Finding Settings
Go to Settings from the main sidebar. The Settings page is divided into a left-hand tab list and a content panel on the right. Click any tab to jump to that section. Settings changes take effect immediately unless the tab has an explicit Save button.
What each tab does
School Information
Your school's name, address, contact details, logo, and other identity fields. Changes here update the header, email footers, and PDF reports across the platform. Keep this section current — report cards and parent notifications pull from it directly.
User Management
View all staff accounts, their assigned role, and last login date. From here you can deactivate a staff member's account without deleting their historical data, or re-activate an account that was previously suspended. Inviting new staff is done from the Staff section of the sidebar, not from Settings.
Terminology
Switch the language the platform uses across all its labels. Three modes are available:
- Early Years — uses "child", "key person", "learning journey", "nap log". Best for creche and nursery-only schools.
- Primary — uses "student", "class teacher", "report card", "marks". Best for primary schools.
- International — uses neutral terms compatible with both UK and Nigerian schooling conventions. Best for multi-stage schools.
This setting does not change any data — only the words used in the interface. See article 1.7 for more detail.
Curriculum Framework
Review which curriculum frameworks are installed and their current status. This is a read-only summary; to install, clone, or archive frameworks, go to Curriculum Centre from the sidebar (see article 2.2).
Curriculum Engine
Advanced settings for how curriculum assessment behaves: default judgement scales, indicator visibility, whether teachers can override the assigned age band. Most schools should leave these at their defaults until they have a specific need to change them.
Subject Management
Add, edit, or reorder subjects for primary classes. You can also set default CA and exam weights here that apply to newly created subjects. Note that individual subject weights can still be overridden per class. See article 6.1 for the full subject setup guide.
Attendance Statuses
Add custom attendance statuses beyond Present and Absent (e.g. "Field Trip", "Sick Leave", "Authorised Absence", "Late — Medical"). Each status has a label, a colour badge, and a flag for whether it counts towards attendance percentage. See article 3.3 for the full walkthrough.
Departments
Group staff into departments (e.g. Early Years, Primary, Admin). Departments are used for filtering in staff reports and for scoping communications. They do not change access permissions — those are controlled by roles.
Login Activity
A log of recent staff login events: who logged in, from which IP address, and when. Use this to spot unexpected access or to investigate a security concern. The log is read-only and cannot be edited.
Fee Templates
Create reusable fee line items (Tuition, Feeding Levy, Bus Levy, etc.) that are applied to classes each term via the Fees module. Templates defined here appear as options when setting up term billing. See article 5.1 for the full fee setup guide.
Security Settings
Configure access-control requirements: whether ID verification is mandatory at pickup, photo verification, visitor registration, and which security events trigger parent notifications. These settings interact with the Security Management module (article 8.7).
Notifications
Control which events send SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app notifications to parents and staff. Toggle each notification type on or off. Some notification types (e.g. fee payment received) are always on and cannot be disabled. See article 4.6 for the full notification map.
Branding
Upload your school logo, set your primary colour, and configure the email header that appears on all outbound communications from School Vault. The logo must be a PNG or SVG under 2 MB. Brand colours are applied to PDFs, report cards, and the parent portal header.
System Preferences
Miscellaneous platform-wide preferences: date format (DD/MM/YYYY vs MM/DD/YYYY), time zone, default language, and whether the school uses 12-hour or 24-hour clock display. Most Nigerian schools use DD/MM/YYYY and WAT (UTC+1).
Academic Sessions
Create and manage academic sessions (school years) and the terms within each. This is separate from the Calendar module — Academic Sessions define the billing and subscription snapshot dates, while the Calendar manages scheduled events and holidays. See article 1.12 for the full Academic Sessions guide.
Financial Settings
Bursar-specific configuration: payment gateway defaults, invoice numbering format, receipt template, and late payment reminders. Most of these settings are also accessible from the Bursar Settings page. See article 5.4 for the Paystack integration guide.