Lesson notes and files

Why this exists

Notes for the next tutor and notes for the family should not be mixed up, and handouts get lost in email. Every lesson has a Staff only note and a For the family note, each with its own files, and you can write one for a whole series at once. Tutors find what they need on the lesson, and families see only what is meant for them.

Every lesson has two notes, each with its own files: Staff only and For the family. You find them on the lesson page and on the wrap-up.

Who sees what

• Staff only: only staff see it. Families and students never do.
• For the family: the family and the student see it on the lesson.
• The lesson's tutor (or covering tutor) reads both and writes this lesson's notes. Staff who can view lessons read both. Staff who can edit lessons write both, including series notes.

Steps

1. Open the lesson, or its wrap-up.
2. Choose Staff only or For the family.
3. Choose where it goes: This lesson, or This and every later lesson in the series. A series note shows on every later lesson, including lessons not booked yet.
4. Type the note and save.
5. To attach a file, press Add a file, choose where to add it, and pick the file.

Files you can add

PDFs, pictures, text, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, up to 20 MB each and 20 on a lesson or series. Each file opens through a short-lived private link.

Files from the family

When your centre switches it on (an admin, in Settings > Features, "Families add files to lessons"), a parent, or a student from Year 7, can add homework sheets, notes or a school notice to a lesson. They show under Files from the family on the lesson page, and the tutor gets a message in the app (without the file's name).

• The lesson's tutor or cover and staff who can view lessons see them. Each family sees only its own, so other families on a group lesson never see them.
• Staff who can edit lessons can delete any of them; a family can delete what it added.
• Up to 10 files a family on one lesson. No AI reads them.

Coming up: exams

The lesson page lists Coming up: each student's exams in the next eight weeks, with the notes and any notice the family attached. The lesson's tutor or cover sees it, and so do staff who can view lessons at the lesson's campus. Open a notice from the list.

If you may add exams for a student, Add an exam and Attach the notice (photo or PDF) are offered on the panel. Families add exams from their own Exams page.

Good to know

• To stop a series note, save an empty note from the lesson where it should end.
• If the panel says files or series notes are not switched on yet, they are not on for your centre yet. The lesson's own notes still work.
• Families see the family note on their child's lesson page. Nobody else does.

Related

• Wrapping up a lesson
• Booking and repeating lessons
• The school exam calendar
• Adding files to a lesson (for parents)