School Gateway for parents

School Gateway, from Schoolcomms, is the messaging and payments app many primaries use. It is simple once it recognises you, and it recognises you by the email and mobile number the school holds. That is the whole trick.

Setting up#

Download School Gateway or use the website. Press New user, enter the email and mobile number the school has for you, and a PIN is texted to that number. Enter the PIN, set a password, done. If it says your details are not recognised, one of them differs from the school's record. The office fixes it in a minute; you cannot.

A second parent needs their own email and number on the school's record. Ask.

What you will see#

• Messages: texts and emails the school has sent, in one list.
• Payments: dinners, trips, clubs, with the balance.
• Consent: forms to tick, often attached to a payment.
• Clubs: bookings.
• Absence: report one from the app in some schools.

Paying#

Choose the item, add the amount, pay by card. Some schools allow PayPoint for cash: choose it at checkout and take the barcode to a shop. Consent, where needed, is a separate tick on the same item; do both.

Getting the messages out#

School Gateway emails everything it texts, to the address on the school's record. To have those emails read for you, ask the office to add your Bobbie address as a second email, or forward with a rule from your own mailbox. See giving the school your address.

Further reading#

• Every UK school system explained for parents