TOOLS : Editing the letter that goes to parents
Q . Is it possible to edit the standard initial letter that goes to pupils & parents explaining the login for TOOLS ? I see that we can add additional text to it, but we only offer 8 subjects and the letter currently says 9 ... so it would be good to be able to edit this?
A . The number of choices in the letter is taken from how many Choices you have said (in Options, on the Populations Screen) a student should take.
Having said that, you may have a situation where students do not need to make all the choices, or different students take different numbers of choices (eg. in the 6th-form).
In that case, a) or b) below should help:
Q . If not can we do this initial letter using a merge - I see that this is possible with the subject choice information, but not sure if it's possible for the initial letter? (ie. pull out the user/password combination, etc)
A . Two possibilities:
-- a) If you go to "Overview -> TOOLS on-line -> MailMerge" then that creates a MailMerge file containing each student's name / username / password, which you should then be able to MailMerge with your own letter. In your own letter, you can of course say how many choices are to be taken, and any other info you wish to include.
-- b) An alternative to the MailMerge is to use our standard letter, but attach to it your own sheet of instructions, and include in the notes in our letter "See the attached sheet for full instructions on how to make your choices". And/or direct them to a webpage on your school website with instructions.
You can also (see the TOOLS Manual) set-up your own web-pages for the links that the student/parents see when they login. Again, this can be used to explain what choices need to be made, any rules your school has imposed for making choices, etc.
By the TimeTabler Team