In today’s technological era, apps on our smart devices are an essential part of our lives. They provide many benefits, such as helping us to stay organised, manage money and stay in touch with people around the world. These benefits also extend into the education industry, where intuitive apps and portals can assist with streamlining administrative tasks, providing an enhanced learning experience or offerring a payment platform to parents. In this blog, we will explore Bromcom’s free apps: MCAS (MyChildAtSchool), Student Portal, and the Teacher App and the benefits they provide to the many that use them.
MCAS
- MCAS is an award winning parent portal application/service that enables parents to monitor their children’s progress and well being in school. MCAS provides a window into key areas such as Attendance, Behaviour, Assessment and Timetables, something that was never possible before MCAS hit the market. Not only does MCAS offer a central location that connects teachers and parents, but it provides something more valuable, peace of mind. Parents can check in any time they wish, while schools/teachers know that MCAS is a secure portal where crucial information is only available to parents/guardians with access
Key features
- Many would argue that the Clubs & Trips functionality of MCAS is the strongest feature, allowing schools full management over bookings, sessions, payments, balances and more. Parents particularly love this feature because they can see available clubs and trips, clubs and trips that their child is enrolled to, outstanding balances and instalment reminders, all from their phone or tablets. Parents can even run multiple accounts through the app, allowing them to easily switch between siblings at the same school, or switch accounts entirely if they have multiple children at different schools.
Student Portal
- The Student Portal app is designed to assist students by providing them with instant access to key information. With its user-friendly interface, students can easily navigate through their academic journey and monitor their own progress. The Student Portal allows students to see important data and resources, such as timetables, attendance, homework and school events. The Student Portal is an app I wish I had during my time at school, offering safety, organising and visibility far beyond what a USB stick or notebook every could.
Key features
- Students particularly like that they can use face/touch ID to log in, as it is the most secure form of data protection, and its one less login to remember! They also like the fact that they can submit homework through the app, meaning they are using their devices more productively and always have a way to keep on top of tasks.
Teacher App
- Lastly we have the Teacher app, which is a comprehensive platform designed to simplify the teaching process and offer a ‘pocket sized Bromcom’. Teachers can effortlessly manage their classes, upload resources, take registers and send alerts, all in real-time without being tied to a desktop PC. This makes the learning environment incredibly versatile and adaptable by options on the devices, methods and locations available.
Key features
- Having a pocket sized Bromcom on the go means Behaviour events that take place outside of the classroom can be logged as they happen, messages to and from parents are handled quicker and last minute homework submissions can be acknowledged prior to assigning detentions or sending emails home. Overall, the Teacher app is a tool that many love and harness, with ability to take Registers or Fire Drill Registers on the go being a massively appreciated addition.
A consistent feature across all 3 of the Bromcom apps is Biometric Entry (Face/Touch ID), removing the need to remember logins and increasing security ten fold. Facial recognition provides an additional layer of security by accurately identifying individuals, reducing the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data. And did I mention, they are completely free to use and are add free!
MCAS, Student Portal, and the Teacher App, exemplify the incredible impact technology can have on the education sector. These apps connect teachers, students and parents, streamlining tasks and processes which were particularly labour heavy. With Bromcom’s free apps, educators and institutions can efficiently streamline administrative tasks while focusing on empowering and educating the future generations.
"We are using MCAS a lot for monitoring the behaviour and staff across the school in department and the subject areas. Everything is there that we need to access to on a regular basis. It’s easy to use and great to access data quickly and efficiently."
