This userguide will cover all modules that are available to Parents & Guardians however the features and options that are available to you on the mobile app will depend on the Reach moduels that your school uses.
Home page cards
Firstly, as shown in the example images, your home screen is made up of several ‘Cards’ for fast access to the main features of Reach. The ‘Cards’ presented will differ with the type of login and active permissions that you have as a user.
Plus button Quick Access
The central PLUS button at the bottom of the screen will pop-up a list of Quick Access features that are available to you as a user.
These items are all about creation and each of the options will take you directly to a function to start new items including Leave Requests and Messages.
Menu Bar
The red menu bar across the bottom of the app provide quick links to the main dashboards in your Reach portal.
Metrics View / Home Screen
The Home Screen is your base Metrics View and launch point for the main functions of the Mobile App Portal.
You are welcomed to the App with a greeting, the background image of your school, and your school logo, or the Reach logo.
Also in the top right corner is the Reach: Now messaging icon for fast access to the Communications area of the App. Tap this to open the Reach: Now feature. More information on this section is detailed in the Communications section below.
Activity Metrics
This panel visualises your Total number of upcoming Pending and Approved Leave items.
Pending Leave – how many leave requests are waiting approval
Approved Leave – number of approved Leave items in the system
Create Leave button – will take you through a simple page-by-page process to create a new Leave Event quickly and easily.
KB ARTICLE: Parent App - Leave Request
Events
Via the Mobile App, this section is mostly an information-based area, however, the action of registering attendance can be done here.
The Parental login allows access, only to students with previously proven authority. In this case, the three sections detailing information for those Students that ‘can register’(Blue), ‘are registered’(Green), and ‘are waitlisted’(Yellow).
The Events section below details the functionality of this feature.
Communications
The Communications Card is your access to the Reach: Now feature, with ease of use via two methods; Direct Message Chat and viewing in Noticeboards.
The Communications section below details the functionality of this feature.
To Do’s
This Card is your access to the Reach Surveys feature.
If a daily survey has been created for your student to complete, a pop-up notification will appear once you login to the app.
Tap on the ‘Surveys’ button to access all surveys that have been created for you to complete, these may include General Health & Wellbeing. Follow the simple layout to complete and Submit.
Tap on the ‘Lists’ button to access the Lists that have been created by your school, these may include Daily Transport List, or Afternoon Activities. Follow the simple layout to complete and Submit a List.
The MORE section further details the functionality of Surveys And Lists within the Mobile App.
Events
Reach Events is an Extension Module and was created to provide an efficient management tool for organising, sharing, and managing recreation activities, excursions, or events being held by your school.
Via the Mobile App, this section is mostly an information-based area, however, the actions of registering/managing attendance can be done here. It is designed to show the Events relevant to your login type as created and managed via the Reach Web Portal by your school.
Login Type;
Parents – this will show the Events available to manage for students under their approved care.
The Parental login only allows access to students with previously proven authority.
How to Navigate Events
Once you open the Mobile App and have logged into your account, the home screen will differ, depending on your Login Type. To access Events, dependent on type, an Events ‘Card’ may be visible on the Home Screen as you scroll down, if so, tap on the red word Events. On the large Red Menu bar across the bottom of the screen, this may also show the Events Icon, as can be seen in the image below, tap this to open Events.
Once Events is open, you will be presented with Tabs across the top, again, this will differ per login type.
In this Login example, we are presented with; Discover, Calendar, and Events
Discover Tab
The Parent in the example below has management access for multiple students, as can be seen by their names at the top, currently the Discover section is showing the Events available for the student highlighted red. Simply tap on another student to view their Events
The first Event ‘Card’ that can be seen is showing a Blue Dot at the title, indicating it is an Open Event and the student ‘Can Register’ for this Event
The current Event shows the Reach Logo by default as the Event image. When an Event is created by the school staff, an image can be added to represent the Event, and video files can also be loaded in the information section
If you scroll down, more Event detail can be seen on the current ‘Card’
If you Tap on the Event ‘Card’ it will open to reveal all available information as can be seen in the image to the right. To return, tap the Return Arrow in the top left
In the minimised or extended ‘Card’ view, the red buttons Decline & Register can be seen, simply Tap as required
To Tap either button will instantly activate that action, showing a pop-up to confirm
Calendar Tab
This area displays the current registered events, which can be viewed and updated if required.
Navigating the Calendar
When opening the Calendar, the current Month will always show, with a Blue Dot on the current Date.
Tap the Calendar icon to open the current Day view, Tap it again to return to the Month view
Tap the Left/Right arrows to move per Month
When in the Day view, this will move per Day
Registered Events will show as a small Black Dot on the associated Date
As can be seen in the example below, this is July 7th, 10th & 16th.
July 10th Has been Tapped
This opens the Day view, where one event can be seen
Hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains Has been Tapped
This will open to reveal all available details for that Event
Tap Register Button to register the student to attend the event
You will receive confirmation as to whether you were successfully registered or if you were placed on the waitlist if the event is full.
Events Tab
This area is similar to the Discover Card, however, now an Arrow will appear on a card beside the title to show there are more cards registered to that student. Swipe left/right to view.
In the example below;
A red arrow is pointing to the student names on the left, these are the current students accessible by this parent. Tap on a student name to open their Events
Scroll down to view the Events
Here we can see by the red arrow on the left, this Registered Event is indicated by the Green Dot, other Events may show as still being Waitlisted as a Yellow Dot.
The red arrow on the top right, indicates a Black Arrow to the side of the title on the Card, this indicates that there are more Registered Events to view
Therefore, you can slide the card left/right to view other Events
If the Black Arrow is not visible, there are no more Events to view
The red arrow at the bottom right is showing the Unregistered Button
Tap this to withdraw from the Event
Communications
The Communications Card is your access to the Reach: Now feature, with ease of use via two methods; Direct Message Chat, and viewing posts in Noticeboards.
Reach: Now is a versatile tool designed to help you manage and improve communications within your school community. The system provides a secure, authenticated platform where your communication records are captured and historically reportable. Internal Messages utilise your Reach portal and External Push Communications for integration to the Reach Mobile App.
Direct Messaging (DM)
Direct Messaging allows you to have one-on-one conversations in real-time with any contacts in your Reach portal.
Important features of Direct Messaging (DM):
Live chat is restricted to Staff type users connecting with other contacts in your Reach community
Parent-to-parent, student-to-student, parent-to-student for example, are not possible in Direct Messaging
There are no silent conversations in Direct Messaging, as all conversations are logged in Reach.
The conversation can be reported historically and viewed in the relevant participant’s personal profile.
All Direct Messaging records are maintained on individual user profiles
Noticeboards (Boards)
Noticeboards function as announcement spaces. They provide a platform for one-way communications to your community.
Important features of Noticeboards (Boards):
There can be an unlimited number of Noticeboards
Noticeboards can be open to all user types in your Reach community
The audience cannot reply to items that are published in Noticeboards
Users subscribe to Noticeboards on their Reach login or Mobile App
Subscribers receive notification alerts when information is published
Manage Leave
Parents are able to submit, edit and approve/decline leave requests for their student(s) through the Reach Student Life Mobile App. The home screen highlights the Activity Metrics, which displays a snapshot of up-coming leave requests and their approval status.
Viewing Existing Leaves
The Activity Metrics widget on the parent's home screen displays their associated students’ current Pending and Approved leaves, as well as their next upcoming leave. Selecting Leave from the bottom menu bar will bring up the Manage Leave screen, providing an array of filter and sorting options for students to view their current and past leave requests.
Quick filtering for Approved , Pending , On Leave and Rejected leave items can be accomplished by selecting one of the 4 corresponding color rectangles at the top of Manage Leave. Along the top right of the screen, you have the ability to search, filter and sort by additional details.
Easily see an at-a-glance view of where each leave request is in its approval process with the leave actor icons displaying Orange for Pending, Green for Approved, Red for Rejected and Blue for an Approval by Another and Purple for Override.
Clicking on a leave request will display a variety of options to view, including the main details of the leave request, if any special meals accommodations were scheduled due to the leave timing, notes entered regarding the leave and the complete audit trail of the leave's approval process.
Creating a New Leave Request
To create a new leave request, select the plus button in the bottom center of the screen and choose New Leave Request. Follow the series of prompted screens to input details; Leave Type, Departure and Return Dates/Times, Transportation methods, Host information, Destination, and Notes, as well as if it's a recurring leave item. Parents have the ability to select multiple legs of transportation for their departure and return. For recurring leave items, select the frequency and duration as required. Prior to submitting the leave request, review the leave details and make any changes if needed.
Editing a Leave Request
Reach app allows you the ability to view current and historical leave items, including their status' of pending, approved, and rejected. You can access Manage Leave by selecting either the Pending Leave or Approved Leave icons in the Activity Metrics widget or by selecting Leave from the bottom menu bar.
Quick access filters for Approved, Pending, On Leave and Rejected will populate a list of leave items with the corresponding status when selected. Along the top right of the screen, you have the ability to search, filter, and sort by way of additional details.
Selecting a leave item will display it's details, if any special meals were scheduled, notes entered regarding the leave and the complete audit trail of the leave's approval process.
To either Approve or Reject a leave request from the Leave Details screen, tap either Approve or Reject on the Leave Details screen. You will be prompted with a confirmation of that action, followed by logging of your approval and a timestamp of when your approval occurred. You will see in Manage Leave your actor icon will update based on the approval/rejection of the leave request.
To edit an existing leave request, select the note and pen icon in the top right corner of the Leave Details. You can then progress through to make any necessary updates by selecting Prev/Next and then selecting Finished on the final summary page to save.
Viewing Student Information
You can view details pertaining to your student when viewing Leave Details. Select the i icon next to the student’s name and the details will expand downward, displaying pertinent information for that student, such as, Dorm, Room Number, Year, Mobile Number, Email, Birthdate, Address and Quotas for Leave Requests and Locations (Quotas may or may not be enabled for your school’s portal. If not enabled, you will not see any information relating to Quotas listed).
MORE …
Tap on the More button from the home screen to open extended functionality.
The available actionable sections will differ due to Login Type. Eg; Staff, Student, Parent
Surveys and Lists
Items are created and managed by your school, this feature allows an unlimited number of Surveys and Lists to be provided to students, parents, and staff. These are saved to your Reach Portal and are historically reportable. KB Article: How to Submit a Survey Response (Parent)
My Account
Three Tabs are provided for you to update and control the basics of your account data.
Personal Tab
Here the actionable fields are;
Name, Email, Phone, Date of Birth, Gender, and Address.
Update as required and tap the Save button
Security
Here the actionable fields are;
Username, PIN, Security Question, Security Answer.
Update as required and tap the Save button.
Reset Password button is also provided
Hosts
This is a view-only area.
Your associated Hosts are connected via People Management in the Web Portal.
Diagnostics
This page provides one simple option, Run Tests.
Tap the Run Tests button to activate. Each listed test will run, Green Ticks will appear.
The results will show directly on the screen.
Support Website
This opens the Reach Help Centre in an External Web Browser.
Quick Link: Reach Help Centre
The Support site areas are;
Your Area
Sign-in to activate Tickets. Here you can Create, Submit and View your previous logged Tickets
Knowledge Base
Your Library of data - Articles, User Guides, PDF’s and Tutorials.
Use the Search Bar, scroll down through the sections, or view items in the Popular or Recent Articles sections
Community
Be involved in the Reach discussion, scroll down or search recent comments.
Tap the Heading of a Discussion to open.
Read / Like / Share / Add Comment / Add Attachments and Tick the Notifications box to keep informed of that Discussion.
The Reach team are active participants in the Community, answering questions or working with the Development team to provide solutions.
Change Log
The Change Log is a new feature added from June 2020.
This lists changes and bug fixes that have been updated to the program code.
These changes affect how the Reach platform functions, both Mobile App and Web Portal.
This change log is a View Only area.
Each item listed is not an explanation of how things operate, only a record of changes that have been made to Reach.
About
A brief about the Reach Platform and current Copyright.
Debug
An internal system to send data from your Device to the Reach Support team.
This feature is to compliment your Current Ticket with the Support Site.
NOTE: Sending this to Reach Support does NOT mean a Support Team Member will contact you.
To create a Ticket, please visit the Support Website
Quick Link: Reach Help Centre
School Management
This section is provided for those requiring access to multiple schools.
Eg; A Staff Member, Teaching at different locations.
Logout
When the button is tapped, a pop-up confirmation will ask if ‘you are sure’, as you will be logged out of ALL your attached schools.
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