What Messages is for
The Messages module is School Vault's internal communication channel. It is designed for written messages that need a record — reminders to individual parents, announcements to a class group, or communication between staff. It works alongside SMS and WhatsApp notifications (which are triggered automatically by system events) rather than replacing them.
Composing a new message
- Go to Messages from the main sidebar. The Compose tab opens by default.
- In the Recipients field, open the dropdown and select one or more recipients. You can add parents, teachers, or other staff members.
- Enter a Subject — a short description of the message topic.
- Type your Message in the body field.
- Click Send Message.
The recipient receives an in-app notification that a new message is waiting. If the recipient is a parent, the message appears in their parent portal inbox.
Message compose form showing Recipients search field, Subject field, Message body textarea, and a Send button
Use subject lines that stand alone. Recipients often preview the subject line before opening. "Important update" tells them nothing; "Fee payment reminder — Nursery 1 — Term 2 deadline is Friday" tells them everything they need to decide whether to open it immediately.
Reading conversations
- Go to Messages from the main sidebar.
- The Conversations view shows a list of all message threads you are part of, sorted by most recent activity.
- Each thread shows the subject, the most recent sender, and the timestamp of the last message.
- Click a conversation to open the full thread and read all messages in chronological order.
Replying to a message
- Open the conversation.
- Type your reply in the message field at the bottom of the thread.
- Click Send. The reply is added to the thread and the other participants are notified.
Messages in School Vault are retained and form a permanent, searchable record of communication. This is useful if a parent later disputes what was agreed — the thread shows exactly what was written and when. For this reason, keep messages professional and factual even for routine communications.
When to use Messages vs other channels
| Situation | Recommended channel |
|---|---|
| Term fee reminder to one parent | Messages (written record) |
| Urgent pickup change today | SMS or WhatsApp (immediate delivery) |
| School closure announcement to all parents | Bulk SMS + Messages |
| Sharing a document or file with a parent | Messages with attachment, or Library module |
| Daily report to parents | Daily Reports module (auto-notifies parents) |