The Home page will be the first page that parents see when they access your school within OurSchoolsApp, this will be the main hub that allows them to navigate all of the rich content that you provide to them using this platform.

The Home tab enables tiles (icons) to be added, amended and deleted from the app with the exception of the main tiles (Information, News, Calendar, Contacts and Settings) which cannot be amended or deleted.

Each time a new item is added to the home screen all parent users will be alerted to this via a free push notification.

Schools can add four types of tiles to the home screen.

Tile Types

URL

This is a link to any website that is associated with the school e.g. school home page, social media pages, uniform providers, associated clubs or partners, council pages, Ofsted...

OurSchoolsApp includes a number of preset tiles to help get you started including Facebook, Twitter and Ofsted to name a few, so you don’t need to add a logo for these if you choose to use them just edit the URL in field provided.

Document

You may upload a document which will be linked to the tile uploaded. You may choose any of the following file types up to 1mb in size: docx, doc, pdf, jpeg, jpg & png.

Phone

This also known as "Tap to Call" functionality - by adding a phone number in this way parents can tap on the tile and OurSchoolsApp will send the phone number straight to the devices phone application.

Email

This also known as "Tap to Email" functionality - by adding an email address in this way Parents will be able send an email, when they "Tap to Email" they will be broken out into an new message in their email client with the address field pre-populated.

When the school website is updated, it can be difficult to alert parents to it. Adding a link of the updated webpage to OurSchoolsApp Home Screen means parents have quick access to any new information.

The order of the icons is entirely up to the school, as is the number. Of course, it is recommended that school s do not add too many icons, as this makes it unusable for a parent.

Step By Step Guide

Add a New Home Item

Adding a new item is super easy and will automatically alert parents of the new addition to your home screen. Each item you create will be added your schools Home screen within OurSchoolsApp in a grid of icons. Depending on the size and screen resolution of the phone, the layout of the grid may alter to best fit the screen.

Select the In the navigation bar at the top of the pane.
Select the Add button situated in the centre of the screen.
The Add Home Item dialogue will appear.
Enter a Title of the item you wish to add.
If you wish you may upload a custom image by selecting the Upload Image button. You may wish to select one of the presets and move to step 6.
1. Once selected the file browser window will appear, select the desired image and select open.
2. Use the cropping tool to adjust the image size - Remember: the tiles are square and so images will need to be to this shape so they display correctly.
3. Once you are happy with the cropping selection the Crop button.
  Note:
  
  If you do not select any of the preset images or upload your own a default icon image will be used.
Scroll down the window and choose the type of tile you would like to add from the menu.
1. URL - enter the full web address for the page you wish to link to (remembering to include http://) and you may test the URL to ensure this is correct by selecting the button to the right of the field.
2. Document - Select upload document, a file browser window will appear to let you select the desired document - compatible documents types are: docx, doc, pdf, jpeg, jpg & png.
3. Email - Enter the desire email address in the field provided.
4. Telephone - Simply type in the full phone number (including area code) without spaces in the field provided.
To finish click add and your new tile will be added to the home screen - at this point all parent users will receive a push notification alerting them that a new item has been added.

Amend a Home Item

If you wish to change any thing about a tile that you have already added you may use the Amend function:

Select the item you wish to amend and select the Amend button in the central control panel
You will now see the edit dialogue window appear to allow you to change all attributes, in exactly the same way when adding a new item (see above).
When you are happy with your changes select the Amend button to apply them instantly to OurSchoolsApp

Note:

Amending an existing item will not send out a push notification. This only happens when a new item is added.

Delete a Home Item

Removing unwanted tile is as easy as clicking delete... no really it is:

Select the tile you wish to remove and select Delete from the central control panel
Confirm you wish to delete the item by selecting the red Delete button
Its gone from the admin tool and Parents will no longer see this item

Update the Home Screen Tile Order

Even changing the order in which a user will see your tile is easy. We recommend that you add the most important tiles first and then anything that you consider less so further down the list. Here's how to do it:

Select the update order button in the top left corner
Drag the tiles into the desired order
Click the green Save button to the bottom right corner to send the changes to all of your Parent users.

Home Screen