Using Reach on web browser

How to Access Reach on web browser

Once you have registered at your new school, the staff will create a personal profile for you in the Reach portal, then connect (associate) you to your child and any additional student profiles to which you will become an authorised host.

Then, once you have received your username and password, open a web browser and go to your school's unique Reach portal web address to sign in with your access credentials.

Alternatively, your school may have emailed you an invitation to login to their Reach portal, if so, follow the prompts in the email and login.

Notes for logging in to Reach: 

• Some schools will use a procedure called Single-Sign-On and you may be able to access Reach by using the same user credentials that you use to access other school systems.

• Your user details will be confirmed for you by the school with a Welcome to Reach email once your profile has been created in Reach.

• If your identity cannot be authenticated, then you will be presented with an error message. Please retry your credentials and click Sign-In.

• If you continue to get an error message then please contact your school and they can reset your credentials for you.

• The Reach portal login is case sensitive to upper and lower case text, so be aware during login.

• Once you have logged in, you can manage your details/settings via the My Account section.

• Click on the area of your name/Reach logo/profile photo in the top right corner, then click Account, update/change details as required, then click Save.

How to navigate using the browser view

The navigation sections of the Reach Portal screen are the Main Menu, Header Bar, and My Account. 

The available functions and features will differ with the access settings that the school has set for parent access and the modules in Reach that your school is using.

Main Menu

The icons on the left-hand side of the screen, are the Main Menu, this list provides you with quick access to the software functions. Click an icon to reveal the mini menu within each function.

Reach Header Bar

The icons across the top of the screen are indicators of functions or quick links to your available features.

Three Lines Menu
Click this to expand or collapse the Main Menu, to show icons only, or icons plus titles

Cloud
Glowing green indicates you are currently online

Bell
Click this to open the Notifications Mailbox, the Bell will change colour to notify of incoming messages

Calendar
Click this to open the Calendar tab 

Lightning Bolt
This is Pulse, and it indicates the Reach portal is actively connected to the main server for fast updates

Question Mark
Click this to open the Reach support website in a new browser window - https://support.reach.cloud

Chat Bubbles
Click this to open the Reach-Now Communications module

My Account 

In the right-hand corner of your Reach screen, you will see your name and your profile image. The Reach Logo will appear if no image has been loaded. Click this area to open the drop-down menu, the menu options are; My Account, Messages, Help, and Lock Screen.

My Account
Once clicked, this will open in a new tab, here you can update/change the details of the following sections; Personal, Address, Security, and Theme. Once you have made the required updates and changes, click Save.

Messages
Once clicked, this will open the My Mailbox tab, this is the same as clicking the bell icon from the top menu bar.

Help
Once clicked, this will open in a new tab, this is docs.reach.cloud, a Reach software information portal.

Lock Screen
Once clicked, will lock the Reach portal browser window, to unlock, your personal Reach PIN is required.

How to use the Home Dashboard

Once you have logged in, the sections that you are presented with are for easy viewing and quick access to the main functions. 

The page tabs (currently showing Calendar & Home) allow you to work on many things at once.  Each item that you are working on will open as a new tab across the top of your dashboard screen.  When using Reach you can easily switch between these tabs at any time, without losing any data on other pages, a tab will glow orange to alert you to unsaved changes on that page.

The Home Tab standard features are widgets or sections where you can see; Events, Current Leave, and Historic Leave.

The options that you see here will depending on the modules that your school uses in Reach however Current Leave and Historic Leave will always be visible.

Current leave requests

This section shows any upcoming leave events that may require action by you or staff.

For extended details about 'How to Create Leave Requests', please scroll down to the Leave section of this document.

Historic leave requests

This section provides a history of leave items. Click any historic event to view the details of that event.

Events

If your school is using the Recreation Events Manager module and it is enabled you will see the Events table.

This section of the dashboard is split into two parts, the events your child has 'Already Signed-Up' for and the Events that are ' Available for Sign-Up'. Events are created and managed by your school, the events listed in your login are specific to you. 

Click this link to view a quick video tutorial: Events Overview

Student Selector will only appear when you are a parent to more than one student. 

Already Signed-Up displays a list of events that your child has already been registered for. If you click the 'View' button, a pop-up will provide details of that event and its current status as, WaitListed or Attending. The action buttons provided are 'Unregister' and 'Cancel'.

Available for Sign-Up displays a list of events that are available for your student to register for. If you click the 'View' button, a pop-up will provide details of that event and the action buttons provided are 'Register, 'Decline', and 'Cancel'.

Managing Leave

How to Create a New Leave Request

To create a leave request, click the green Create Leave Request button on the Home tab of your dashboard, or click the suitcase icon in the left-side main menu and select Create Leave Request, each option will open the Leave Details screen.

If you only have one student associated to you then by default their name will appear in the 'Student' section. If you have multiple students associated to you then the selector icon will appear so that you can select the required students.

Then, continue to follow the prompts to enter your required details, the majority of the fields are drop-down menus and they will guide you towards your appropriate selections, when ready, complete and save the form.

NOTE: When a student logs into Reach with their login, they only have access to create leave requests for themself, to then be approved. 

The example form below has been highlighted to better explain the functions.

The fields marked in green are all drop-down selector menus.  Simply select the relevant field for your request.

The fields marked in yellow are for free text fields input, add details or notes as required.

Leave Types and Method of Transport lists are created and managed by your school.

Host drop-down menu will only show the pre-approved parents, guardians, and hosts.

The hosts that your child can go on leave with are authorised by you as parents and connected (associated) to the profile of that student by the staff at your school.

If the host that you want to select for a leave event is not displayed in the list it is likely that either;

(1)  the host has not been installed (created) in the Reach system or

(2)  they have not been connected (associated) via the personal profile of that student as an approved host.

Destination field is compulsory and in some instances (when set by the school) the Notes section may also be compulsory.

Recursion field, highlighted blue, allows you to create recurring patterns for the leave request. This is ideal for regular, recurring leave requirements such as external tutoring, music, or sporting activities. This field is set to 'Once Off' by default. Click this field to choose Select Pattern.

Once you have chosen this item, the Recursion Pattern field will open.

• Select the type of pattern - every week or every 2nd, 3rd, 4th week

• Select the days of the week for the recurring event

• Select the For drop-down menu, to select between - Until Date or X Times

• Until Date - provides a calendar, once clicked you can select a completion date

• X Times - provides a field to enter the number of times you would like the event to occur

• Recurring events only require approval once by parents and staff, then each event will be available as the time/date occurs

Once you have entered the required details, click the save button. The leave details screen will then close.

Newly created leave requests will appear in the current leave section of your dashboard, shown as pending.

NOTE: Not all requests generated will remain pending. Some may auto-approve.

Depending on the settings set by your school, you may also receive an automatic email regarding this new leave request.

On the dashboard, you are now presented with approve & reject buttons for your action.

Depending on the type of leave created and the number of approvals required, (eg; parent/staff approval), this may stay pending, until all approval levels have been successfully completed. Reach automatically contacts all parties that are required to approve the leave request, including staff/faculty. 

When all approvals are complete, Reach will automatically send a confirmation notification to all parties involved including; students, parents, and hosts.

Here is an example of a leave request in a pending state, with approve & reject buttons. Another showing as approved.

How to Edit a Leave Request

If you need to edit a leave item, if it is still pending or approved, you can select the specific item from the current leave screen, and adjust the details as required. You can change any aspect of this leave item, and remember to click the Save button when complete.

Changes to the facts/details of any leave request will generate new leave request approval notifications to all relevant parties involved in the procedure. This is a security measure that ensures that adjustments can not be made without notification to all relevant parties. This procedure also ensures that the school has the correct facts/details of a leave event approved by the parent.

How to Decline or Reject a Leave Request

To decline or reject a leave request that may be created by your child or staff, these notification methods are controlled by your school. This may be an SMS notification or via email, please contact your school to confirm their required procedures.

Further details are available via this support article link: Approve / Decline Leave Requests as a Parent / Host

How to Add Hosts for your Child

There are two ways to add approved hosts to your child’s profile:

1. My Account Host Creation

Open the My Account section of your Reach portal and select the Hosts tab.  Here you can add new hoststat can be associated with one or more students.

2. Quick Host Creation

This option is available in the leave details screen of a new leave request, by using the host selector. Select create new host to open the details panel. A new host created in this way will be used for the current leave request and associated with the student for selection in the future.