Pastoral care notifications guide

Modified on Thu, 2 Apr at 6:42 AM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pastoral care notifications guide

Pastoral care notifications guide

When creating a Pastoral care note in SEQTA, notifications can be sent via Direqt message OR email (but not both). If SMS is available, this too will be available for selection when sending a Pastoral care notification. The Application settings can be used to specify what mode will be used for delivery and what selections will appear when creating a pastoral care entry.

Setting delivery mode (email or Direqt message, and SMS)

The steps for changing the mode are as follows:

Go to the Administration workspace > Application settings. The permission 'Data: Edit' is required to see this option.
Enter the keyword 'use direqt messaging' into the search box in the top-right corner.
The screen should display the SEQTA Teach>SIP settings pane.
Select Enabled to use Direqt messaging for pastoral care alert messages. Select Disabled to use email.

Setting available recipients (when viewed in the SIP)

Go to the Administration workspace > Application settings. The permission 'Data: Edit' is required to see this option.
Enter the keyword 'pastoral alert' into the search box in the top-right corner
Change the settings as required
If an option is Enabled the recipients will be available from the drop-down list when creating a pastoral care note
Click Save
- NOTE: Whether a notification is actually sent depends on the the recipient having an appropriate email or phone number in Data management, and the permissions assigned to parents/guardians being correct for the chosen mode of delivery.

Default recipients

If an option with (default selection) is enabled, the pre-set recipients will be selected by default when a pastoral care note is created. The tickbox will be automatically filled; take care with the use of this setting to avoid sending too many alerts or sending to the wrong recipients.

Displaying note details in Pastoral care notifications

Pastoral care alert notifications to parents and students do not include the Details of the note by default. This can be changed on request at no charge.
The Pastoral care notification email templates can also be customised to have your branding applied to the banner images in the notifications. See: Customising Letters and Emails (Digital and Print).

IMPORTANT: Pastoral care entries that are made available via SEQTA Learn or Engage are controlled separately. See Managing Pastoral Care Dashlets in SEQTA Learn and SEQTA Engage

Sending notifications via SMS

The option to send alerts via SMS is only available for schools that have SMS integrated with SEQTA. If unsure as to whether this is the case, please contact the SEQTA Support team via the Help portal.

In addition, there will also need to be an "SMS Template" set for each Pastoral care type. The Merge Fields placeholders within the template may be used to insert student, parent or other information relating to the pastoral care note. There are separate SMS templates for guardians and students.

Student communication alerts

Administrators may choose to allow staff to alert students to the creation of pastoral care notes, in addition to other staff and guardians. This communication can be via Direqt Message (or email, according to the application settings) and/or via SMS. Please see above in relation to SMS templates. The default template for emails and Direqt messages is the same as that used for guardians, but this may be customised. Please contact the SEQTA Support team via the Help portal. They will put you in touch with the Professional Services team to discuss your needs.

Teachers receiving notifications for students no longer enrolled in any of their classes

The teacher will still receive pastoral care notifications for two weeks from the last instance of the class on their timetable. After this time they should not receive any more.

School branding for email alerts

Pastoral care alert messages can be customised with the school branding. Please contact the SEQTA Support team via the Help portal. They will put you in touch with the Professional Services team to discuss your needs.