Head teacher / Administrator · Bursar

Texting parents

The SMS wallet, what a message costs, writing your own, and what happens when a network refuses one.

In Uganda a text reaches a parent in a way email does not. GradeFlex sends through two providers, so one being down does not mean results day fails.

Credits

Messages are paid for from your SMS wallet. One credit sends one message part of up to 160 characters — a long message counts as more than one part, because that is what the networks charge.

Communication → SMS wallet shows the balance and every movement.
Top up with MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money or card.
Credits do not expire, and unused ones carry over.
Each plan includes credits every term.

You always see the cost first. Before any send GradeFlex shows how many parents will be texted, how many credits it will cost, and your balance. If the balance is short it tells you exactly how much to top up.

If you top up in another tab, the send screen notices and enables the button — you do not have to reload.

What you can send

Same-day absence — the one parents value most
Attendance summary — weekly or monthly
Fee reminders — to parents with a balance
Results ready — cards can be collected
Results summary — the learner's grades, subject by subject
Your own message — anything at all

Writing your own

Communication → Your own messages. Create a message with a title you choose — PTA meeting, closing date, sports day. Use { learner }, { surname } and { school } and each parent gets their own child's name.

When a network refuses one

You are refunded for anything that was not delivered. GradeFlex charges first, sends, and returns the credits for numbers the network rejected.

If the first provider misses some numbers, only those are retried on the second — nobody is texted twice or billed twice.
Communication → SMS log shows every message, its cost and what happened to it.

Numbers that will not work

A learner with no parent phone is listed before you send, so you can see who will be missed rather than discovering it afterwards. GradeFlex accepts 07… and +256… and normalises them.

The name the text comes from

By default a text arrives from a number. To make it arrive from your school's name, see Your school's name on the SMS.

← Proving a card is genuine Your school's name on the SMS →