils.
What medical, dietary and consent information the school asks for, and who sees it, is set by your own policies. The system only collects and routes it.
New pupil onboarding we build
- When a family accepts a place, they receive a link to one online form, with details already held from admissions filled in.
- The form is in sections that match your departments: contacts, medical and dietary, consents, transport, lunches, uniform, policies to acknowledge.
- Families can save and return, and see a checklist of which sections are complete.
- Reminders go to families with sections outstanding, on dates you choose.
- Completed answers pass into your MIS, such as iSAMS or WCBS, as updates for the office to review and accept, rather than being typed.
- Each department sees only its own section: the school nurse sees medical information, the transport coordinator sees bus requests, catering sees dietary needs.
- The office sees one list of new pupils with the completeness of each section.
| Section | Seen by | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | School office | MIS contact records |
| Medical and dietary | School nurse, catering | MIS medical record, catering list |
| Consents | School office | MIS consent fields |
| Transport | Transport coordinator | Bus lists |
| Uniform | Uniform shop | Uniform orders |
New pupils ready on day one
By the end of July, most families have completed everything, and those who have not have had reminders. The office reviews and accepts updates to the MIS rather than typing them. The school nurse has medical information in the right format before the first day. Transport lists are complete. On the first morning, staff welcome new pupils rather than hunting for forms.
The same form can be sent each September to existing families to confirm their details are still correct, which keeps the MIS accurate beyond the first year.
Signs your new pupil process needs this
- New families complete several separate forms.
- Forms are returned as PDFs, scans or paper.
- Answers are retyped into the MIS over the summer.
- Departments track their own returns.
- Forms are still missing when term starts.