Welcome to Arbor! We're thrilled you've chosen us. Below is an overview of your 8-week onboarding journey. Each week, you'll get an email from our Onboarding Team with guidance and resources to help you get ready for your move to Arbor.
Pre-Launch (Weeks 1-4): Prepare for your migration to Arbor.
Post-Launch (Weeks 5-8): We'll support you as you get started with your new Arbor MIS.
Please note the following can vary for a GroupCall API migrator. If you are migrating via Groupcall, Please see this guide instead.
Week 1
Join your Kick Off Webinar
In this session, a member of The Onboarding Team will give you an overview of your 8 week onboarding journey and cover the most crucial moments of the migration process. There will be the opportunity to ask questions as you watch. A recording of this webinar is available in your week 1 email, as well as a PDF version of the slides.
Prepare staff for the move to Arbor
You may wish to review our guidance on getting your team ready for the move to Arbor.
It's important to ensure that you have the right people in place across the organisation to help you with this change. Take a look at our guidance on roles and responsibilities to understand more about this.
Prepare paper registers
After we have started migrating your data (or after you have taken your backup for schools moving from SIMs or Bromcom), any data inputted to your current system will not migrate over to Arbor. If you need to take attendance after your migration date but before you receive your Arbor site (see when here) we recommend using paper registers to do this. Start getting your paper registers ready - the attendance data can then be backfilled into your Arbor site once we send it over to you by following the guidance in this article.
Download your Onboarding Workbook
Your Onboarding Workbook will be sent to you during Week 1 to help you with your onboarding tasks and is a handy tool that you can use, to ensure you remain on track.
The Onboarding Workbook has important information on how to cleanse the data in your current MIS as well as key steps to take to ensure a successful migration. You can also download a version from our help centre here.
Start planning and booking your Arbor training
In Week 1, we will also send you instructions detailing how to log into the Arbor Training Hub and start your Arbor Foundations Training.
You'll need to start the training straight away and allocate time each week to complete training - this is imperative for your success with Arbor.
You should focus on key courses before your migration such as Attendance Management, Student/Guardian/Staff Profiles and Staff Business Roles/Permissions.
There is also a tab in your Onboarding Workbook where you can keep track of the Training you have completed!
Make a plan for getting a backup of your current MIS
If you are migrating from Scholarpack or Integris, you don’t need to produce a backup as we manage this for you. Click here for more information on the process for Scholarpack or Integris.
If you are migrating from SIMs or Bromcom, you will need to send us a backup of your data on your migration date in week 4. Please see the relevant migration guide for information on how to generate this.
If your system is hosted by a third party or a support partner will be generating this backup for you, please contact them to book this straight away. If your school belongs to a Multi Academy Trust, they may be managing the data migration for you - please check who will be responsible for this with your MAT lead.
Week 2
Start Data Cleansing
Use your Onboarding Workbook that we sent to you in Week 1 to guide you through a Data Cleanse in your current MIS.
Cleansing the data in SIMS before your migration day is an essential part of the migration and will help ensure the data is nice and tidy, stored in the right place, and up to date so that your data transfers across to Arbor as expected.
Contact third-party applications
Do you have any third-party applications that you would like to link to your Arbor site? For example, CPOMS or ParentPay? Get in touch with them to let them know you are moving to Arbor and they will run through any next steps you need to take. They'll ask for your Go Live date, which is at the top of all the emails we send you.
You can find more information on third-party applications here: Guide to third-party apps
Are you part of a Multi Academy Trust? If so, it may be that they are contacting your third-party apps for you. Check with your MAT lead to see if you need to do this, or if they will be managing this centrally.
Week 3
Watch out for your Secure Upload Portal emails
This week you will receive two emails from us, with details for your secure upload portal. One email will contain the link to your Secure Upload Portal and the other the password. The portal allows you to securely send data from your current MIS to Arbor, so please keep these credentials safe, you'll need to use them on your migration day!
If somebody else is managing the data upload, please forward the Secure Upload Portal details to them.
If you haven't received the SUP details and are part of a Multi Academy Trust, it may be that they are managing your data upload centrally, in which case, we might have already sent the details directly to them. If you are unsure, please make sure to check with your MAT project lead.
To find out more about the Secure upload portal and using the portal, please give our Secure Upload Portal FAQ guide a read!
Complete Data Cleansing
The better quality the data is that you put into your Arbor, the easier it will be to get started after your migration. Instead of spending time cleansing your data, you'll have more time to focus on what is important and utilising your new Arbor MIS.
Spend some time this week working on the data cleansing in your current MIS. You'll need to complete this before your migration date.
Not sure how things will migrate? Check out our Migration FAQs in our Help Centre to find out
Share ‘Getting Started with Arbor and Teacher Essentials’
You may wish to share our guide on ‘Getting Started with Arbor and Teacher Essentials’ with your wider school team and teaching staff ahead of your go-live. You can find this here.
Week 4 - Migration Week!
Finish off your Data Cleanse
By the end of this week, you should have fully completed your data cleansing in SIMS. This is an important step to ensure your data is clean and ready for migration next week.
Begin your migration on your Migration Date
On your migration date we'll be ready to migrate your data from your current MIS to your new Arbor site!
So that everything runs on time, it's essential that you begin your migration on this date.
If you are migrating from Scholarpack or Integris, you will need to access the Secure Upload Portal, using the link and credentials we emailed to you in week 3. You will need to accept our terms and conditions and click ‘start migration’.
If you are migrating from SIMS or Bromcom, you will need to upload a backup of your data to our Secure Upload portal.
Please follow our step-by-step guides for beginning your migration from each MIS by clicking on your current MIS below:
Remember to take attendance using paper registers after your migration date - want to know when your site will be ready? Find out what to expect here
Are you part of a Multi Academy Trust who are uploading your data for you? Make sure you have agreed a cut off time with your MAT for when the backups will be taken (e.g. after your afternoon registers have been taken). They will then access your school's Secure Upload Portal to send your school's data across to Arbor.
Get ready for Go Live!
Once your data is migrated and your site is ready to use, we'll release it to your school Project Lead.
There are a few important things you'll need to do before you start using Arbor, all you need to do is follow the steps on our guide - Getting started with your Arbor MIS.
Week 5
Log into your New Arbor MIS!
Now you have read our getting started checklist and know what to expect, it's time to get logged in.
The project leads at your school will receive an email with instructions on how to log into Arbor for the first time. Once they have logged in for the first time and are ready for all staff to log in, they will share your Arbor URL. If you need any help logging in for the first time, please follow these steps here.
Check your Arbor Data
Following migration, it's important to verify the data in your new Arbor system to ensure accuracy and avoid any discrepancies. This is also a critical step before you can sign off on your Data Migration Report.
You must complete these checks within your first two weeks using Arbor - otherwise, we might not be able to fix any errors you find. You should start to use your Arbor site straight away - we can fix errors in the background.
For more information on how to check your migrated data, please follow the steps in this guide here.
Connect Third-party Applications to Arbor
You should have already notified any third-party systems of your move to Arbor. Now that you're live, you'll be able to approve and test these connections.
Not sure how to do this? We have all the guidance you need in section 5 of our go live check list here
Week 6
Sign Off your Data Migration Report
Happy with your migrated data? Once you've ran your data checks and raised any discrepancies with us using this guide here, it's time to sign off your Data Migration Report to let us know everything is looking great on your end.
Access Support When You Need It
We have many different support channels you can use to help you find your feet using your Arbor. These are:
The Arbor Bot, Your Onboarding Assistant - While you get used to things, the Arbor Bot will stay in the bottom left of your screen. If you need help finding anything, he can show you around. Can't find the registers? Ask the Arbor Bot!
Arbor Help Centre - Our Help Centre is your one-stop shop for learning how to use Arbor and is the easiest place for you to find the information you need! You can access our help centre through your Arbor site at any time!
Support Team - For all functionality queries, Missing data? (the where, how and why), get in touch with our support team, who are the fountain of all Arbor knowledge! See how you can contact the support team here.
Do you get your support from a partner? If so, you'll need to direct all of these queries to your support partner. They are there to help you with using your Arbor site, and if there's a question they can't answer, they'll come ask us!
Onboarding Team - Something not looking quite right? If so, you can get in touch with the Onboarding team, but remember to check out our Migration FAQs first! You can contact the Onboarding Team by clicking Contact Us in the top right of the Help Centre and select Onboarding, migration and moving to Arbor. They'll aim to get back to you within 24 hours during the school week, and if it's something they can't help with, don't worry, they'll find someone that can!
Weeks 7 and 8
Complete Training and Set Up Additional Modules
We're confident by this point you'll be well on your way to becoming an Arbor Pro, but don't forget to make the most out of any training you have purchased. It's important in those first few weeks of going live with your new Arbor MIS that you attend any outstanding training available to you on the Arbor Training Hub. So if there are a few sessions you need to attend, make sure you get them booked!
Ready to take your MIS to the next level? Now is a great time to set up any additional modules you have been thinking about introducing to your Arbor MIS*. Of course, there is no right or wrong way to use Arbor and if you would like to stick to the basics, that is okay too!
You may have already purchased some training to help you set up these additional modules, so if you haven't already, book a training session to see what you need to do.
*Module availability will be dependent on what Arbor package you have purchased. If you would like to upgrade your package, contact the onboarding team and let them know. They will be able to put you in touch with your Account Manager to discuss this with you.
Join the Arbor Community
Want some inspiration on how to use your MIS going forward, need some support from someone who is using Arbor, or just fancy a chat? Our Arbor Community is a great forum to sign up to, and can be used for support or just general discussion. Grab a cuppa and share, discuss and connect!
Onboarding Complete!
Now that you’ve completed your onboarding, the Customer Success Team will work alongside you to help you reach your long-term goals and will be in touch over the next couple of weeks to introduce themselves.
The team will check in with you to review how you’re using Arbor in your school. They will look at your usage, adoption, and staff satisfaction, and how you can get the most out of your new Arbor MIS. They can also help with purchasing any further training or upgrading your package.
You can reach them at mysuccess@arbor-education.com.
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