INTRODUCTION

“Returning Student” Enrolment Resources are used to collect key information, consents, and endorsements for students intending to return to a Pacific Church School in an upcoming school year. Because much of the student enrolment data for returning students is already contained inside PowerSchool, pre-populated forms can be printed directly from PowerSchool to speed up the information gathering process.


School administrators should use the instructions included in this article to print pre-populated forms for “Returning Students” directly from the student database. School administrators should also become familiar with the other ‘templates’ mentioned in this article that could be used to support and enhance the enrolment process.


This article answers the following questions:


NOTE: Information about NEW student enrolment resources can be found in the article titled: Using the NEW Student Enrolment Resources.



WHAT ENROLMENT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE FOR RETURNING STUDENTS?

Various forms and resources are available to help collect and manage enrolment data for returning students. A list of currently available resources is provided below with a brief description of each resource type:


WORD DOCUMENT TEMPLATES

  • Returning Student Cover Letter TEMPLATE
  • Course Registration Form TEMPLATE

These templates are provided in a Word Document format so that they are easy to manipulate and adjust for local school needs. More information about how to use these documents is included later in this article in the section titled: HOW DO I USE THE WORD DOCUMENT TEMPLATES CORRECTLY?


STAND-ALONE ENROLMENT FORMS

  • Returning Student Information Form
  • Bishop Endorsement Form
  • Needs Based Scholarship Application Form
  • For ALL Tonga Students - Consent Form for Liahona Give Back

In addition to the “Word Document Templates” listed above, individual standardized “forms” can be printed directly from PowerSchool to gather and update information for returning students. More information about how to view and print these forms is provided later in this article in the section titled: HOW DO I VIEW AND PRINT RETURNING STUDENT ENROLMENT PACKS AND FORMS?


RETURNING STUDENT ENROLMENT PACKS

  • BASIC Returning Student Enrolment Pack
  • FULL Returning Student Enrolment Pack

Often, multiple enrolment forms for a student (or group of students) will need to be printed at the same time. “Returning Student Enrolment Packs” have been created for this very reason. “Enrolment Packs” combine multiple forms into a single printable “package”. The “Basic” pack includes the “Student Information Form” and “Bishop Endorsement Form” while the “Full” pack contains all three stand-alone enrolment forms.


OTHER RESOURCES

The forms and templates listed above are considered “standard” resources that all schools should have access to and use during the scheduling and enrolment process. However, schools may also create additional resources that are required to meet local needs. For example, some schools may opt to send out one or more “Reminder Letters” regarding “Due Dates” or “Tuition Collection” etc. While additional resources such as these are not listed here, please do not hesitate to create additional documents and forms that will support and enhance your local process for collecting enrolment data.


NOTE: If there are forms, templates or reminders that you feel should be added to the existing “standard” resources, please contact the Area Team directly with your suggestions. We will do our best to expand and enhance these packs as per your valuable feedback.



WHERE CAN I FIND THE ENROLMENT RESOURCES?

WORD DOCUMENT TEMPLATES

The most up-to-date versions of these resources can be found on Microsoft Teams in the SCH - Scheduling and Enrolment Team document library found here. Please speak to the Area EdTech Team if you are having trouble connecting to this library. These resources can also be requested from the Area Office at any time.


STAND-ALONE ENROLMENT FORMS AND RETURNING STUDENT ENROLMENT PACKS

These packs and forms can be accessed in PowerSchool in the SQL Form Letters area. If you are a school administrator you can access SQL Form Letters in the PowerSchool Admin Portal by going to: Start Page > System Reports > SQLFormLetters.



WHICH OF THESE RESOURCES SHOULD I BE USING?

REQUIRED RESOURCES

The resources listed below are “required” documents that all Returning Students must complete in order to correctly enrol for the upcoming school year:

  • Course Registration Form
  • Returning Student Information Form
  • Bishop Endorsement Form


NOTE: The “Course Registration Form” is only required for students that have elective options in the upcoming school year. For example, Primary and Middle School students usually have a set schedule with 7 or more core subjects and will not need to fill out a Course Registration Form. However, students from Year 10 and onwards often have a list of course electives that they must choose from for the upcoming school year. Any students taking electives must fill out a Course Registration in order to correctly enrol for the upcoming school year.


OPTIONAL RESOURCES

The resources listed below are highly recommended for all Returning Students but not “required”.

  • Returning Student Cover Letter
  • Needs Based Scholarship Application Form


NOTE: It is highly recommended that a “Returning Student Cover Letter” is sent out to students and parents in conjunction with the required forms listed above. Use a cover letter to remind students and parents of key dates, deadlines and expectations. More information about using cover letters is included later in this article in the section titled: How do I use the Word Document Templates correctly?


NOTE: Although optional, it is strongly recommended that the Needs Based Scholarship Application Form is distributed to all students at some point during the enrolment process. More information about using these templates is included later in this article in the section titled: HOW AND WHEN SHOULD I BE DISTRIBUTING THESE RESOURCES?



HOW AND WHEN SHOULD I BE DISTRIBUTING THESE RESOURCES?

Simply speaking, it is up to each school to decide how and when they would like to distribute the various enrolment resources for returning students. Please see the notes below for some suggested guidelines.


“ALL AT ONCE” APPROACH

Some schools may opt to print and distribute all enrolment resources in a bundled “pack”. When using this approach, it is suggested that a well-written cover letter is provided to inform parents and students of dates and deadlines for completing the various forms and paying tuition etc.


“STAGGERED” APPROACH

Some schools may choose to distribute individual forms at different times throughout the year rather than “all at once”. Some schools might choose to send out each of the forms individually one by one, but other schools may opt to send out forms in two or three separate “mini packs” or “bundles”. Please note the following as an example of how a school might opt to use a staggered approach for distributing and collecting forms:

  • 15 Aug: Distribute Course Registration Forms (Deadline: 31 August)
  • 1 Sep: Distribute “Student Information Forms” and “Bishop Endorsement Forms” (Deadline: 30 Sep)
  • 15 Sep: Reminder letter regarding “Student Info” and “Endorsement Forms”
  • 1 Oct: Distribute “Needs Based Scholarship Application Forms” (Deadline: 31 October)
  • 15 Oct: Reminder letter regarding “Scholarship Applications” and “Tuition Settlement”.


RECOMMENDED DEADLINES

Whether distributing enrolment resources as a bundled “pack”, or as individual forms, it is vitally important to ensure that information is collected back to the school within the deadlines suggested below. The dates suggested below are the latest recommended dates by which the various forms and resources should be collected. In other words, schools may opt to collect these resources much earlier than the suggested deadlines.

  • 31 Aug: Suggested deadline for collecting Course Registration Forms
  • 30 Sep: Suggested deadline for collecting Student Information Forms
  • 31 Oct: Suggested deadline for collecting Bishop Endorsement Forms
  • 30 Nov: Suggested deadline for collecting Needs Based Scholarship Application Forms


NOTE: There are pros and cons to each of the approaches mentioned above. Please plan appropriately and use wisdom in whatever approach you choose to adopt.



HOW DO I USE THE WORD DOCUMENT TEMPLATES CORRECTLY?

Unlike the PowerSchool forms which are not editable, the Word Document templates are designed to give schools flexibility in using and adapting the forms to meet local school needs. Please see below for guidelines on how to use the Word Document Templates correctly:


BLACK TEXT

Any text in the standard Black colour represents content that would not usually be changed or customized. We are trying to send a consistent message to all schools about our enrolment process, tuition deadlines, form instructions, and expectations of parents and students. For the most part, it is recommended that black text is left ‘as is’.


RED TEXT

Any text in Red enclosed by square brackets ([LIKE THIS]), represents text that should be replaced with local dates, names, or instructions etc that pertain specifically to your school.


For example, the template text may read something like this:

“Student’s should expect to receive a notification from the committee no later than [INSERT DUE DATE HERE].”


But once the template has been updated to reflect local needs it might read something like this instead:

“Student’s should expect to receive a notification from the committee no later than 15 October 2019.”


This text is highlighted in Red and enclosed in square brackets to make it easy for you to find in the template. When preparing the template for distribution however, it is recommended that you remove the square brackets and replace the text and colour appropriately.


GREEN TEXT

Any text in a Green colour represents content that schools should adapt specifically to their local needs. In many cases, schools may opt to delete all green text completely – if they consider it irrelevant. Other schools may opt to alter the Green text significantly to accommodate local needs. Whatever the case, use wisdom in deciding whether the green text should be modified and updated, or deleted from the document completely.


For example, the template text may read something like this:

“New applicant’s desiring to attend [INSERT SCHOOL NAME HERE] for the first time must also provide:

  • a Clearance Letter from their previous school
  • an Academic Transcript or Report Card from their previous school
  • a copy of their Birth Certificate
  • a Statement of Interest, expressing their desire to attend the Church School (see below)
  • a Passport Photo
  • a Character Reference from a previous Teacher or Administrator”


But once the template has been updated to reflect local needs it might read something like this instead:

“New applicant’s desiring to attend Church College Vaiola for the first time must provide:

  • an Academic Transcript or Report Card from their previous school
  • a copy of their Birth Certificate
  • a Passport Photo
  • a Character Reference from a previous Teacher or Administrator”


For convenience, this text is highlighted in Green to make it easy to identify in the template. When preparing the template for distribution however, it is recommended that you update the text and replace the colour and formatting appropriately as shown in the example above.



HOW DO I INSERT DUE DATES INTO POWERSCHOOL FORMS?

If you look closely at the enrolment forms that are printed directly from PowerSchool, you will notice that there are certain areas on the forms that display a “Due Date”. If a “Due Date” has not been specified in PowerSchool for a particular form, then you will get an ‘error’ on the form that looks like this:


In order to fix this problem, you need to ensure that “Due Dates” have been specified in PowerSchool for each of the different forms. You can update the “Due Dates” for each form by navigating to the “Schools Info” page in PowerSchool and selecting your school. Click here to go directly to the “Schools Info” page now:


Once you have selected your school and have been directed to the “Edit School” page, scroll down towards the end of the form and look for the section titled: “School Enrolment Information”. Next, select “Due Dates” for each of the forms listed and then click Submit to save your changes:



WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE “CHECKLIST” LOCATED AT THE TOP OF SOME OF THE FORMS?

A checklist appears at the top of some of the enrolment forms and resources. This checklist is provided to help support school offices and office assistants to track and manage enrolment information for individual students more effectively.


In addition to the checklists provided on these paper forms, a digital resource called the “Enrolment Checklist” is available in PowerSchool to help support staff involved in collecting and managing student enrolment information. An article outlining the details of how to best use these checklist resources will be released in the near future.



HOW DO I VIEW AND PRINT RETURNING STUDENT ENROLMENT PACKS AND FORMS?

1. From the Start Page, search for and select a group of students.


NOTE: It is NOT recommended that large numbers of student packs are printed at the same time. A better alternative is to print the Forms or Packs in “batches” – preferably 50 or less students at once. Large batches of forms can be printed, but they can also take a significant amount of time to load and run. It is preferable therefore to work with “smaller” groups of students at a time. It is also highly recommended that a ‘test’ print is run with just a few students selected, before larger “batches” of printing is conducted.


2. With the students selected (in the Current Student Selection), click System Reports.


3. Click on the tab named: SQL Form Letters.


4. There are various options for printing Enrolment Forms and/or Enrolment Packs.

For example, the Enrolment Packs category contains forms bundled together in “packs”.

Alternatively, the Enrolment Forms category contains print options for each of the “individual” enrolment forms.

In this example we will attempt to print a BASIC Returning Student Pack which is found in the “Enrolment Packs” category. click on the phrase “Enrolment Packs” to expand the category and view the print options found within that category.


5. Next select the Enrolment Resource that you would like to print. In this example we will choose the English version of the BASIC Returning Student Pack.


6. On the Run sqlFormLetter page:

a) Ensure that the Student Selection is set to the selected group of students

b) Leave Maximum Students Per Page blank

c) Leave the Sort Order set to Last Name

d) Click Submit


7. A new tab will open in your browser and the student data will be displayed. To view or print the data in a more standard format, click one of the “Print These Forms” buttons.


NOTE: The print instructions provided in this article are for the Chrome Browser only. Please use the Chrome Browser for best results. Also, to save on printing costs, it is recommended that double-sided print options are used for printing Enrolment Forms and Packs.


8. A Print Preview page will be displayed. Be sure to adjust the print settings as per your desired output.

a) Select the correct print Destination

b) Leave Copies set to 1

c) Ensure the Layout is set to Portrait

d) Colour should be changed to Black and White


9. Next, expand the “More Settings” menu to optimize your print further:

a) Paper Size should be set to A4

b) Pages per sheet should be set to 1

c) Margins should be set to Minimum

d) Quality can be left at the default setting

e) Scale should be set to Default

f) If a Two-sided option is available it should be selected

g) Headers and Footers should be unchecked

h) Background graphics should be selected


10. When ready, click Print to send the job to the printer.


NOTE: Please remember to “test” your print job first by selecting just one or two students to conduct a “test” print. Once you are satisfied with the print results, then select a larger group of students.