First-time school setup: the admin checklist

Step 1, School profile and branding

1. Log in to School Vault with your admin credentials. You will land on the Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings → School Information.
3. Fill in your school's official name, address, phone number, and email address. These appear on reports and parent-facing documents.
4. Upload your school logo. The logo appears in the top navigation bar and on PDFs (report cards, Daily Journey, Learning Journal). Recommended size: 512 × 512 px, transparent background.
5. Set your school's primary colour. This tints buttons, headings, and accents across the platform.
6. Click Save School Profile.

Step 2, Terminology mode

1. Go to Settings → Terminology.
2. Select the mode that matches your school: Early Years (creche, playgroup, nursery), Primary (Years 1–6, JSS), or International (EYFS, Cambridge terminology).
3. Save the setting. Labels across the platform will update immediately.

Step 3, Create class sections

1. Go to Classes from the sidebar.
2. Click Add Section.
3. Enter the section name (e.g. "Nursery 1A"), the class level (e.g. Nursery 1), the room or location, and the maximum capacity.
4. Repeat for every class section you will run this term.

Step 4, Install a curriculum

1. Go to Curriculum Centre → Library.
2. Browse the available frameworks and click Install next to the one(s) you need.
3. For early-years schools in Nigeria: install NERDC or British-Nigerian Hybrid. For UK curriculum: install EYFS.
4. Once installed, assign the curriculum to each class section (see article 2.4).

Step 5, Configure attendance settings

1. Go to Settings → Attendance Statuses.
2. Set your school's official start time and late-arrival threshold (the number of minutes after which a student is marked late rather than present).
3. Review the default attendance statuses (Present, Absent, Late) and add any custom statuses your school uses (see article 3.3 for details).
4. Enable QR code attendance if you plan to use it. QR codes can be generated after students are enrolled.

Step 6, Set up fee templates (if applicable)

1. Go to Settings → Fee Templates.
2. Create a template for each class level that has a distinct fee structure.
3. Add line items: tuition fee, development levy, feeding fee, bus fee, whatever applies.
4. You will bulk-allocate these to students after enrollment (step 9).

Step 7, Configure grade bands (primary schools)

If you run a primary school, set your grade bands before teachers enter any marks.

1. Go to Settings → Subject Management → Grade Bands tab.
2. Set the minimum and maximum score for each grade letter (A1 through F9).
3. Ensure the ranges are contiguous and cover 0–100.
4. Save. These bands apply to all future mark entry and report cards.

Step 8, Invite staff and assign roles

1. Go to Staff from the sidebar and click Add Staff.
2. Enter each staff member's name, email address, and assign their role.
3. Staff receive an email invitation with a link to set their password.
4. Once they have accepted, assign teachers to their class sections via Teacher Assignments from the sidebar.

See article 1.3 for the full staff invitation guide and article 1.4 for a complete breakdown of all 18 roles.

Step 9, Enrol students

1. Go to Students from the sidebar and click Add Student for individual students, or Bulk Upload to upload a spreadsheet of all your students.
2. Assign each student to their class section during enrolment.
3. Add the primary parent or guardian and their contact details.

Step 10, Activate your subscription

1. Go to Settings → Subscription.
2. Review the number of enrolled students, your subscription is billed at ₦7,500 per student per term.
3. Complete payment to unlock all features for the term.

Setup checklist summary

• ☐ School profile and branding
• ☐ Terminology mode set
• ☐ Class sections created
• ☐ Curriculum installed and assigned
• ☐ Attendance settings configured
• ☐ Fee templates created
• ☐ Grade bands configured (primary)
• ☐ Staff invited and roles assigned
• ☐ Students enrolled
• ☐ Subscription activated

Common mistakes

• Enrolling students before creating class sections, you cannot assign a student to a class that does not exist yet.
• Skipping the terminology mode step, then noticing that labels feel wrong throughout the platform.
• Installing a curriculum but not assigning it to any class section, teachers will not see assessment indicators until the curriculum is assigned.
• Setting grade bands after teachers have already entered marks, existing scores will re-calculate automatically, but review them to be sure.
• Inviting staff with the wrong role, a teacher with the Admin role has full access to all student records, not just their own class. See article 1.4 before assigning roles.