This article explains how to send email, SMS, or in-app messages to guardians regarding trip updates or outstanding payments using Arbor. It details the necessary permissions, steps to send communications, and how to view sent communications and logs.
If you are coming back from a trip and find out the drop-off point has to change, you can log into Arbor and let all the parents know straight away. You can also notify guardians that there are outstanding payments due for trips.
Permissions
- You will need the Extra Curricular: Send Communications All Students permission to send trip communications, or view all trip communications sent.
- You will also need to be a Permitted Sender of the communication type you want to send.
- You will need the Extra Curricular: Send Communications Assigned Students permission to see the trip communications you have sent, but not all.
If you don't have the permission, you'll need to ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.
Send communications
- Go to School > Activities > Trips.
- Select the trip.
- Click More Information in the slide over.
On the Trip Overview page, go to the Trip participants section. Select the students and click the Bulk action button.
Select the communication method to use.
You'll then be taken to the communications drafter. Here you can use all the same features of drafting letters, email, SMS and in-app messages.
For email, the subject line will automatically be the trip name, date and times, but you can amend this.
Top Tip: The merge fields can be used to automatically include information for the trip, such as outstanding balances.
If a trip took place in the past, we'll remind you with a handy banner.
See sent communications
The Trip Communication Log
You can view sent Emails and Letters from the Trip Communication Log, but not logs of SMS or in-app messages - you'd need to use other logs to view these.
To view sent Emails or Letters about this trip, go to to School > Activities > Trips and select Communication Log from the left-hand menu.
Click on the communication to see further details or send a follow-up.
Other communication logs
You can view trip communications from a few places:
- Your sent communications page in My Items > My Communications: Seeing the Communications I've sent
- Communication Logs on student, guardian and staff profiles.
- The logs for communication types in School > Communications > Select Type > Sent Messages.
You cannot view them in School > Communications > All School Communications. Top Tip: This is different to communications sent from elsewhere, where communications with 'From' set as the school are shown in the All Comms Communication Log.
Sending not started
Unlike other communications, communications created within trips will create an entry in the Communications Log even if you've not sent out the message.
This happens when you draft up the message, and click Proceed, but don't send the communication. In the Communication Log, it will say 'Sending not started' and 'Sending not completed'.
Comments
It would be great to be able to send these kind of updates via an SMS or an in app message. Not all parents check or receive emails promptly.
Hi Zoe, you can see how to submit this feedback to our team here.
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