Rangitoto college talk about eSchool Pro
Recently Robbie Pickford, the international Director for Rangitoto College, gave a comprehensive explanation as to how eSchool Pro has improved the management of their International Students.
eSchool Pro has offered us a great many benefits to our international departments, so that even with our recent pandemic alert we were easily able to meet our tasks and deadlines.
From creating individual student records in the database, we can access any details that are kept under their name. This includes parent and agent details, recorded interviews and any letters home to parents, homestay families or Direct Care Givers (DCG's). We can also record all homestay payments, accommodation changes and the history of each family, which effectively link back to the relevant student.
The time it takes to make homestay payments have been vastly reduced, from a 2-3 day process to one of 15minutes. These are then logged on the system creating a history of payments and invoices. Once this rollover is performed we can email out the remittance advices. For the few homestay families that do not have an email address, eSchool automatically prints the remittance advice to be sent in the post. This has saved us hours of printing and posting the remittance slips, as well paper and its cost on the environment.
We are able to create automated letters that are specific to students, homestay families or international agents. At the click of the button we can issue letters for immigration purposes, send arrival details to the homestay families and accommodation information to agents or students traveling abroad.
One of the great functions of eSchool is its ability to create alerts for important events. It will alert us about student’s birthdays, of arrival and departure times and even when a student’s visa details are about to expire. This comprehensive, instant, alert system has helped us to improve the professional management of our students and ensures that everyone has plenty of warning before an important event arises.
eSchool lets us create and manage groups of students for various tasks. This allows us to deal solely with those students when they arrive and perform ongoing tasks such as creating lists or paying homestay families, all with the touch of a button.
We are able to produce and print all invoices with eSchool Pro. Each payment and receipt is recorded on the database and is logged under both the student and homestay family providing record of what has been paid.
When payments are made, for example to a homestay family, the credit or debit is recorded on each student’s record. This provides us with an up to date and accurate balance of every student’s account. Having this access at out fingertips has helped increase the efficiency of our international department.
The financial capabilities of the programme mean that end of month reports can be easily and efficiently created for the organisation’s main accountant.
As per the code of practice requirements we are able to record all interviews held with the students. We are also able to monitor the homestay families with regular visits. Information regarding these visits is logged, giving us the ability to see if there have been any changes in the household, since the original visit. It also allows us to record general communication with any host family.
Because we can record all relevant information, we can create and view a rich history of each student and homestay family. This makes eSchool an ideal tool for referencing for any issues that may arise in the future.
At the end of a students stay, they are required fill out an exit interview. eSchool records the results and this allows us to create a detailed report of their stay.
As eSchool pro is accessible from anywhere in the world, it has become an invaluable tool. International director, Robbie Pickford is able to access all the students records, personal and financial details and any conversational notes, from where ever she is around the globe. Robbie has even been able to retrieve and print lists of all the students connected to an agency before a meeting, keeping her up to date with any issues.
eSchool takes care of everything from individual student’s information, personal and financial records of all homestay families, to recording correspondence with international agents. Everything is logged, recorded and is easily accessible, from school or around the globe, no matter where you are or what time it is.
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eSchool at the New Zealand International Education Conference
We had the pleasure of attending the New Zealand International Education Conference in Wellington this year. And what a great conference it was, we gained lots of new interest in eSchool pro and made lots of new friends. If you were unable to attend the conference but are still interested in eschool pro, contact us at sales@eSchool.co.nz, or alternatively you can call us on 0800 367 658.
" With our recent pandemic alert we were easily able to meet our tasks and deadlines using eSchool Pro. "
Robbie Pickford,
International Director - Rangitoto College