MCAS (MyChildAtSchool) User Accounts are used by Parents/Contacts to view their children’s data through the MCAS App or Website.
In this guide, we will show you how to
Pre-requisites;
- From the side menu, go to the Others page and ensure you do not have duplicate records for any Parents/Contacts see: Duplicate MCAS User Accounts.
- If you have Staff with children at your School, you must create a separate Contact Record for these Staff, do not link their MCAS Account to their Staff Record. They must exist on the system as Contacts to link with MCAS successfully.
Push Notifications
- When parents install the MCAS app they must enable notifications in order to receive Push Notifications. If notifications aren’t enabled at installation then parents will not receive any notifications.
- If a parent accidentally skips this step, they will need to delete the app and reinstall it, making sure to allow notifications during setup.
Important Notes
- If a school uses Bromcom’s email service, account creation and password reset emails are sent using the school’s email allocation (email credits).
- Where parents of Pre-Admission Students have been added to MCAS in advance of the Student’s enrolment date, it will not be possible for the parents to book Dinners until the Student is actively enrolled at the school.
Access: The minimum permissions required to follow this guide are found in the MCAS Module of Config>Setup>Roles & Permissions.
See also: MCAS – Changes to MIS and How To Manage MyChildAtSchool User Accounts.
Enable Self Sign Up for parents
Config > MyChildAtSchool > General Settings
Self Sign Up enables parents to set up a password for their MyChildAtSchool account directly from the parent login screen, using their registered email address, without having to receive a link from the school to do so.
To allow parents to perform Self Sign Up the school must tick the checkbox labelled Enable Self Sign-Up for Parents in the General Settings page.
Things to Consider:
- This feature will only work if the parent has been given Parental Responsibility (found in Students > Student Details > Contacts > Linked Students).
- This feature Is Not Suitable for Parents that have existing MCAS accounts. Where this is the case you will need to follow the steps in the User Account Creation section of this guide ensuring that the Parent has provided you with the same Email Address as they are using with their existing MCAS account.
User Account Creation
Go to Modules > MyChildAtSchool > Administration > User Accounts.
Any existing User Accounts will be listed on the page.
From User Account Maintenance page click New to get to the User Account Creation popup.
Choose either Select Students or Select Contacts. Depending on which way you want to select the new user account.
1. Select Students lists students and their Tutor Group, Admission Number and Year Group.
Note: To create User Accounts for Pre Admission Groups, type Pre in the Search field to see Students with a Pre Admission Number or sort by the Admission Number column.
Select a student and then Next, will display all contacts associated with that student in the next popup.
2. Select Contacts lists contacts and their Related Students and Email Address.
Contacts without an Email Address appear in bold, red text in the table.
If more than one Email Address is associated with this Contact – you will see all Email Addresses separated by a comma.
Select a contact and then Next.
User Account Creation popup
Select either Manual or Auto:
- Manual: If you want to create Accounts for only one Student you will select Manual.
- Auto: If you are creating several Accounts at the same time, select the Auto radio button.
User Accounts can be managed post creation if you need to make changes.
Auto User Account Creation
Select the Auto radio button, and complete the Contact priority level and Parental Responsibility checkboxes:
- Parental Responsibility: This option allows you to filter the list of Contacts so that only Contacts with Parental Responsibility are eligible to have an MCAS Account created for the selected Student(s).
- Contact Priority: This option allows you to filter the list of Contacts so that only Contacts of a certain Priority are eligible to have an MCAS Account created for the selected Student(s).
In the table, tick/untick the Access and Show Student Details checkboxes. These checkboxes are located in the far left and far right columns within the table.
- Access allows the Contact to see the Student on MCAS.
- Show Student Details allows the Contact to see the Student’s personal details on MCAS.
Note: Unticking the Show Student Details tick box when creating the user account will prevent the Contact from seeing or editing any of the Student information, including address and contact details. This may be useful in the instance that you have a split family in which one Parent should not have access to the contact information for the Student or for the other parent. This will be unselected by default when creating an MCAS Account for a Contact without Parental Responsibility.
Tip: Please check the Admission No column when creating new User Accounts to ensure you are creating the correct accounts.
User Accounts can be managed post creation if you need to make changes.
When you’ve made your selections and are happy with the Contacts that will have User Accounts created, click Generate.
Once you press Generate, you will receive a success notification and you will see a list of the Contacts who now have an MCAS Account.
Click Send MCAS Account Activation Email to send an account activation email to the contact(s).
The selected Contacts will receive the below email and should click the link to complete the creation of their account.
Note: If a school uses Bromcom’s email service, account creation and password reset emails are sent using the school’s email allocation (email credits).
Manual User Account Creation
When you switch the radio button to Manual you will now see Email Address(es) field.
Complete the following checkboxes:
- Show Students for which contact has Parental Responsibility: This option allows you to filter the list of Contacts so that only Contacts with Parental Responsibility are eligible to have an MCAS Account created for the selected Student(s).
- Include Contacts With Court Order: This option allows you to filter the list of Contacts to include those with a court order.
In the table, tick/untick the Access and Show Student Details checkboxes. These checkboxes are located in the far left and far right columns within the table.
- Access allows the Contact to see the Student on MCAS.
- Show Student Details allows the Contact to see the Student’s personal details on MCAS.
Note: Unticking the Show Student Details tick box when creating the user account will prevent the Contact from seeing or editing any of the Student information, including address and contact details. This may be useful in the instance that you have a split family in which one Parent should not have access to the contact information for the Student or for the other parent. This will be unselected by default when creating an MCAS Account for a Contact without Parental Responsibility.
Tip: Please check the Admission No column when creating new User Accounts to ensure you are creating the correct accounts.
User Accounts can be managed post creation if you need to make changes.
When you’ve made your selections a list will be displayed containing the Contacts for which User Accounts will be created.
If any selected contacts do not have an email address you will see a red alert Missing email address. The Contact details will need to be updated with an Email Address.
Review your selection and click Save.
Click Send MCAS Account Activation Email to send an account activation email to the contact(s).
The selected Contacts will receive the below email and should click the link to complete the creation of their account.
Note: If a school uses Bromcom’s email service, account creation and password reset emails are sent using the school’s email allocation (email credits).