Questionnaire management

MySchool has an inbuilt module allowing schools to create their own questionnaires which can be sent to guardians via the questionnaire widget on the guardian portal. These questionnaires are a vital way of confirming existing user details, re-enrolment and obtaining feedback on school life or events. This functionality is not available to guardians or staff users.

How to access

The creation of questionnaires is restricted to Administrators, look under Administer, in the Advanced options, and find Questionnaires. This is not related to the online application forms used in the admissions module.

Opening the questionnaire function brings you to the list screen, where you can switch between the Active, Draft and Archived questionnaires. Draft versions are saved as such during creation, whereas Active questionnaires become archived after their end date.

Note that there is the completed and sent statistic relative to each questionnaire. 

If you reuse a questionnaire regularly, save the base template in Draft. It can be edited and made active, whenever you need it.

How to create a questionnaire

Open a New Questionnaire with the button, and you can start entering the Admin details for the questionnaire.

1. Short description

Enter a distinctive title, don't forget this will appear on guardians and/or student portals if they have been selected. You can add a raw text section to give a full description for the users.

2. Allow other schools to use

If you have a multi-school system then questionnaires can be shared across the network. Check this box to enable this.

3. Publish/Unpublished

Choose this setting when you are ready to go live. Unpublished questionnaires will not be shown to users. The system will leave the questionnaire live until the expiry date is reached.

4. Open until

How long the target audience will have to reply to the questionnaire before it is archived and removed from the guardian portal.

5. Initial template/reminder template/confirmation template

MySchool will send an automatic message to recipients when the questionnaire is published and available, and also a reminder can be set for those participants who have not completed the questionnaire. Upon completion, another message can be sent thanking the participants or informing them of the next step. These messages are stored in the Edit Message.

• "Send initial email" is only sent to recipients with Status =  'Not invited'
• "Send reminders​" is only sent only to recipients with Status = 'Invited not completed'

• If Status = "Completed" > recipients will not receive initial email nor reminders
• If Status = "Not invited" > recipients will receive an initial email only
• If Status = "Invited not completed" > recipients will receive reminders only

"​Send initial email" will send the template selected under "Initial email template" and "Send reminders" will send the template selected under "Reminder template", both found here:

You can edit the existing templates, but they will be used as the base template for all future questionnaires. If you need a specific message for the questionnaire then create a New Template, this will be available for your questionnaire once saved.

If a recipient guardian has their user status set to disabled, and if they are included in the target list, they will receive account activation details in the same notification mail. If they are active or archived this information will not be included in the notification.

You must first create a confirmation message as there is no system default message. 

6. Save to student file

The questionnaire can be saved as a PDF in the student My Files tab for reference purposes. Useful if the questionnaire has information regarding enrolment or medical details. Choose the file type and check the save to student file box.

7. Send PDF to the submitter

If you check the box 'attach submitted questionnaires to recipients' then the guardian who has completed the questionnaire can receive a copy.

How to build the questionnaires

Make sure you have a draft plan for your questionnaire. Search online for some help with Quantitative and Qualitative, Open-ended v Closed questions. Don't make the questionnaire too long otherwise, users may not complete it. Most importantly make sure the questions are understandable and not leading. 

It may be useful to include a text placement (Raw text), which reminds users that the questionnaire is not anonymous, it has been sent in connection to the student's profile on MySchool.

Use Add section to add a question or text holder. You can copy sections if needed, and preview the questionnaire once it has been saved. You can format the questions, and they can also be personalised to include the student's name, and email to be merged into the text.

Here is the list of sections possible.

• Raw text - Has no answer needed, and is used for introduction or explanatory text. 
• Question Radio -  Able to include multiple choice with only 1 valid reply from the respondent
• Question Checkbox - Include multiple choice with multiple replies to the same question
• Question Drop down - Drop down list with only one reply allowed.
• Confirm existing data - The system will pull the information held about the recipient and allow the users to change this data. This will automatically update the profile of the Student.

• Question Small text input - Single line field for short open-ended questions
• Question Big text input - larger text box with multiple lines possible
• Raw HTML - If you wish to build your own HTML questions, then copy and paste the code into this box.

If you wish to make a question mandatory for completion, then choose the appropriate type and check the Required box. Once you have set up the questionnaire you can Save it. The Export button allows you to export the replies received for the questionnaire to excel. You will be prompted to export the parent details as well, uncheck this option if you do not need this information.

Selecting the recipients

The Parent Submissions tab allows you to select the target student population. The questionnaire will be sent to the main guardian of the pupil.

Open the field 'Add Students' with the head icon, the People Picker will allow you to choose per School level, Class, or Individually. This list also acts as a checklist to see who has completed the questionnaire. The stats are reported on the list page when opening the Questionnaire function. You are again reminded that the Questionnaire has been sent to the main guardian of the selected student.

Parent Portal

Parents and Guardians can see the questionnaire if it is active and published. Simply click the Open link to reply to the questions. Once complete they save and their answers will be visible in the parent submissions tab.