Guides by role

How the guides work

Each guide is written for one of the roles a school starts with, and lists the tasks that role does in Kestrel, in the order of a working day. Each task says where it happens, what you need to have, and which buttons to press in the order you press them. Inside the console, the account menu under your initials links here as "Guides".

A school can change what a role grants, or compose roles of its own, on the Roles screen. Each task names the capability it needs, so whoever administers the school can check a person's roles against it. You see only the areas, tabs and buttons your roles allow.

The training course takes each guide in short sessions a school runs itself. The user guide explains each module and the school's processes from end to end.

The guide for your role

Registrar

For the registrar, who keeps the roll, runs enrolment from enquiry to start, and decides when two records are one person.

Front office

For the front office, which answers the counter and the phone, records who arrives late and leaves early, and follows up absences.

Teacher

For a teacher, who marks the roll, keeps the markbook, records what happened in class and reads the plans for the students in front of them.

Head of house or year

For a head of house or year, who follows a cohort's wellbeing, sets the notices staff read, issues sanctions and runs cases.

Wellbeing

For the wellbeing team, which keeps the pastoral record, runs cases and schedules the detention sittings.

Counsellor

For the school's counsellor, who keeps the counselling notes and reads the caseload across the school.

Learning support

For the teacher who keeps the school's NCCD register: each adjustment, its evidence and the consultations behind it.

Child safety officer

For the child safety officer named in the school's policy, who records a concern and the reports made about it against the statutory clock.

Case manager

For the case manager in a school in England, ordinarily the head, who manages an allegation against an adult who works with children and refers it to the LADO.

Deputy case manager

For the deputy case manager in a school in England, who manages an allegation when the case manager is away.

Chair of governors or proprietor

For the chair of governors or the proprietor of a school in England, who manages an allegation about the case manager.

Nurse

For the nurse, who holds the medical record, gives medication, runs sick bay and approves the details families confirm.

Principal and executive

For the principal and the executive, who answer for the school: the restricted record and the audit trail.

Business manager

For the business manager, who holds who pays, the school's configuration and the staff compliance register.

Advancement

For the development office, who record the school's gifts and keep in touch with its donors and former students.

Development manager

For the development manager, who runs the advancement office and its bequests: gifts, donors, former students and those who have left the school a gift in their will.

Foundation board

For a member of the Foundation board, who reads the year's giving by fund, campaign and appeal, with no donor named.

Advancement finance

For the finance officer, who reconciles the gifts against the bank and corrects a receipt issued in error, and records no gift.

Event volunteer

For a volunteer at the door of a school function, who ticks guests in from the guest list and reads nothing else.

Event helper

For a helper at the desk of an open day or an expo, who checks families in from the list and reads no email or phone number.

Coach

For a coach the school engages from outside its staff, who reads the sessions they are rostered to, takes the roll with each student's alerts and adds their own working with children check.

Privacy officer

For the privacy officer, who keeps the privacy register and answers each request inside the period the school's law sets.

IT

For IT, who administers the system without reading the record: who holds which role, sign-in, integrations and devices.

Families

For a parent or carer the school has given access to the family portal, and the office that helps them in.

First steps for each member of staff

Whatever your role, these come first.