Create A New Meeting Schedule (Primary)

If you are a ‘School Admin’ and want to know how to create a ‘New Meeting Schedule’ for your Primary School, please follow these instructions:

Video Guide

Text Guide

Step 1

• From the Equipple ‘Home Screen’, you want to click the tab at the top bar which says ‘Schedule’.

Step 2

• On the right-hand side, click the tab ‘Add New Schedule’.

Don't see the 'New Schedule' button? This is likely because you are not set up as an administrator for your school. To get admin status, email support@equipple.com and provide the name of your school as well as the rationale for requiring admin permissions.

• If this is the first schedule your school has created, the ‘Add New Schedule’ button will be on the left-hand side.

Step 3

• You’ll then be asked to ‘Give the meeting schedule a name’. Choose something unique and specific to that set of Parent/Teacher Meetings. For example, 'March Meetings 2025'. Click ‘Continue’.

Step 4

• Now you need to choose your meeting format with Parents. If your Parent/Teacher meetings are in person, click ‘In person’. If your school provides the option of phone call meetings as well, click ‘Phone Call’ too.
• Next, in the ‘Meeting Duration’ section, you need to decide how long each Parent/Teacher meeting will be. You can use the plus and minus symbols to choose the meeting duration time.
• Underneath, there is the ‘Meeting Buffer’ section. If you would like the meetings to be scheduled back-to-back, one after the other, then select ‘None’. However, if you would like a short buffer between each meeting, anything from 1-5 minutes to allow teachers time to quickly make any additional notes, reset themselves and prepare for the next meeting, then select the number of minutes you would like as a buffer.
• Then click ‘Continue’. 

  
  

In this step you are simply setting the permissible formats. Teachers can choose to have fewer formats available for parents to book, but they cannot add additional formats.

For example, if you select 'in-person' an individual teacher can choose to open their availability to 'in-person' meetings only. But they cannot choose to add 'phone calls' as an option. Only the Admin can add extra formats for meetings.

Step 5

• Select which year groups and classes are taking part in Equipple Parent/Teacher Meetings. To save time and select multiple classes, you can click the ‘magic wand’ icon in the corner of each year group or ‘Select All’ for your entire school. Click ’Continue’. 

Step 6

• A monthly calendar will now come up. Select the dates when ‘Parent/Teacher Meetings are taking place. These will now be highlighted in green. Click ‘Continue’. 

Note that teachers still have the ability to add additional days to their own schedules if desired.

Step 7

• You now need to ‘Select meeting schedule times’. Scroll up and down until you see the time slots you would like your school to conduct meetings. Click and hold on the earliest meeting slot for the first day and drag down until the final slot. You can leave gaps by clicking on a specific time slot. Repeat this process for each day. Double check your timings and click ‘Continue’.

Note that teachers still have the ability to add or remove individual slots on their own schedules if desired.

Step 8

• ‘Setting the Go-Live Date’. Click on the first date bar and use the calendar to find the date you would like parents to automatically receive ‘Invitations to book a meeting’. We recommend approximately 10 days before your first Parent/Teacher Meeting to allow teachers time to prepare and parents time to choose their slot. 
• Now choose the time on the Go Live date you would like parents to receive their invitation. 
• Then, repeat the process underneath for the ‘Booking closure date’. This is the deadline in which ‘The booking system will close and prevent further bookings’. We recommend approximately 3 working days before your first Parent/Teacher Meeting. This ensures that meeting times are not changing right up to the last minute, which might cause confusion for teachers. 

Step 9

• You now need to decide if you would like to add any additional instructions for Parents to view when they receive their Equipple email. This might be instructions for parking on the day of the meetings, which entrance of the school to use, where Parents should wait, reminders to ensure Parents arrive on time for their meeting, etc. 
• If you do not want to add any additional instructions, select ‘No’ and click ‘Continue’. Skip ‘Step 10’ and go straight to ‘Step 11’.
• If you selected ‘Yes’, please go to the next set of instructions, ‘Step 10’.

Step 10

• If you selected ‘Yes’ for adding additional instructions to the Equipple email Parents receive, then the pop-up tab should change to what you can see below.

• You have the option of leaving up to two sets of instructions.

• Instructions on invitation emails – These are instructions which will be attached to the email inviting Parents to book their meeting slot.

• Instructions on booking confirmation emails – These are instructions which will be attached to the booking confirmation email which Parents receive when they have chosen and booked their slot.

• When you have completed your instructions, click ‘Continue’.

  
  

Ideas for instructions may include:
-    Where to park on the day of the meetings.
-    Which entrance of the school to use.
-    Where Parents should wait for their meeting.
-    Reminders to ensure Parents arrive on time for their meeting.
-    The importance of sticking to the schedule.

Step 11

• The final step is to ‘Review and Confirm’ the details of your meeting schedule. Check each section and if you’re happy, click ‘Create Schedule’.

Well done! You've just created your first schedule!