This article explains how to import and send external report cards using Arbor's feature. It covers the steps to create, upload, match, and share report cards, including permissions required and how to manage templates for email notifications. It also addresses FAQs regarding the process.
Use our External Report Cards feature to upload and send out bespoke custom report cards you've set up externally, such as in Microsoft Word. Want to save time setting up your report cards? You can still use our Arbor Report Cards feature!
As this is a brand new feature, we want to make sure it's as useful as it can be to our schools. If you have any feedback on External Report Cards, please submit it here: External Report Cards
Please note that we're not able to help you with any issues you might have with setting up report cards in the external system you use - if you're having trouble, please contact their support.
How long will it take?
- Create the report card batch - 1 minute
- Upload your report cards - 1 minute
- Match your files - 15 minutes (depending on the number that haven't matched)
- Sharing the report cards - 5 minutes
Permissions
- School: Report Card: Administer - import, share, email and download report cards
- Students: Report Card: Administer All/My Students - download report cards for students
If you don't have the permission, you'll need to ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.
How to import your External Report Cards
G o to Students > Report Cards and click +Add. Select New External Report Card.
Give the report a title and a date.
You'll then be taken to the External Report Card settings page. You can edit the title and date if needed by clicking on these fields.
You'll need a set of report cards to upload and match to your students. To match each report card to a student, the files should be named in a way that helps Arbor identify the students belonging to the report card. The files must all be named with one of these identifiers:
- Arbor Student ID (e.g. 1234)
- Student Number (e.g 1234567)
- First Name & Last Name (e.g. JamesSmith)
- Initial & Last Name (e.g. JSmith)
- No Identifier, report cards matched manually
- Student UPN (e.g H0000000001234)
Please note: An imported file cannot be matched to a student within the same report card if a file has already been matched. You would need to create a new report card batch to match the imported files if a file has already been matched to a student.
Once you have the report cards you'd like to upload, click on the Bulk Upload tab, and click +Add in the Uploads section.
Please note we recommend uploading report cards in batches, as uploading a large number of reports card may take a while.
Choose an identifier that will help Arbor match the report card filenames to the correct student. If your files are named randomly, choose the 'No Identifier' option and you'll be able to match them manually.
Select the files from your computer documents, and click Match report cards.
You'll then be taken to the page where you can match your files. From here you can delete your upload if needed, or click the grey button to upload more files. You can return to this page by selecting Review Upload from the left-hand menu.
If you go back to the Report Card page, you'll see that your file is marked as In Progress, because you've not yet completed the upload. Click on this to return to matching.
The table on your upload page will suggest matches to you, so you can c heck whether the students matched to the file name are correct. Tick the students to select them, then click the Bulk action button to either Confirm, Match to another student or Delete.
If there are no matches, you can manually match or delete the files.
If you click Confirm, scroll down to the bottom of the slide over to click the Confirm matches button.
Once you make any matches, you can no longer delete the import.
If matched incorrectly, delete the match and upload for this student again.
If you click Match to another student, select the student to match to in the slide over.
Once you have matched all the students in the file, you'll be able to click the Mark upload as complete button. Make sure this is correct, as you can't change the matches one confirmed.
Your upload will then be marked as Completed.
If you need to delete any files, click into this and use the bulk actions to select Delete.
How to share your External Report Cards
Go to Students > Report Cards and select the External Report Card to share. Go to the Share tab.
You can send report cards to parents and students by sending them an email, or by sending it through the Parent Portal or Student Portal. To check or change how the email will look, it's a good idea to check the template.
Go to School > Communications > Templates.
Click on the Report Card Template to see or edit what is contained in the email template.
After making any changes to the text or merge fields, select Save Email Template Changes or Reset Email Template to default to revert this template to the original version we set up.
Sending Report Cards by email
Click either Email to primary guardians or Email to students.
Use the From drop-down box to select who to send the report card as (providing you are a Permitted Sender).
Choose how to combine the emails, then click Send email at the bottom of the slide over.
The signature at the bottom of the email is determined by the sender's name and job title. To see how to change this if it's incorrect, take a look at this article.
Tick the boxes next to the students to select, then click the Bulk action button to select the email option.
Use the From drop-down box to select who to send the report card as (providing you are a Permitted Sender).
Choose how to combine the emails, then click Send email at the bottom of the slide over.
The signature at the bottom of the email is determined by the sender's name and job title. To see how to change this if it's incorrect, take a look at this article.
Sending Report Cards via the Parent Portal or Student Portal
Click Share on Parent Portal or Share on Student Portal.
Select to Add the report card to the parent portal or student portal and click Share Report Cards. You can see how this looks here:
Can we un-share Report Cards?
To remove report cards from the Parent Portal and Student portal, click the Share report cards options, untick the boxes then click Save change.
Please note that:
- parents or students may have seen and downloaded the report card before it was removed.
- if you have shared the report cards by email, it is not possible to withdraw these.
FAQs
Which guardians will receive the email?
Please see our FAQ here: Which guardians are sent Report Card emails?
Where can we see the sent emails?
The emails sent will be marked as Public (not Private), so can be seen in the main school Communication Log and on Communication Logs on the Student and Guardian Profiles. Further details here: Public or Private
Can we match more than one report card to the same student?
It isn't possible within one upload to match the two report cards to the same student. When matching, you'll see a notification if you've tried to match two report cards to the same student.
Can we download the External Report Cards we've uploaded?
Yes, go to Students > Report Cards and select the External Report Card. Go to the Share tab.
Select the upload to download, then click Download in the slide over.
You'll need to wait until a notification shows in the top right of your site. Click the notification to download the zipped file containing your downloaded report cards.
You'll need to open the zipped file to access the individual PDFs. The files are named with a unique number generated by us.
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