Moving to Arbor

Switching on your extra modules

You have moved to Arbor. Now it is time to switch on the extra modules your school and parents rely on every day. This guide takes you through how to plan the rollout, how to manage the gap between your old system and Arbor, and how to bring parents with you.

Who is this for?

Schools moving to Arbor from another MIS, such as Bromcom, that want to use Meals, Payments, Clubs, Trips and the Parent App.

Why you need to set these up from scratch

Meals, Payments, Clubs, Trips and the Parent App all depend on settings that are specific to your school: your prices, account types, menus, payment provider details and parent logins. That means this data cannot be migrated from your old system. You build each module in Arbor once you are live.

The good news: you are in control of the timing. You can roll the modules out one at a time, and if you use a separate third party system for any of them, you can keep using it alongside Arbor until you are ready to switch.

Start planning now. The schools that have the smoothest rollouts are the ones that agree dates, tell parents early and book staff time before go live.

Your first steps

Pick your modules and your dates. Decide which modules you want in Arbor and when you need each one ready. Tell everyone who uses them (office staff, kitchen staff, club leaders, trip leaders, finance) your go live date and your plan for switching.

Finish your training. If you bought training on these modules, complete the courses in the Arbor Training Hub before you migrate. You will be ready to build as soon as you are live. Click here to see more information on these training sessions.

Book staff time. Setting up takes real hours after migration. Name who will configure each module and protect that time in their diary.

Write your parent communication plan. Include the dates parents need to stop using your old system and the date they can start using Arbor. More on this below.

Check your MAT position. If you are in a MAT, agree the rollout with your central team first.

The order we recommend

You can set the modules up in any order, but some depend on others. This order keeps your rollout simple and protects parents from confusion.

Plan your cutover period

This is the part most schools underestimate. There is a gap between the day parents stop using the old system and the day they can start using Arbor. Plan it carefully, because it is where parents feel the change most.

Make sure balances cover the gap

Because parents cannot top up during the gap, ask them to top up before the cut off date with enough to cover it. Give them a clear number so they do not have to guess.

• Work out the length of the gap in school days. Count from the cut off date to the day you will let parents top up in Arbor.
• Tell parents how much to add. For meals, multiply your meal price by the number of school days in the gap. Add a small buffer for each child.
• Do the same for wraparound care and any other top up account. Breakfast and after school clubs run on balances too.
• Say the cut off date in every message. Put it in the subject line, the letter and the social post. Repeat it.
• Chase low balances. Run a report of low balances in your old system a week before the cut off and contact those families directly.
• Decide what happens when a balance runs out in the gap. Agree your approach with your head and finance lead now, and write it down so every member of staff gives the same answer.

Carry balances across

Take a final list of balances from your old system on the cut off date. Once you have set up your customer account types in Arbor, add each family's balance as an opening balance so parents see the correct figure on day one. Our guide on Creating Initial Account Balances shows you how.

Tell parents you have done this. Our payments email template says: "Your balances from our last system have been set up and will also show in the Parent Portal."

Plan for money already paid

• Clubs. Keep a list of every child already signed up and paid in your old system so you can match this in Arbor.
• Trips. Note who has paid in full, who is on instalments and how much is still due. Parents with instalments need to know where and when to pay the next one.
• Refunds and transfers. Parents cannot request refunds or transfer money in the Parent Portal. If someone pays into the wrong account, they contact your admin team. Share our guide on transferring payments between accounts with your office.

Module by module

Parent App and Parent Portal

Payments, meals, clubs and trips all reach parents through the Parent App and Parent Portal, so get this right first. If you plan to take payments in the app, parents must download it and be able to log in before you go live with payments.

Before you switch on

• Click here to review this guidance first. It covers how to prepare to switch on the Parent Portal.
• Check every student and primary guardian profile exists and is linked correctly. Remove or link guardians with no students (Students > Parents & Guardians > Guardians with no linked students).
• Resolve duplicate guardian and student profiles. Duplicates cause login errors.
• Check every primary guardian has an email address. It is their username.
• Make sure no email address is shared between a guardian, student or staff profile. Each one must be unique.
• Choose your settings: which consents to collect, which payment accounts parents can see, and what information shows on the Portal. Do this before you switch on.

Switching on and logging in

• The Parent Portal and Parent App switch on for all primary guardians together. You cannot switch them on for some parents only.
• Parents are not told automatically. You need to send logins yourself.
• Parents log in to the app with the same email and password as the Portal. The app is free on the App Store and Google Play.
• Only primary guardians can use the Parent App. Staff and teachers cannot log in with their staff account.
• Test first. Ask a few parents who work at your school to log in and check what they can see before you email everyone.
• Allow time for this. Our switching on guide suggests at least an hour to fix missing profiles, 30 minutes for duplicates and an hour to check email addresses.

For even more information on the Parent Portal, view our guides here.

Payments

Payments is the foundation for meals, wraparound care, clubs and trips. Start it early, because card payments need your school to be verified before parents can pay.

• Set up card payments. Follow the ten part Card Payments Setup guide. You will need school details, documents, director and representative details and a bank account for payouts.
• Set up your customer account types. These are the accounts parents top up, such as Meals. Read Should I set up a new customer account type for payments? before you begin.
• You do not need account types for clubs or trips. Parents pay for these when payment is due. They cannot top up a balance for them.
• Check your network. If parents or staff see a greyed out Pay now button, ask your IT support to allow https://js.stripe.com on your network.
• Tell parents what to expect. Top ups start from £2. Parents get an email confirmation for top ups, but not for club and trip payments (they see a confirmation on screen instead).
• Mention Apple Pay and Google Pay. Parents can use these in the Parent App, depending on your school settings.
• Explain the balance on the home screen. The Parent Portal shows total outstanding. If every account is in credit, it shows £0, not the credit balance. Parents can see each balance on the Active Payments screen.

Find everything in our Payments help section.

Meals

Meals need your payments set up first if you want parents to top up online. Build your meals account, then set opening balances before parents log in.

• Keep one place for meal money. Once you go live, tell parents clearly that all meal top ups happen in Arbor, not in your old system.
• Use opening balances. Add balances from your old system so parents see the right figure on day one.
• Decide if you want Meal Menus. If you switch this on, parents can choose their child's meals each day in the Portal or app. If you do not, parents contact you to change a meal option. Make sure your office knows which applies.
• Plan how you record meals during the gap. Agree with your kitchen team how they will track meals taken between the cut off date and go live, so charges are accurate once you are live.
• Brief your kitchen and office staff. They should know your cut off date, go live date and what to say when a parent asks about a balance.

Find everything in our Meals help section.

Clubs

Clubs are simple to run once parents can log in. Before you build, decide which activity type fits: standard clubs or wraparound care. Which activity type should I choose? helps you pick.

• Open clubs when parents are ready. Wait until logins are out and payments work, then tell parents which clubs are open and when. Our club email template is in the communication templates.
• Set a maximum number of places. If a club is full, parents see an error when they try to book.
• Wraparound care runs on balances. Parents need a top up for breakfast and after school clubs, so include these in your gap planning.
• Childcare vouchers. Parents can only use these for wraparound care, and only if you allow it and top up the child's account with the voucher amount.
• Let parents pay later where it suits you. You can sign a child up as a provisional club member to pay later.

Find everything in our Clubs and Trips help section.

Trips

Trips are best opened once payments are running, so parents can book and pay in one go.

• Do not open a trip during the gap. Wait until parents can pay in Arbor, then announce it.
• Use instalments for bigger trips. Parents can see outstanding amounts on the Active Payments screen, which helps them keep track.
• Show parents how to sign up. Send our guides for signing up in the Parent App and in the Parent Portal.
• Honour existing deals. If a trip started in your old system, record what each family has already paid so they do not pay twice.

Bring parents with you

A rollout only works if parents know what is happening and when. Use more than one channel (email, posters, social media, letters, drop in sessions) and repeat your key dates.

The timings above are our suggestion. Adjust them to suit your needs.

You will find email templates, a leaflet and a poster in Leaflet, poster and communication templates for the Parent Portal and Parent App. You can copy the templates straight into emails in Arbor and edit them to suit your school.

If parents need help with their account, point them to our parent guides on the Help Centre, or ask them to contact your school. Arbor cannot troubleshoot parent accounts directly for data protection reasons.

If you use third party systems

Using separate platforms for meals, payments or clubs today? You can keep them running alongside Arbor until you are ready to switch. When you do, use this guide to plan the same cutover: pick your dates, tell parents, cover the gap and carry balances across.

Your rollout checklist

• ☐Chosen which modules to use and the date for each
• ☐Told staff who use these modules about your go live date and switching plan
• ☐Completed Training Hub courses (if you bought training)
• ☐Booked staff time to build each module
• ☐Spoken to your central team (MATs)
• ☐Cleaned up guardian profiles and email addresses
• ☐Started card payments setup and verification
• ☐Agreed cut off date, gap and go live date
• ☐Worked out how much parents need to top up to cover the gap
• ☐Sent first email, reminders and top up amounts to parents
• ☐Taken final balances and paid club and trip lists on the cut off date
• ☐Entered opening balances in Arbor
• ☐Switched on the Parent Portal and Parent App and sent logins
• ☐Tested what parents see before sending to everyone
• ☐Followed up with parents who have not logged in