Kestrel

Part 5. Administration

5.5 Module settings

Version 1.0 ·Updated 2026-10-07

Next reviewed by 2027-04-07.

Written for a school's staff learning how Kestrel works, the trainers who teach them, and the families using the portal.

The settings for attendance, learning, wellbeing, enrolment and fees, and activities, one group at a time.

Written forITBusiness managerRegistrarPrincipal and executive

What these groups are for

Each module that staff use day to day has its own settings: how it counts, who it tells and when. They sit in five groups on the settings index: "Attendance", "Learning", "Wellbeing", "Enrolment and fees" and "Activities". The screens are described here by group, with the labels you will see.

Who uses it

The person who runs a module sets it. The registrar sets enrolment, the business manager sets fees, and the IT administrator or the principal's office sets the rest. Where a screen is about who is told, the staff named in the rule are the ones who receive the message.

Key ideas

Rule
A policy the school sets once and Kestrel applies, such as when an absence is followed up.
Staff told
The staff a rule notifies when it fires. Each rule names them.
Published version
A report template, form or fee schedule that is frozen when published. A correction is made by issuing the next version.
Retire
Take a code, kind or rule out of use. Retired items stay on the records that used them.

Screens

  • Absence codes

    /app/settings/attendance

    The codes a roll mark can be given, set by the state's code set.

  • Absence follow-up

    /app/settings/follow-up

    When families are asked about an absence and who is told.

  • Roll chase

    /app/settings/roll-chase

    When a teacher is told a roll is missing and when staff are told.

  • Attendance patterns

    /app/settings/attendance/rules

    Rules that watch for patterns of absence.

  • Contact hours

    /app/settings/attendance/contact-hours

    The attendance threshold for students on overseas visas.

  • Kiosks

    /app/settings/kiosks

    Credentials for sign-in kiosks.

  • Assessment

    /app/settings/assessment

    Reporting periods, report templates, scales, outcomes, estimates, the transcript and the portal.

  • Board courses

    /app/settings/board-courses

    The course and unit of each senior class.

  • Kinds of entry

    /app/settings/entry-kinds

    The wellbeing entry kinds and who sees them.

  • Escalation rules

    /app/settings/wellbeing

    Who is told when entries add up.

  • Plan templates

    /app/settings/plan-templates

    The headings of each kind of plan.

  • Enrolment

    /app/settings/enrolment

    Waitlist rules, the admissions ladder, the offer letter, rollover day and tour reminders.

  • Fees

    /app/settings/fees

    Starting a fee year and the billing periods.

  • Kinds of activity

    /app/settings/activities

    The kinds a coordinator can offer.

  • Roster export

    /app/settings/roster-export

    The format activity rosters are exported in.

Attendance

On "Absence codes", choose "Adopt this set" to follow the state's set. To add a code, choose "Add a code" and give a Symbol of one to four capital letters or digits, a Meaning and a Definition, then "Reports into", the category the absence is reported under. Tick "Needs a written reason" when staff must record one and "Families can use this code" when families may choose it in the portal. "Retire this code" takes it out of use.

"Absence follow-up" starts with a "Whole school" rule that sets a Time, a Message and "Staff told". A campus can have its own rule with "Give it its own rule" and go back with "Follow the school's rule". "Roll chase" sets when the teacher is told and when staff are told.

"Attendance patterns" has rules of these kinds: absent in a window, unexplained in a window, late in a window, absent on a weekday, absent around an event and below a rate. Each has a scope (school, campus or year level) and "Staff told". Rules are checked each morning. Once saved, a rule can be turned off but not deleted. "Contact hours" sets the threshold for overseas students at 85, 90, 95 or 100 per cent, checked each Monday morning, with staff told.

On "Kiosks", choose "Issue the credential" and give a Name, a Campus and a "PIN or card scheme". The secret is shown once. The device opens the kiosk with "Open on the device", and "Revoke" ends a credential.

Learning

The Assessment screen is arranged in groups. "Reporting periods" take a Name, Campus, Year levels, Starts, Ends and "Reports go home". "Report templates" are versioned with parts for outcomes assessed, achievement, effort, the teacher's comment, attendance and co-curricular. A published version is frozen: choose "Issue the next version" to copy it as a draft, "Publish this version" when it is ready and "Put this version away" when it is finished with.

Under Scales, "Adopt" a scale that Kestrel provides, "Add a scale" with its levels (a Code, a Meaning and a Floor) or "Import a progression". "Curriculum outcomes" can be loaded with "Import a file" or added one at a time with "Add an outcome". "Estimates and concern" sets what the estimate is "Estimated from" and the "Fall in points" that raises a concern.

"The transcript" has switches for what it contains, from the achievement and effort of each report to the school's name at the head, and a limit to "Only the most recent years". "The portal" has the switches for what students and families read of their reports. They are the same stored setting as the Portal screen. "Board courses" sets the course and unit of each senior class. A class with no course is left out of the board submission.

Wellbeing

"Kinds of entry" are merit, demerit or observation, with points, "Seen by" and "A parent sees an entry of this kind". Retire a kind when it is not wanted, and use "Change the order" to set how kinds are listed.

"Escalation rules" name a condition (polarity, kind or severity), whether it fires on each entry or on a count within a number of days, who is told (the tutor, the head of house or a role) and whether the check is immediate or nightly. "Plan templates" give each "Kind of plan" a Name and its Headings, one to a line.

Enrolment and fees

The Enrolment screen has "Waitlist rules" (criteria in order, with the application date breaking ties), the "Admissions ladder", the "Offer letter", "Rollover day" and "Tour reminders" in hours before a tour. A rung of the ladder says what stalls it with "Stalls after (days)" and takes the action "Email the family" or "Tell the registrar". On the offer letter, choose "Start from Kestrel's letter" and then use the placeholders.

On Fees, "Start a year" takes a Year, a Name and a Currency and begins as a draft, to which lines are added on the Fees screen. "Start a correction" copies the version in force. "Billing periods" have a Number, Name, First day, Last day and Due date, and are fixed once published.

Activities

"Kinds of activity" lists the four kinds Kestrel provides. The school adds its own with a Name and a Category, and ticks "Offer it when a coordinator creates an activity" to make it a choice. "Roster export" chooses the Tool as Clipboard or Plain CSV. The export itself runs from the Exports page.

Tasks

Journeys that use this chapter

Settings

Training notes

  • Walk the module's lead through who is told by each rule before turning it on.
  • Show that a retired code or kind stays on the records that used it.
  • Set up a draft first, then publish, so the school sees what freezing means.