Parent Guide

This app keeps you connected to your child's school. Sign in once with your phone number; from then on you'll see fees, messages, report cards, and upcoming events for every child you guard - even if they're at different schools.

Four tabs

• Children - list of your kids. Tap one to see their fees, recent payments, and the latest report card.
• Pay - outstanding fees across all your children, one tap to pay with Mobile Money.
• Messages - chat with each child's school. One conversation per child.
• More - your profile, app lock (Face ID / fingerprint), sign out, app version.

Three things to know

1. Your phone is your login. No password. We send a one-time code by SMS each time you sign in on a new device.
2. You'll get a push notification when a teacher messages you, a new fee comes due, or there's an urgent school announcement. Make sure notifications are on for ClassAddmin.
3. Payments are real. When you tap Pay, it opens Paystack - same as buying airtime or paying a utility bill. Funds clear to the school account within minutes.

If you have more than one child

Each child's school may be different. The app handles that automatically - fees, messages and report cards stay scoped to whichever child you're viewing.

If a school doesn't appear, the school office probably hasn't linked your phone number to that child's profile yet. Visit the office and ask them to add you as a guardian.

The ClassAddmin parent app uses your phone number to sign in - no password, no email. The school adds your number as a guardian; you enter it once, get a code by SMS, and you're in.

First sign-in

1. Open the app.
2. Tap Sign in.
3. Enter your phone number in the format your school has on file. Ghanaian numbers can be 0244XXXXXX or +233244XXXXXX - both work; the app normalises.
4. Tap Send code.
5. Check your SMS. You should get a 6-digit code from CLASSADDMIN (or your school's sender) within 30 seconds.
6. Type the code into the verification screen.
7. Tap Verify.

You're in. The app remembers your number on this phone - next time you open it, you go straight to the Children tab.

"No code arrived"

Three things to check:

1. Wait a full 60 seconds - Ghanaian SMS sometimes lags.
2. Check spam / blocked numbers - some Android phones filter unknown senders into a separate Other tab.
3. Try the resend button on the verification screen. Resend is free.

If you've waited 5 minutes and still nothing, your number might not be on file at your child's school:

1. Walk in to the school office.
2. Ask them to confirm your phone number is recorded as a guardian under your child's profile.
3. Try sign-in again with whichever number they have on file.

Sign out

1. More tab → Sign out at the bottom.
2. Confirm.

You'll need to sign in again with your phone number the next time you open the app.

Sign in on a new phone

1. Install the app on the new phone.
2. Sign in with your phone number as above.
3. You're in. Your old phone's session stays valid - you can be signed in on multiple phones at once.

Sign in on a borrowed phone

Don't, ideally. If you must:

1. Sign in.
2. Use the app for whatever you needed.
3. Sign out before handing the phone back - otherwise the next person sees your child's data.

For your own phone, enable App lock (see Lock the app with Face ID) so even if someone borrows your unlocked phone, they can't open ClassAddmin without your face/fingerprint.

Common gotchas

• "This number isn't registered" - the school doesn't have you as a guardian. Speak to the school office.
• Code expired - codes are valid for 5 minutes. Resend.
• Wrong format error - start with 0 (e.g. 0244...) or +233 (e.g. +233244...). No spaces, no dashes.

The app is built for parents with more than one child. Each child has their own dashboard, fees, messages, and report cards - and your kids can even be at different schools. There's no awkward "primary school" or account switching.

How the app knows your children

When you sign in with your phone number:

• The app looks up every school that has your number registered as a guardian.
• It pulls every pupil you guard at each school.
• All of them appear in your Children tab.

If you have 3 kids - Adwoa at Greenhill Basic, Kwame at Greenhill Basic, Akua at Excel International - all three appear in the Children list, with each child's school name underneath.

Switching between children

There's no "switch profile" - you tap into a child to see their data, tap back to the Children list, tap a different child.

• Children tab - the parent's overview. See all kids at a glance with their balance + latest message.
• Tap a child - opens their dashboard.
• Back arrow / Children tab - returns to the list.

Fees across children

The Pay tab aggregates outstanding fees across every child. You see Adwoa's outstanding term fee + Kwame's lunch top-up in one list.

You can pay them one-by-one (one Paystack transaction per invoice) or, if they're at the same school and same MoMo provider, sometimes the Paystack flow lets you bundle. Otherwise it's a quick tap-pay-tap-pay sequence.

Messages across children

The Messages tab shows one row per child - so a thread with Greenhill (about Adwoa) and a thread with Greenhill (about Kwame) appear as two separate rows even though it's the same school.

This is deliberate: pupil-specific questions stay in the right thread, so when you ask the school "did Kwame get his math test back?", it doesn't accidentally end up in a thread about Adwoa.

Adding a new child later

When you enrol a new child:

1. The school adds them and links your phone number as guardian.
2. The next time you open the app (or pull-to-refresh on the Children tab), the new child appears.

No re-install, no extra sign-in.

Removing access to a former child

Children only disappear from your app when:

• The school's office removes you as a guardian (e.g. custody change).
• The pupil is marked inactive at the school (graduated, transferred out).

You can't remove a child yourself - talk to the school office if you want to.

Common gotchas

• One of my children isn't showing - the school doesn't have your phone linked to that child. Visit the school office.
• Two children at different schools but the same name - they show on separate rows, distinguished by school. Tap into either to see whose record it is.
• My phone changes - kids stay - when you sign in on a new phone with the same number, all your kids are there. Children are tied to your phone number, not to the device.

App lock asks for your face or fingerprint every time you open ClassAddmin from the background - so a borrowed phone can't see your child's fees or messages.

Turn it on

1. Tap More (bottom tab).
2. Under Security, tap the App lock toggle.
3. Approve the biometric prompt (Face ID, Touch ID, or fingerprint depending on your phone). This confirms biometrics actually work on your device.

That's it - next time you switch to another app and come back, ClassAddmin will ask you to authenticate before showing anything.

Turn it off

Same toggle. The app will ask you to authenticate again before letting you switch it off - to stop a stolen phone from disabling protection while it's unlocked.

If biometrics fail

• The OS lets you fall back to your phone's passcode automatically.
• If neither works, sign out from More and sign back in with your phone number.

What's NOT locked

• Push notifications still display their content unless you turn off lock-screen previews in your phone's settings.
• The Paystack payment page uses its own session - but you'd already be inside the app to start a payment.

If you don't see the toggle

Your phone may not have a biometric sensor configured. On iOS, set up Face ID under System Settings → Face ID & Passcode. On Android, enable a fingerprint under Settings → Security → Fingerprint. Then come back to the ClassAddmin More tab - the toggle will be active.

Once the school publishes the term's report cards, you'll get a notification and the report becomes available in the app under your child's screen.

Open the report

1. Children tab → tap your child.
2. Scroll down to Latest report card.
3. Tap it.

The report opens as a full-screen view with:

• Subjects - each subject your child takes, with the mark out of 100 and the position (e.g. 5/30) in the class.
• Comments - the class teacher's note + head teacher's note for each subject and overall.
• Attendance - present / absent / late / excused counts for the term.
• Discipline summary - incidents and merits (if your school shares these).
• Overall - the average mark and the child's class position.

Download the PDF

Tap Download PDF (top right) to save the official PDF to your phone. Useful for:

• Saving for the year's family records.
• Sharing with a relative abroad.
• Showing your child when they ask.

The PDF carries the school's letterhead and signatures.

Previous terms

The latest report shows by default. To see older terms:

1. Tap Previous reports at the bottom.
2. Pick the term.

Older reports go back as far as the school has published them in ClassAddmin.

What the marks mean

Most schools use percentages out of 100. The band beside the mark depends on your school's grading scheme - usually:

• 80+ → Excellent
• 70-79 → Very good
• 60-69 → Good
• 50-59 → Average
• 40-49 → Needs improvement
• Below 40 → Significant concern

Your child's school might use a different scheme. The comment next to each subject is usually clearer than just the number.

Position in class

Position is your child's rank within their class for the term, based on overall average. "5/30" means they were the 5th best out of 30 pupils.

Some schools don't publish position (they think it discourages weaker pupils). If you don't see one, that's why.

I think there's a mistake

The school is the right place for corrections - not us, and not the app. Send a message on the parent thread (see Message your child's school):

"Re: Kwame's Term 2 report card - I think the English mark of 32 might be a data-entry error. Can you check?"

The teacher will investigate. If there was an error, the school republishes the report and you get a fresh notification.

Common gotchas

• "No report card available yet" - your school hasn't published this term's reports. They usually go out in the last week of term.
• PDF download fails - usually a network issue. Try on Wi-Fi.
• Comments look generic - the teacher likely used the comment bank without personalising. Don't read too much into it; the marks are the real signal.

Every child's page has a This week widget at the top. Tap it and you land on the This-week screen: three quick cards for Attendance, Homework and the Latest score. Each card can show its data in a few different chart shapes - pick whichever helps you read it fastest.

The four chart shapes

At the top of the This-week screen is a small toggle: Spark / Line / Bar / Pie. Every card flips shape at once.

Spark - the quick glance

A tiny line with no numbers on the sides. Left is oldest, right is newest. The dot at the far right is this week. Use it when you just want a rough "is it going up or down?" read.

Line - the trend, spelt out

The same shape as the spark, but bigger, with a 25 / 50 / 75% reference grid in the background. The dot on the far right is highlighted. Best when you want to see whether a big drop or jump is real, or just a wobble.

Bar - one bar per week

Each bar is one week's percentage - oldest on the left, this week on the right. Older bars are faded; the current-week bar is solid so your eye finds it first. Use it when you want to compare individual weeks.

Pie - this week's share

The pie only shows this week, not the trend. It splits the week into slices:

• Attendance: how many days present vs absent.
• Homework: how many pieces are done, overdue, or still to do.

Under each pie is a small legend telling you exactly what each slice means. The number in the middle is the same ratio spelt out ("4/5" for attendance, "2/3" for homework).

Reading the labels

Alongside each chart the card shows two small labels:

• The value - a plain-language sentence: "Present 4 of 5 days", "2 of 3 done".
• The trend word - one of improving, steady, slipping, falling behind, or new. It's picked automatically from the numbers: small week-to-week wobble counts as steady so a one-off blip doesn't panic the app.

If your child has an overdue homework, a red overdue pill sits under the homework value with the count.

Latest score

The Latest score card is a bit different. It's not a trend - it's the most recent graded assessment your child's teacher has published: subject, assessment name, and score out of the total. Tap it to open Live progress where every subject's mark for the term is laid out with the actual trend line.

Tap to dig deeper

Every card is tappable. Attendance opens the Attendance screen for the term; Homework opens the homework list where you can tick items done; Latest score opens Live progress.

The charts are the summary. The screens they open are the whole story.

Tap the Pay tab (or open a child and tap Pay on their card) to settle school fees from your phone.

Steps

1. Pay tab → you'll see each child with an outstanding balance.
2. Tap the child you want to pay for.
3. Pick the invoice to pay (most schools issue one per term). The full amount is the default - you can tap into the field and pay a smaller amount if you want to pay in parts.
4. Tap Pay GHS X.XX.
5. A Paystack page opens. Pick your Mobile Money provider (MTN, Vodafone, AirtelTigo) or enter a card.
6. Approve the charge on your phone (USSD prompt) or enter the OTP.
7. The browser returns you to the app and the payment status appears on your child's page.

What happens behind the scenes

• The school is notified immediately - they don't have to do anything.
• A receipt is generated and stored in your child's recent payments.
• The school's balance recalculates and the invoice flips from "issued" to either "partially paid" or "paid".

If something goes wrong

• "Approval timeout" - you took too long to approve on USSD. Tap Pay again and approve faster.
• "Insufficient balance" - your MoMo wallet needs more money. Top up and retry.
• The browser page hangs - close it; if the charge succeeded, you'll see the status update in the app within a minute. If you don't see it after 5 minutes, the charge failed silently - try again.

Receipts

• Recent payments appear under each child's screen.
• The school can email a formal receipt - message them on the parent thread if you need one for tax or reimbursement.

Payments sometimes hiccup. Most issues fix themselves; here's how to tell what's going on.

You see "Failed" or "Cancelled" in the app

• Your money wasn't charged. Try again - usually a network blip.
• If it fails twice in a row, check your MoMo balance and try a different provider (e.g. card instead of MoMo).

The Paystack page closed but the app shows no update

Wait 60 seconds and pull down to refresh the screen. The charge often completes seconds after the browser closes.

If after a couple of minutes nothing has changed:

• You probably weren't charged. Try again.
• To be sure, check your MoMo balance - if it's the same as before, no money left your account.

You were charged but the school still shows "owing"

This is usually a delay, not a failure. The MoMo gateway hasn't told us yet.

• Wait 5 minutes and pull-to-refresh.
• If it's been more than 30 minutes, message the school on the parent thread with the MoMo transaction reference (the SMS you got from MTN/Vodafone/AirtelTigo). The bursar can confirm the payment landed and reconcile it manually.

The Paystack page won't open

• Network issue. Switch from data to Wi-Fi (or vice versa) and try again.
• Browser not installed. iOS uses Safari, Android uses Chrome - they're pre-installed. If you've disabled one, re-enable it under your phone settings.

You paid the wrong child or wrong invoice

That's not a failed payment - it's a misapplied one. Message the school on the parent thread; the bursar can re-allocate it to the right invoice without you having to pay again.

When to contact us

If you've tried the above and the payment really vanished - money left your account, no record on the app, the school says they didn't receive it - message your school first. If they confirm they didn't receive it and have the MoMo reference, they'll escalate to us. Don't try to chargeback through your bank - that takes weeks and freezes the school account.

Each child has one ongoing conversation with their school. Class teachers, the head teacher, the bursar - all of them post in the same thread, so you don't have to remember which staff handle what.

Open a thread

1. Tap the Messages tab. You'll see one row per child, with the latest message preview and an orange dot when there's something unread.
2. Tap the row to open the conversation.

You can also open a thread from the Children tab - tap your child, then tap Message school.

Send a message

1. Type at the bottom.
2. Tap the send arrow.

Your message lands in the school's inbox immediately. They'll see it as a notification on their dashboard.

When you'll get a reply

• During school hours, usually within an hour.
• After hours, sometimes the next morning.
• Avoid texting at midnight expecting an answer at 6am - they're asleep.

What you can ask

• Anything about your child specifically: missing tests, illnesses, behaviour, project deadlines.
• Fee questions - the bursar will see it.
• Permission requests - early pickup, missing a day, sports trip sign-off.

What not to send

• Don't paste account passwords or your card numbers. No school will ever ask.
• Don't share other parents' contact details - use the PTA WhatsApp for that.
• Don't send rude messages - teachers screenshot.

Notifications

When the school replies, you'll get a push notification and (depending on your school's plan) an SMS with a link. If you're not getting notifications, open More → Notifications and make sure they're on. iOS users may also need to enable them in System Settings → Notifications → ClassAddmin.