Introduction
Understanding the Involve platform
A brief orientation before you begin setup

Involve organises everything around three interconnected areas. Understanding what each one does will make every step in this guide easier to follow.

Calendars

Your central view of everything at school — lessons, clubs, fixtures, trips, care and events. Switch between agenda, week, month, day-by-person and day-by-room views.

Pods

The core building block of Involve. A pod is a group of students and staff brought together for a specific purpose. Almost everything in Phase 2 begins with creating a pod.

Assets

Physical spaces and equipment — rooms, buildings, instruments. Each asset has a calendar showing all bookings and settings for capacity and permissions.

Calendars How the calendar works ▼

The calendar is the main scheduling interface for all events — lessons, clubs, trips, meetings and school-wide events. Access it from the main navigation under Calendars. Your bookmarked views appear along the top, and you can switch between agenda, week and month views. Specialist views like Display and Duties can be bookmarked for quick access.

Adding events
Use Add event and choose the relevant type — for example, Enrichment & occasions → Club, or Care & welfare → Timetable. You can create single or recurring events, assign rooms, and set up approval workflows. Each event type has its own setup options and permissions.
Visibility & permissions
Permissions are role-based. All staff can view and export the calendar, but only those with the right permissions can create, edit or approve events. Parents and students see only events relevant to them. Staff-only events are hidden from parents and students. Peripatetic teachers have restricted access.
Integrations
The calendar integrates with room bookings, cover arrangements and attendance. Room bookings appear on room calendars and trigger clash warnings. Cover can be managed directly from the event menu if a teacher is absent. The side panel for each event gives access to attendance, bookings, lesson plans and workflow status.
Exporting & sharing
Export events to Excel or subscribe to iCal feeds — personal, school, parent or student calendars. Events can also be shared via links if enabled. The calendar remembers your last view and filters between sessions.
Clash detection
The calendar detects scheduling conflicts and warns you if you try to schedule overlapping events for the same people or rooms. Note: some event types such as deadlines do not block time or trigger clash warnings.
Notifications & settings
Notifications are sent when events are published or updated — not for every calendar action. Parents and students receive emails for relevant events if notifications are enabled. Settings let you customise the display, hide weekends, show full days, set up divisions and configure approval workflows.
Parent & mobile view
Parents and students see a filtered calendar in the Involve app or portal — only events relevant to their children. Staff can also access calendars on mobile.
Website calendar
Public-facing events can be published to your school website using the Involve iCal feed or embed. Speak to your web team about integrating the feed.
Pods Pod types explained ▼

A pod is a group of students and staff. The type of pod determines its features and behaviour. Choose carefully — changing the pod type later is not possible.

Lesson
Individual or small-group tuition (up to ~5 students). Music lessons, LAMDA, 1-to-1 coaching.
Club
Co-curricular groups with sign-up, attendance and scheduling.
Squad
Sports squads with fixtures, team selection and match-day features.
Care
Registration groups, boarding houses, wraparound care. Supports attendance and bookings.
Cohort
Dynamic group — automatically includes all students from its member pods.
Tag
Internal label only — not visible to parents or students. Used to label and describe student attributes.
Pods define who is involved. Assets define where it happens. Calendars show when everything occurs. Every Phase 2 step follows this pattern: create a pod → link it to a room → create events on the calendar.
Introduction
How to use this guide
Read this before starting any workflow section

Each section covers one workflow. You don't need every section — go directly to the workflows that are relevant to you and your role in the school. Each section walks you through step-by-step instructions on how to create your area. Follow them in order, and tick off the checklist before going live.

Workflow Order Recommended launch sequence — workflows can overlap ▼
1
Music
→
2
Fixtures / Sports
→
3
Trips
→
4
Clubs
→
5
Wraparound / Boarding Care
→
6
Learning Support & Counselling
→
7
Parents' Evenings (any time)
→
8
One-to-one lessons
→
9
School events
→
Section 1.0
Whole school management
School structure, registration, school events and duties

These four areas form the operational foundation of Involve. Set up school structure first, then registration, then school events and duties. Complete the go-live checklist before moving to Phase 2 workflows.

Overview How school structure works in Involve ▼

Involve supports a wide range of school structures using five building blocks. Understand these before setup — decisions made here affect visibility, permissions and notifications across the whole platform.

Divisions
Segment your school into sections such as Prep, Junior, Senior or Sixth Form. Each division has its own year groups, settings, offices and notification rules. Staff assigned to a division only see students and activities in that section by default. Divisions require Involve support to configure if you need more than one.
Pods
Flexible groupings for lessons, clubs, squads, care groups, registration groups and more. Pods can be filtered by type, department, division and other criteria. You can create pods for any structure you need and assign students and staff accordingly.
Departments
Staff are assigned to departments (e.g. Music, Sport, Drama), which influences what they see and manage. Department assignment is useful for filtering and permissions, especially in larger schools.
Cohorts
Dynamic groups that automatically include all students from their member pods. For example, a "Senior Sports Programme" cohort includes all students across various sports squads. Cohorts update automatically as students join or leave member pods and can be nested for complex structures.
Care pods
For pastoral and welfare groupings — registration groups, boarding houses or wraparound care. These support attendance, bookings and self-attendance where needed.
Permissions & visibility
Staff roles and division assignments control what each person can see and do. A teacher assigned only to the Junior division will only see Junior students and activities by default. Multi-school setups allow staff to have different roles and access at each school.
Stage 1 Confirm your school structure before any setup begins ▼

Answer these questions with your Involve Lead before touching any settings.

1
Does your school have more than one distinct section — for example, Prep and Senior, or Junior and Sixth Form? If yes, you will need Divisions. Contact Involve support before proceeding — divisions require assistance to configure.
2
List every department in your school that will use Involve (e.g. Music, PE, Drama, Learning Support, Pastoral). You will assign staff to these in Stage 2.
3
Identify which staff need restricted visibility — for example, peripatetic teachers who should only see their own students.
4
Decide whether you will use cohorts for any cross-pod groupings. Plan them now so they are not forgotten.
Stage 2 Set up departments and assign staff ▼
1
Go to Settings and navigate to Departments. Confirm all departments are listed — add any that are missing by clicking Add Department.
2
Go to People → Staff. For each staff member, open their profile and confirm their Department is correctly set.
3
For staff who should have restricted access, confirm their Role is set to Restricted Teacher.
4
If you are using divisions, contact Involve support now. Do not attempt to configure divisions without support assistance.
Stage 3 Create registration group pods ▼

Registration groups are Care pods that define which students a form tutor is responsible for during AM and PM registration. Create one pod per form group.

1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add, then select Care as the pod type and Registration group as the activity.
3
Enter the group name (e.g. 9A, Year 7 Blue, Form 3).
4
In the Teachers field, add the form tutor(s) for this group.
5
In the Students field, add all students in this registration group.
6
Under Schedule, set the AM and/or PM registration days and times.
7
Click Save. Repeat for every form or registration group in the school.
Stage 4 Set up cohorts (if applicable) ▼

Cohorts are dynamic groups that automatically include all students from their member pods. Use them when you need a group spanning multiple pods.

1
Go to Students → Cohorts and click Add Cohort.
2
Enter a name (e.g. "Year 9", "Senior Sports Programme").
3
In the Member Pods field, select all pods whose students should be included.
4
Click Save. The cohort updates automatically as students join or leave member pods. Repeat for each cohort needed.
Overview How registration works in Involve ▼
Registration types
Involve supports AM, PM and Boarding registration. AM and PM sessions have a maximum duration of 30 minutes. One-off registration events are for Boarding only — all other types use recurring events.
Session modes
Standard — staff assigned directly; each pod needs a unique room. Auto AM/PM — uses timings from Settings automatically. Duty-based — staff assigned through the Duties workflow.
Week A / Week B
If your school uses a two-week timetable, you can configure separate registration schedules for Week A and Week B when setting up recurring events.
Permissions
Only administrators can create or edit registration events. Assigned teachers and administrators can mark attendance. Duties managers can assign staff to duty-based registrations.
MIS writeback
Attendance can be written back to your MIS if writeback credentials are configured in Settings → MIS. Confirm this is set up before going live.
Term days only
Registration events only appear on term days and special half days. Events will not generate for holidays or INSET days.
Stage 1 Set registration timings (AM/PM) ▼

This sets the default AM and PM registration windows used across the school. Do this before creating any registration events.

1
Go to Settings → Week Timings.
2
Select the relevant term from the dropdown.
3
Click the AM/PM Registration tab.
4
Choose which days have registration. For each day, set the start and end times for both AM and PM sessions.
5
If specific year groups or days have different timings, click Add custom timing to override.
6
Click Save. Repeat for each term.
Stage 2 Create recurring registration events ▼
1
Click Calendar → Add event → Care & welfare → Registration.
2
Select the Recurring tab.
3
Enter a name (e.g. "Morning Registration", "Afternoon Registration").
4
Choose the registration type: AM, PM or Boarding.
5
Set the start time and duration. AM and PM sessions cannot exceed 30 minutes.
6
Select the days this registration runs. Choose Week A, Week B or both if using a two-week timetable.
7
Set the date range — from the first day of term to the last.
8
Choose the session mode: Standard (assign staff directly, each pod needs a unique room), Auto AM/PM (pulls timings from Settings), or Duty-based (staff assigned via Duties workflow).
9
In the Pods field, select the registration groups, boarding houses or cohorts for this event.
10
For Standard mode, assign a unique room to each pod.
11
Click Save. Events will be created for every term day in the date range.
Stage 3 Create a one-off registration event (Boarding only) ▼
1
Click Calendar → Add event → Care & welfare → Registration.
2
Select the One-off tab.
3
Enter a name, select Boarding as the type, and set the date and time.
4
Select the relevant boarding house pods, assign staff, and click Save.
Stage 4 Set up duty-based registration ▼

Use this when registration staff are managed through the Duties rota rather than assigned directly to each event.

1
When creating a recurring registration event (Stage 2), select Duty-based as the session mode.
2
Specify the number of required teachers per slot.
3
Go to Settings → Duties, filter by Registration, and select the relevant schedules.
4
Assign staff to each slot and click Publish.
Stage 5 Mark attendance in a registration event ▼
1
Open the registration event from the Calendar.
2
Click the Attendance tab.
3
Mark each student as present, absent or late, applying the relevant attendance code.
4
Attendance is saved and written back to the MIS if writeback is configured.
Overview What school events cover ▼

School Events covers author visits, concerts, sports days, INSET days, public calendar entries, assemblies and internal deadlines. Events can be visible to all staff, students and parents, or restricted to staff only. Approval workflows can be configured so events are reviewed before going live.

Stage 1 Configure contacts and approver settings ▼
⚠ Do this before creating any events. Changing approval settings after events are live affects all events currently pending approval.
1
Go to Settings → Contacts & Approvers.
2
Review the Primary Contact — make sure it is up to date.
3
In the Approvers of school events section, tick Require approval for school events if you want events reviewed before publishing, and select the approver(s).
4
Click Save.
Stage 2 Create a school event ▼
1
Click Calendar → Add Event → Enrichment & Occasions → School Event.
2
Enter the event name, date and time. Add a description and location if applicable.
3
Select the relevant students or pods — or tick Whole School to include everyone.
4
If staff-only, tick Hide from public calendar.
5
To send an email notification when published, expand Event Notifications and tick the relevant box.
6
Click Save to draft, or Publish to go live. If approval is required, the event goes to the approver first.
Overview How duties work ▼

Duties manage recurring staff responsibilities — break supervision, lunch duty, registration and detention. They appear in a dedicated Duties view in the calendar and integrate with cover, registration and care events.

Accessing duties
Go to Calendars and add the Duties bookmark. The Duties view shows all duty slots across the school.
Duty types
Timetable (breaks, lunches), Detention, Registration (AM/PM — max 30 minutes), and Care (wraparound care).
Staffing status
Each slot shows: Fully staffed, Partially staffed or Unstaffed, based on how many teachers are assigned against the number required.
Draft & published
Draft changes are only visible to duties managers and admins. Once published, assigned staff see duties on their calendars and receive a notification.
Permissions
Staff need the Duties manager permission or admin rights to manage the rota. Regular teachers can see their own assignments but cannot edit the rota.
Cover & absences
If a staff member is absent, use the cover workflow to assign cover for their duty slot.
Stage 1 Add the Duties bookmark and confirm permissions ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendars.
2
If the Duties view is not already bookmarked, click Add bookmark and select Duties.
3
Go to People → Staff and confirm that duties managers have the Duties manager permission on their profile.
Stage 2 Create duties as recurring calendar events ▼
⚠ Duties must have an end date to appear in the active list. Past duties are hidden automatically.
1
Click Calendar → Add event and select the relevant duty type.
2
Select Recurring.
3
Enter the duty name (e.g. "Break Duty — Main Playground", "Lunch Supervision — Hall").
4
Set the days, start time and duration. If using a two-week timetable, select Week A, Week B or both.
5
Set the start date and end date (must be within the current term).
6
Enter the number of staff required per slot — this determines the staffing status.
7
If using a staff pod for this duty (e.g. "Break Duty Team"), select it in the Pods field.
8
Click Save. Repeat for every duty type.
Stage 3 Assign staff to duty slots and publish ▼
1
Go to Calendars → Duties view.
2
Click the Draft tab to enter edit mode.
3
Select the duty slots you want to fill — you can select multiple slots to bulk assign.
4
Click Assign Staff and choose from the available staff list.
5
Once all slots are filled, click Publish. Assigned staff will see duties on their calendars and receive a notification.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
Registration group pods created and all students assigned to a form group.
✓
Registration timings set in Settings → Week Timings for all relevant terms.
✓
Recurring registration events created with correct session mode, pods and rooms.
✓
MIS writeback credentials confirmed in Settings → MIS (if using writeback).
✓
Duties bookmark added and Duties manager permission confirmed for relevant staff.
✓
All duty types created as recurring events with correct days, timings and staff requirements.
✓
Week A / Week B rotas configured if using a two-week timetable.
✓
Staff assigned to all slots — all slots showing as Fully staffed before publishing.
✓
Assignments published — staff can see duties on their calendars.
Workflow 2.1
Music
Typically the first Phase 2 workflow to go live

When a pupil leaves a curriculum lesson for a music session, their classroom teacher receives an automatic notification. This is often the feature that first shows staff the real value of Involve. Setup is straightforward — but the sequence matters. Complete these steps in order.

Step 1 Add peripatetic and visiting music staff ▼

Any staff member not in your MIS must be added to Involve manually. Do this before creating any pods — peripatetic staff will only see the pods and students they are assigned to.

⚠ Don't skip this step. External staff need to be in Involve before you create pods, so their access is ready from day one. Repeat this step for every peripatetic or visiting teacher.
1
In the left-hand navigation, click People, then select Staff.
2
Click the Add Staff button.
3
Enter the staff member's first name, last name and email address.
4
In the Role field, select Peri (Peripatetic) from the dropdown. This restricts their view to only the pods and students they are assigned to.
5
In the Department field, select Music.
6
Click Save. The staff member will appear in the Staff list and will receive an invitation email to set up their Involve account.
7
Repeat for every peripatetic or visiting music teacher before moving to Step 2.
Step 2 Create a lesson pod for each music lesson ▼

Create one pod per lesson (or per group of students sharing the same lesson). Use a Lesson pod for individual or small-group tuition (up to 5 students). You will repeat this step for every instrument and teacher combination.

⚠ Add the teacher to the pod here — before you create any events. Staff added after events have been created will not appear in those events. The only fix is to delete and recreate the events.
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add Pod, then select Lesson as the pod type.
3
In the Department field, select Music.
4
In the Activity field, enter the instrument or lesson type (e.g. Piano, Violin, Singing).
5
In the Teachers field, search for and select the peripatetic teacher for this lesson. This is the step that links the teacher to the pod — do not skip it.
6
In the Students field, search for and add the student(s) for this lesson. For a shared lesson, add up to 5 students.
7
Under Schedule, choose the lesson frequency:
  • Select Fixed time if the lesson always happens on the same day and time each week. Then choose the day and set the start time and duration.
  • Select Rotating if the lesson moves across different days. Then select all the days it may fall on and set the duration.
8
Click Submit to create the pod. It will appear in your Pods list.
9
Repeat from step 2 for every instrument/teacher/student combination until all music lessons have a pod.
Step 3 Generate lesson events using Magic Scheduling ▼

Magic Scheduling reads the schedules you set on each pod and generates all the individual lesson events for the term in one step. Do this after all pods are created — not one pod at a time.

1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Look for the Magic Scheduling button (usually in the top right of the calendar view) and click it.
3
Select the pods you want to schedule. To schedule all music lesson pods at once, filter by the Music department.
4
Set the start date and end date for the scheduling run — typically the first and last day of the current term.
5
Click Generate. Involve will place lesson events across the term based on each pod's schedule, avoiding clashes with existing curriculum lessons where possible.
6
Review the generated events. Check a sample of them to confirm the day, time and student look correct.
7
Click Publish to make the events live. Until published, events remain as drafts and are not visible to students, parents or teachers.
8
Open a sample pupil's profile and view their timetable to confirm the lesson is showing correctly.
Step 4 Configure billing for music lessons (if applicable) ▼

If your school charges for music lessons, set up billing before going live. Only administrators can access billing settings. Complete this step with your Finance contact.

1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods and open the lesson pod you want to configure billing for.
2
Inside the pod, click the Billing tab.
3
Set the billing rate — enter the amount charged per lesson session.
4
Configure any additional billing options shown (e.g. billing frequency, charge type) as required for your school.
5
Click Save. Repeat for each lesson pod that has a charge attached.
6
If your school does not charge for music lessons, skip this step entirely.
Step 5 Configure attendance codes ▼
Attendance codes need to be configured for your school before registers can be completed. You can either set these up yourself in Settings → Attendance Codes, or speak to your attendance officer who can configure them on your behalf.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
All peripatetic staff added in People → Staff with the Peri role and Music department.
✓
Every music lesson has a pod — with teacher and students added before any events were created.
✓
Each pod has a schedule set (fixed or rotating) with correct duration.
✓
Lesson events generated via Magic Scheduling, reviewed and published.
✓
Sample pupil timetable checked — lessons showing correctly.
✓
Billing configured in each pod's Billing tab (if applicable).
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.2
Fixtures / Sports
Squad management, team selection and fixture communications in one place

This workflow brings fixture creation, squad pods, team selection, parent notifications and match-day registers into Involve. For SOCS schools, much of this flows in automatically once connected. For non-SOCS schools, fixtures are created and managed manually within Involve.

Step 1 Confirm whether you are using SOCS or managing fixtures manually ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click the School Settings icon.
2
Navigate to External Integrations.
3
Look for the SOCS section. If the SOCS sports fixture sync is enabled and an XML feed URL is already entered, you are a SOCS school — proceed to Step 2. If not, you will manage fixtures manually in Involve — skip to Step 3.
⚠ SOCS schools — IT action required. Your IT team must whitelist Involve's IP address for the SOCS integration to work. Send IT the IP address from the integrations page and ask them to whitelist it before you proceed.
Step 2 Connect the SOCS XML feed (SOCS schools only) ▼
1
Log in to your SOCS account and navigate to the Detailed XML Feeds section.
2
Copy your Fixtures & Results XML feed URL.
3
Return to Involve. Go to School Settings → External Integrations → SOCS.
4
Paste the XML feed URL into the SOCS URL field.
5
Click Sync. Fixtures will import from SOCS and appear on the Involve calendar.
6
Open a sample fixture on the calendar and check that the opponent, date, time and location have pulled through correctly.

Note: fixtures deleted in SOCS are not automatically deleted in Involve. If you delete a fixture in SOCS, you will also need to remove it manually from the Involve calendar.

Step 3 Confirm sports staff and create squad pods ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click People, then Staff.
2
Scroll through the staff list and confirm all sports coaches and PE staff are present. If anyone is missing, click Add Staff, enter their details and assign them to the Sports department.
3
Once staff are confirmed, click Pods in the left-hand navigation.
4
Click Add Pod and select Squad as the pod type.
5
Fill in the squad details:
  • Age group — e.g. U13, U15, Senior
  • Sport — e.g. Football, Hockey, Netball
  • Gender — select from the dropdown
  • Level — e.g. 1st team, Development
6
In the Teachers field, add at least one coach or PE staff member.
7
In the Students field, add all the players who are part of this squad.
8
Click Submit. Repeat from step 4 until every team has a squad pod.
Step 4 Create practice schedules and fixtures ▼

To set up recurring practice sessions:

1
Open a squad pod from the Pods list.
2
Click the Activity Schedules tab.
3
Click Add Schedule and set the day(s), start time and duration for the regular practice session.
4
Click Save. Practice sessions will now appear on the calendar automatically.

To create a fixture manually (non-SOCS schools):

5
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
6
Click Add Event, then navigate to Enrichment & Occasions → Fixture.
7
Enter the fixture details: opponent name, date, venue (home or away, and location if away).
8
In the Squad field, select the relevant squad pod.
9
Fill in any additional timing fields as needed: kick-off time, meet time, parental tea time and pickup time. These are displayed for information and do not trigger automatic notifications.
10
Click Save. For multiple teams playing on the same day, use the block fixtures option to create them together.
Step 5 Select the match-day team and publish ▼

Team selection is done closer to match day. You can change the selection as many times as needed before publishing.

1
Open the fixture from the calendar.
2
Click the Participants tab. You will see the full squad listed on one side.
3
Drag students from the squad pool into the selected team column. You can also add students who are not in the usual squad by searching for them.
4
Once you are happy with the selection, click Publish Selection. Students and parents will be notified that the team has been announced.
Step 6 Configure attendance codes ▼
Attendance codes need to be configured for your school before registers can be completed. You can either set these up yourself in Settings → Attendance Codes, or speak to your attendance officer who can configure them on your behalf.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
SOCS XML feed URL entered in External Integrations and sync confirmed (SOCS schools).
✓
Involve IP address whitelisted by IT (SOCS schools).
✓
All sports staff confirmed in People → Staff with correct department.
✓
Squad pods created with age group, sport, gender, level, at least one teacher and all squad students.
✓
Practice schedules added to each squad pod and appearing on the calendar.
✓
Fixtures visible on the calendar and details confirmed accurate.
✓
Team selection tested on a sample fixture — selection published successfully.
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.3
Trips
Organise and manage school trips with configurable consent workflows, student selection, and parent communication — all in one place.

Trips is the deepest workflow in Phase 2. The setup happens in two places — Settings (where you configure the approval and form structure) and the Calendar (where individual trips are created). Complete the Settings steps first, before any trips are created.

Step 1 Configure trip characteristics ▼

Trip characteristics are categories that describe the type of trip — they control which workflow stages and approvers apply. Set these up before creating any trips or workflow stages.

1
In the left-hand navigation, go to Settings, then click Trips.
2
In the Trip Characteristics section, click Add Characteristic.
3
Add each type of trip your school runs — for example: Day Trip, Overnight, Residential, Adventurous Activity, Overseas. Create one characteristic per type.
4
For each characteristic, decide whether it uses an opt-in or opt-out model. Opt-in means parents must actively consent. Opt-out means students are included unless a parent withdraws them.
5
Click Save for each characteristic before moving on.
Step 2 Configure workflow stages ▼

Workflow stages define the approval steps a trip must go through before it goes live to parents. You will typically set up three stage types: Teacher (internal approvals), Parent (consent and payments) and Publish (final release).

1
Still in Settings → Trips, scroll to the Workflow Stages section and click Add Stage.
2
Enter a title for the stage (e.g. "Teacher Approval", "Parent Consent", "Published").
3
Add a description explaining what must happen at this stage.
4
Set the required approvals — how many approvers must sign off before the stage is complete.
5
If this stage should only apply to certain trip types, set the scope by linking it to specific trip characteristics (e.g. only Overseas trips require EVC sign-off).
6
Click Save. Repeat for each stage in the workflow.
Step 3 Create form templates for consent and data collection ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, go to Communication & Reporting, then click Forms.
2
Click New Form (or Add Template).
3
Enter a name for the template (e.g. "Standard Consent Form", "Overseas Medical Form").
4
Click Add Question to build the form. For each question, choose the question type (text, yes/no, multiple choice, signature, payment) and enter the question text.
5
Mark any questions as required if parents must answer before the form can be submitted.
6
Click Save. Repeat for each form template you need before moving on.
Step 4 Configure calendar event approval (if required) ▼
⚠ Configure this before any staff start creating trips. Changing this setting after trips are already live affects all events currently in progress.
1
In the left-hand navigation, go to Settings → Contacts & Approvers.
2
Find the Approvers of school events section.
3
If you want all calendar events (including trips) to require approval from a named person before publishing, tick Require approval for school events and select the approver(s).
4
Click Save.
Step 5 Create a trip ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then navigate to Enrichment & Occasions → Trip (or Learning & Progression → Trip depending on your school's setup).
3
Select the Department organising the trip.
4
Enter the trip name, date(s), destination and any other details.
5
Select the Trip Characteristic(s) that apply (e.g. Overnight, Overseas) — this determines which workflow stages and approvers are triggered.
6
In the Pods field, select at least one pod to identify which students are invited on the trip.
7
In the Staff field, add all staff members attending the trip.
8
Click Create Draft. The trip is now saved but not yet visible to parents or students.
Step 6 Attach forms, upload documents and progress through the workflow ▼
1
Open the trip from the calendar. You will see a Workflow tab — click it to see the stages you configured in Step 2.
2
For the first stage (Teacher/internal approval): complete any required actions — for example, request sign-off from the relevant approver. The approver will receive a notification to review and approve.
3
To attach a form to a stage: click the Forms tab inside the trip event, click Add Form, and select the template you created in Step 3.
4
To upload supporting documents (itinerary, risk assessment, info pack): click the Brochure tab or Attachments and upload the files.
5
Once all required actions for a stage are complete, click Complete Stage to move to the next stage.
6
At the Parent stage, the consent form is sent to parents. They complete and return it through the portal.
7
At the final stage, click Publish to make the trip live. Note: only administrators and teachers can create and manage trips — peripatetic staff cannot.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
Trip characteristics configured in Settings → Trips with correct opt-in/opt-out model.
✓
Workflow stages defined in the correct order with approvers assigned to each.
✓
Form templates created in Communication & Reporting → Forms.
✓
Calendar event approval configured in Settings → Contacts & Approvers (if required).
✓
Test trip created as a draft and progressed through all workflow stages successfully.
✓
Parent consent form tested from a parent account — submission confirmed.
✓
SEND and medical details confirmed as showing correctly on the trip attendee list.
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.4
Clubs
Co-curricular activities with sign-up, attendance and scheduling

Clubs covers every co-curricular activity — from after-school coding to lunchtime chess. Setup follows a three-part sequence: configure the school-level withdrawal policy, create club pods, then build the calendar events. If your school uses self-enrolment (sign-up windows), there is an additional step to create and configure those windows.

Step 1 Set the school-level withdrawal policy ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, go to Settings, then click General Settings.
2
Scroll to the Withdrawal Policy section. Decide whether students and parents can withdraw from clubs themselves, or whether withdrawal requires staff action.
3
Set the policy and click Save. This applies school-wide and affects all club pods.
Step 2 Create club pods ▼
⚠ Add all staff to the pod before creating any events. Staff added after events have been created will not appear in those events. The only fix is to delete the events and recreate them.
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add Pod and select Club as the pod type.
3
Enter the club name (e.g. "Chess Club", "Coding Club", "Art Club").
4
Select the Department if applicable (e.g. Music, Sport, Drama).
5
In the Activity field, enter the activity description.
6
Set Sign-Up Permissions — choose whether students/parents can self-enrol, or whether enrolment is staff-managed only.
7
In the Teachers field, add all staff who will run this club.
8
If students are pre-assigned (not using self-enrolment), add them in the Students field.
9
Click Submit. Repeat for every club.
Step 3 Create club sessions on the calendar ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then navigate to Enrichment & Occasions → Club.
3
Select the club pod this event belongs to.
4
Enter the session name if different from the pod name.
5
Set the date and time for the first session.
6
Assign a room if required.
7
For recurring weekly sessions, use the date picker to select multiple dates at once rather than creating each session individually.
8
Click Publish. Draft events are not visible to students or parents until published. Repeat for each club.
Step 4 Set up sign-up windows (if using self-enrolment) ▼

Sign-up windows let parents or students choose and enrol in clubs themselves. Choose your sign-up method first:

  • First-come: places fill as sign-ups arrive. Live remaining capacity is displayed. Students and parents see clubs filling up in real time.
  • Preference-based: students/parents rank their choices. You run an allocation after the window closes. Configure rules per year group before opening the window.
⚠ A sign-up window cannot be edited once it is open. Always set a future open time when creating the window — this gives you time to review settings before parents can access it.
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then navigate to Enrichment & Occasions → Sign-up Window.
3
Enter a name for the window (e.g. "Autumn term co-curricular sign-up").
4
Select the method: First-come or Preference-based.
5
Set the open date and time — choose a date in the future so you have time to review before it goes live.
6
Set the close date and time.
7
Select the relevant terms this window covers.
8
Click the Clubs tab and select which clubs will be available in this sign-up window.
9
Click the Year Groups tab and select which year groups are eligible to sign up.
10
Review all settings carefully, then click Publish. Parents and students will be notified when the window opens.
Step 5 Assign students to clubs (manual enrolment) ▼

If you are not using sign-up windows, or if you need to manually add students who didn't sign up themselves, you can add them directly.

1
Open the club pod from the Pods list.
2
Click the Students tab.
3
Search for and add the student(s) you want to enrol. Click Save.
4
Alternatively, if a sign-up window is in progress, go to the sign-up window event on the calendar and open the Selections tab to manage enrolments from there.
Step 6 Configure attendance codes ▼
Attendance codes need to be configured for your school before registers can be completed. You can either set these up yourself in Settings → Attendance Codes, or speak to your attendance officer who can configure them on your behalf.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
School-level withdrawal policy set in Settings → General Settings.
✓
All club pods created with name, department, activity, sign-up permissions and teachers added.
✓
All staff added to pods before any events were created.
✓
Club sessions created via Calendar and published.
✓
Sign-up windows created with correct clubs, year groups and a future open time (if using self-enrolment).
✓
Sign-up method (first-come or preference-based) tested before going live.
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.5
Wraparound / Boarding care
Before and after school care, breakfast clubs and boarding activities

Care has its own pod type, event type and billing logic that differ from every other workflow. The creation sequence is critical — follow these steps in order. This section covers both Wraparound Care and Boarding Care.

Step 1 Create the care pod — with all staff added first ▼
⚠ Create the pod and add all staff before creating any events. Staff added after events have been created will not appear in those events. The only fix is to delete the events and recreate them.

For Wraparound Care:

1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add and select Care as the pod type.
3
In the Activity field, select Wraparound Care.
4
Enter the provision name (e.g. "Breakfast Club", "After School Care").
5
In the Teachers field, add every member of care staff who works in this provision.
6
Click Save.

For Boarding Care:

7
Click Add, select Care as the pod type.
8
In the Activity field, select Boarding House.
9
Enter the house name (e.g. "Heron House").
10
In the Teachers field, add all house staff.
11
In the Students field, add all boarding students in this house.
12
Click Save.
Step 2 Create recurring care events ▼
⚠ Set the correct term dates now — they cannot be changed after creation. To extend care into a new term, you will need to create a new set of recurring events. Plan for this at the start of each term.

For Wraparound Care events:

1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then navigate to Care & Welfare → Care.
3
Make sure you are on the Recurring tab (not Single).
4
Enter the event name (e.g. "Breakfast Club", "After School Care").
5
Set the start time and duration.
6
Select which days the care session runs (e.g. Monday–Friday).
7
Set the date range — from the first day of term to the last day of term. Do not use a date that extends beyond the term, as you will need to create a new set of events for the next term.
8
In the Care Pod field, select the wraparound care pod you created in Step 1.
9
If parents should be able to book sessions, enable Bookable.
10
If there is a charge per session, enter the price.
11
Click Create.

For Boarding events:

12
Click Add Event, then navigate to Care & Welfare → Registration.
13
Select Recurring.
14
Enter a name (e.g. "Evening Roll Call").
15
Set the registration type to Boarding.
16
Set the start time, duration, days and date range. Select the boarding house pod. Click Save.
Step 3 Enable parent booking and self-attendance (wraparound only) ▼

These settings are available on wraparound care pods only — not boarding house pods.

1
Open the wraparound care pod from the Pods list.
2
Click the Settings tab inside the pod.
3
To allow parents to book sessions directly, enable Parent Booking.
4
To allow students to mark their own attendance (e.g. by scanning a QR code on arrival), enable Self-Attendance.
5
Click Save.
Step 4 Configure billing for care sessions ▼
1
Open the care pod from the Pods list.
2
Click the Billing tab.
3
Enter the rate per session and configure any billing options required.
4
Click Save.
5
If your school does not charge for care sessions, skip this step.
Step 5 Configure attendance codes ▼
Attendance codes need to be configured for your school before registers can be completed. You can either set these up yourself in Settings → Attendance Codes, or speak to your attendance officer who can configure them on your behalf.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
Wraparound care pod(s) created with all staff added before events.
✓
Boarding house pod(s) created with staff and students added before events (if applicable).
✓
Recurring care events created with correct days, times and date range within the current term.
✓
Boarding registration events created (if applicable).
✓
Parent booking enabled on wraparound pods (if required).
✓
Self-attendance enabled (if required).
✓
Billing configured in the pod Billing tab (if applicable).
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.6
Learning support & counselling
Schedule and track one-to-one and small-group support sessions

Learning support follows the same pod-then-calendar pattern as Music. The key difference is the types of staff involved — SENCOs, learning support assistants, counsellors and therapists. Where these staff are external, they must be added manually before pods are created.

Step 1 Add external support staff (if not already in Involve) ▼
⚠ Check your full list of external support providers before starting. External counsellors, therapists and learning support staff who are not in the MIS must be added manually — they are often missed and cause urgent access issues in the first week of term.
1
Make a list of all external counsellors, therapists, educational psychologists and learning support staff who are not in your MIS.
2
In the left-hand navigation, click People → Staff.
3
Click Add Staff for each person. Enter their name and email address.
4
Set their Role to Restricted Teacher — this limits their view in Involve to only the pods and students they are assigned to.
5
Assign them to the relevant department (e.g. Learning Support, Pastoral, Counselling). Click Save.
Step 2 Create a lesson pod for each support session ▼
⚠ Add the teacher to the pod now, before creating any calendar events. Staff added after events exist will not appear in those events.
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add Pod and select Lesson as the pod type.
3
Select the relevant Department (e.g. Learning Support, Pastoral, Counselling).
4
Enter the Activity (e.g. Speech Therapy, Reading Support, CBT Session).
5
In the Teachers field, add the support staff member for this session.
6
In the Students field, add the student(s) receiving support.
7
Under Schedule, choose Fixed time (same slot each week) or Rotating (moves across different days). Set the day(s) and duration.
8
Click Submit. Repeat for every support session.
Step 3 Schedule the sessions on the calendar ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then select Lesson.
3
Select the Department.
4
Select the date and time of the session.
5
Assign a room if applicable.
6
Select the teacher taking the session.
7
In the Pod field, select the lesson pod you created in Step 2.
8
Click Save or Publish. Draft lessons are not visible to students or parents until published.
9
Alternatively, use Magic Scheduling (as in the Music workflow) to generate all sessions for the term from the pod schedules in one step.
Step 4 Use tags to flag additional student needs ▼

Tags are internal labels that are not visible to parents or students. Use them to flag information that classroom teachers need — for example, "Has EHC Plan", "Access Arrangements", "Exam Concessions".

1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add Pod and select Tag as the pod type.
3
Enter the tag name (e.g. "EHC Plan", "Reader", "Extra Time 25%").
4
Add the relevant students.
5
Click Submit. Tags will appear on student profiles and in class lists, visible to staff only.
Step 5 Configure attendance codes ▼
Attendance codes need to be configured for your school before registers can be completed. You can either set these up yourself in Settings → Attendance Codes, or speak to your attendance officer who can configure them on your behalf.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
All external and visiting support staff added in People → Staff with Restricted Teacher role.
✓
Lesson pod created for each session with teacher added before any events were created.
✓
Schedule set on each pod (fixed or rotating) with correct duration.
✓
Sessions created and published on the calendar.
✓
Tags created for student needs and assigned to the correct students.
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.7
Parents' evenings
Online and in-person appointment booking for parents and teachers

Parents' Evenings can be launched at any point — they do not depend on other workflows. Involve supports both in-person and online (video) meetings. Parents book appointments through the Involve portal or app, and teachers see their schedule on the calendar.

Step 1 Create a parents' evening event ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then navigate to Parents' Meetings → Parents' Evening.
3
Enter the event name (e.g. "Year 10 Parents' Evening").
4
Select the relevant Pods — these determine which students' parents will be invited to book.
5
Choose the meeting type: In-person or Online (video).
6
Set the date and start/end time for the evening.
7
Set the appointment length (e.g. 5 minutes, 10 minutes).
8
Set the booking window — the open date/time when parents can start booking, and the close date/time when booking stops.
9
Click Save (the event is saved as a draft — it is not yet visible to parents).
Step 2 Review teacher availability and student invitations ▼
1
Open the parents' evening event from the calendar.
2
Click the Teachers tab. Review the list of teachers who will be available for bookings. Teachers are automatically pulled from the selected pods.
3
To adjust a teacher's availability (e.g. they can only attend part of the evening), click their name and set a custom start and end time.
4
If different groups of staff are only available for different portions of the evening (e.g. form tutors 4pm–5pm, subject teachers 5pm–7pm), create separate Parents' Evening events for each group rather than trying to configure this within one event.
5
Click the Selection tab. Review the list of students whose parents will receive invitations.
6
To exclude an individual student (for safeguarding, pastoral or other reasons), click their profile picture to move them to 'Available but not selected'. Their parents will not receive an invitation, but the student remains attached to the event for record-keeping purposes.
Step 3 Publish and communicate to parents ▼
1
Once you have reviewed all settings and the invitation list, click Publish. Parents will receive an invitation and the booking window will open at the time you set in Step 1.
2
Send a communication to parents explaining how to book. Let them know: appointments are booked via the Trays menu in the Involve app or portal, then selecting Parents' Meetings.
3
Brief teaching staff before the evening: if audio or video problems occur during an online meeting, the fix is to log out of Involve and log back in. This resolves the majority of connection issues.
4
After the event, both parents and teachers can view the record of their appointments within the platform.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before publishing ▼
✓
Event created with correct pods, meeting type, date, time and appointment length.
✓
Booking window open and close dates and times set.
✓
Bookable teacher list reviewed — all correct teachers listed.
✓
Teacher availability windows adjusted where needed.
✓
Invitation list reviewed in Selection tab — individual exclusions applied where needed.
✓
Event published and parents notified.
✓
Parent communication sent explaining Trays → Parents' Meetings for booking.
✓
Teaching staff briefed on logging out/in to resolve audio-video issues.
Workflow 2.8
One-to-one lessons
LAMDA, dance, individual sports coaching and similar

One-to-one lessons follow the same setup pattern as Music (Workflow 2.1). If you have already completed the Music workflow, these steps will be familiar. Setup happens in two parts: create the pod, then schedule the lessons on the calendar.

Step 1 Add external staff (if not already in Involve) ▼
⚠ Check your full list of external coaches and tutors before starting. External staff who are not in the MIS must be added manually — they are often missed and cause urgent access issues in the first week of term.
1
Make a list of all external coaches, LAMDA teachers, dance teachers, sports tutors and similar who are not in your MIS.
2
In the left-hand navigation, click People → Staff.
3
Click Add Staff for each person. Enter their name and email address.
4
Set their Role to Restricted Teacher — this limits their view in Involve to only the pods and students they are assigned to.
5
Assign them to the relevant department (e.g. Drama for LAMDA, Sport for coaching). Click Save.
Step 2 Create a lesson pod for each one-to-one session ▼
⚠ Add the teacher to the pod now, before creating any calendar events. Staff added after events exist will not appear in those events.
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Pods.
2
Click Add Pod and select Lesson as the pod type.
3
Select the relevant Department (e.g. Drama, Sport, Dance).
4
Enter the Activity (e.g. LAMDA, Ballet, Individual Coaching).
5
In the Teachers field, add the teacher or coach for this session.
6
In the Students field, add the individual student.
7
Under Schedule, choose Fixed time (same slot each week) or Rotating (moves across different days). Set the day(s) and duration.
8
Click Submit. Repeat for every one-to-one session that needs a pod.
Step 3 Schedule the lessons on the calendar ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then select Lesson.
3
Select the Department.
4
Select the date and time of the lesson.
5
Assign a room if applicable.
6
Select the teacher taking the lesson.
7
In the Pod field, select the lesson pod you created in Step 2.
8
Click Save or Publish. Draft lessons are not visible to students or parents until published.
9
Alternatively, use Magic Scheduling (as in the Music workflow) to generate all lessons for the term from the pod schedules in one step.
Step 4 Configure billing (if applicable) ▼
1
Open the lesson pod from the Pods list.
2
Click the Billing tab.
3
Enter the rate per session and configure any billing options required. Click Save.
4
If your school does not charge for these sessions, skip this step.
Step 5 Configure attendance codes ▼
Attendance codes need to be configured for your school before registers can be completed. You can either set these up yourself in Settings → Attendance Codes, or speak to your attendance officer who can configure them on your behalf.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
All external and visiting staff added in People → Staff with Restricted Teacher role.
✓
Lesson pod created for each session with teacher added before any events were created.
✓
Schedule set on each pod (fixed or rotating) with correct duration.
✓
Lessons created and published on the calendar.
✓
Billing configured in the pod Billing tab (if applicable).
✓
Attendance codes configured or confirmed with attendance officer.
Workflow 2.9
School events
Internal and public calendar events for the whole school community

School Events covers everything not handled by another workflow — author visits, concerts, sports days, INSET days, public calendar entries, assemblies and internal deadlines. Configure the approval settings before any events go live.

Step 1 Configure contacts and approver settings ▼
⚠ Do this before creating any events. Changing approval settings after events are live affects all events currently pending approval.
1
In the left-hand navigation, go to Settings → Contacts & Approvers.
2
Review the Primary Contact — this is the main point of contact for Involve communications. Make sure it is up to date.
3
In the Approvers of school events section, decide whether all school events should require approval before going live. If yes, tick Require approval for school events.
4
Select the staff member(s) who will act as approvers for school events.
5
Click Save.
Step 2 Create a school event ▼
1
In the left-hand navigation, click Calendar.
2
Click Add Event, then navigate to Enrichment & Occasions → School Event.
3
Enter the event name.
4
Enter the date and time. Add a description and location if applicable.
5
In the Pods / Students field, select which students the event relates to. Alternatively, tick Whole School to include all students.
6
If the event is staff-only and should not appear in the parent-facing calendar, tick Hide from public calendar.
7
To send an email notification to parents or staff when the event is published, expand Event Notifications and tick the relevant checkbox.
8
Click Save to save as a draft, or Publish to make it live immediately. If approval is required, clicking Publish will send the event to the approver — it will not go live until they approve it.
Go-live checklist Confirm every item before going live ▼
✓
Primary contact confirmed as up to date in Settings → Contacts & Approvers.
✓
School event approval settings configured and approvers assigned.
✓
Test event created, approved (if required) and published successfully.
✓
Parent-facing calendar view checked — events displaying correctly.
✓
School Events Lead trained on creating events and the approval process.
✓
Website calendar feed publication timeline agreed (if applicable).
Phase 2 complete
Your unified calendar is live
Parents, staff and students now see everything in one place

With Phase 2 workflows live, every part of school life — curriculum lessons, music, fixtures, clubs, trips, wraparound care, learning support and events — is visible from a single calendar. The unified view is now the single source of truth.

Phase 3 Bringing teachers, parents and students into Involve ▼

Phase 3 focuses on getting the whole school community actively using Involve — not just the admin and area leads who set it up.

Teachers

As Phase 2 workflows go live, teachers will begin seeing Involve in their day-to-day — notifications when pupils leave for music, fixture announcements, club rosters and more. Phase 3 deepens this with the full curriculum lesson workflow: registration, behaviour tracking, homework, seating plans and lesson planning. The goal is for Involve to become the single screen teachers use throughout the school day.

Parents

Parents access Involve through the parent portal and app. Once your Phase 2 workflows are live, we will provide a ready-to-send parent guide that you can share as part of your parent launch communication. This guide covers:

  • How to set up and log in to the Involve parent portal or app.
  • How to view their child's calendar, upcoming events and lessons.
  • How to book clubs, care sessions and parents' evening appointments.
  • How to report absences and submit forms.
  • How to message the school and manage notification preferences.
Before sending parent invitations, confirm guardian sync is accurate — spot-check two or three student records to ensure contacts have the correct relationship labels. Ask parents to add involveeducation.com to their safe senders list so invitation emails are not caught by spam filters.

Students

Students access Involve through the student portal or app, where they can view their timetable, upcoming events and lesson resources. We will provide a student guide alongside the parent guide, covering:

  • How to log in — including Google or Microsoft single sign-on if your school uses it.
  • How to view their personal timetable and calendar.
  • How to sign up for clubs and activities during sign-up windows.
  • How to access lesson resources and homework set by teachers.
Confirm your school's preferred student authentication method (email/password, Google SSO or Microsoft SSO) before the student invitation is sent. Test login works for at least one student account before the bulk invite goes out.
Term start Checks to run at the start of every new term ▼
  • Care: recurring events cannot be extended — create a new set of recurring events for the new term.
  • Check guardian sync is accurate following any MIS roll-over. Spot-check two or three student records.
  • SOCS schools: re-confirm IT has re-whitelisted Involve's IP if there has been an infrastructure change.
  • Review and update Involve Lead and Area Lead contacts in Settings → Contacts & Approvers.
  • Share relevant workflow sections with any new Area Leads who have joined since Phase 2 launched.
Getting help How to get support and manage platform updates ▼

For any how-to question, direct staff to Pippa first — the ? icon in the bottom right of any Involve screen. Pippa is trained specifically on Involve and can escalate to the support team within the same conversation.

Use Pippa as your first port of call for any platform question before contacting support directly.

Involve deploys updates regularly. The Involve Lead is responsible for reading release note emails and communicating changes to relevant staff.