Getting Parents online - a step by step guide

Last updated: 03/03/2023

With the introduction of our newly designed Parent App, as well as our new VS-Mail and Request Absence features, more and more schools are getting parents set up with online accounts and getting them engaged with VSware.

This guide is useful if you have you are starting from scratch with parent accounts, or if you have already provided access to parents, but feel that engagement is still low. 

Remember that you as the school are always in control of what data the parents have access to, so if you prefer to roll out different features piece by piece, you have the option to do so.  

Prepare the data and get parent accounts set up 

First, you will have to ensure that parents have their own individual VSware accounts and provide them with the initial details they need to get logged in. 

If you are planning on getting parents online, make sure to check their mobile numbers are entered correctly first.

Here are some guides to help you with this:

-  Precursory housekeeping before granting parental access

- How to create access for a group of parents

- How to create access for a group of students

Logging in

Once your parent accounts are created, you will need to send parents their Username, the school name and some guides on how to use the system.

Please note that in the login screen, parents should not type the local name or 'nickname' for the school. When searching for the school, parents should either type -

1. the start of the VSware URL. For example: stpatricks  
2. The 'official' school name. For example: St Patricks School

SMS Template for introducing parents to VSware 

The most efficient way to get parents up and running is to send an SMS to all parents. You can edit the following template to suit your own needs, and copy and paste it into your SMS field. Note that the variables #FNAME and #USERNAME will autofill depending on the recipient so you can send this message just once to all parents. The SMS template below can be amended to suit your message. 

Our Parent App has recently been updated and it is now much easier for parents to navigate. We have created an all in one guide for parents to use: https://support.vsware.ie/parent-app-overview

In this article, there is a link to learn about every element of the guide from the parent's perspective, from the basics of downloading and logging in to paying fees, reading reports and much more so there is no need to send them anything other than this. 

Tip: Here is a shortened version of the link if you need to reduce the character count on your SMS! bit.ly/34fBGm2

Parents can also easily find these guides themselves via vsware.ie > 'Online guides' > 'Guides for Parents'. You might want to direct them this way so they can navigate themselves again in future.