Getting started: your first week on CloudSchool

Welcome to CloudSchool. This article is a short tour of where things live, so your first week is spent finding your feet quickly rather than hunting for buttons.

1. Your Overview page

When you sign in, you land on Overview. It greets you by name and shows you the pulse of your school right now — how many students and staff are in today, and (for admins) how much has been collected so far. From here you can jump straight into common tasks using the quick buttons: Mark attendance, Collect fees, Admit student, Enter marks, and Post notice.

Below that sits Needs attention — a live list of things that want your action, such as unmarked registers or overdue dues. If everything is in order, it simply says "Nothing needs you right now."

Further down you will see cards such as Attendance trend, Exam performance, Enrollment by class, and This week (upcoming events and holidays). Admins also see Billed vs collected, Fee collection, Recent payments, and a Staff & HR today summary; teachers see Present today, Registers marked, and Upcoming exams instead.

2. The sidebar — where everything lives

The menu on the left is organised into groups:

• General — your Overview page.
• Academics — Students, Admissions & Marketing, Classes & Batches, Attendance, Examinations, Reports & Analytics, Timetable, Library, Alumni, and more.
• Finance — Fees & Billing, Accounts, Cheque Printing (visible to admins).
• Organisation — Calendar, Meetings, Announcements, HR & Staff, Transport, Users, Support, and other back-office tools.

You will only see the groups and items your role and your school have switched on, so your menu may look shorter than a colleague's — that is expected, not a fault.

3. Finding a student fast

At the top of every page is a search box (on wider screens) that lets you type a name and jump straight to that student's record — useful when a parent calls asking about their child.

4. The topbar, always available

Along the top of the screen you will always find:

1. A Megaphone icon that takes you to Announcements.
2. A notification bell that shows you unread alerts.
3. Your name and photo, which opens Account security where you can change your password.
4. A sign out button on the far right when you are done for the day.

5. Where the main work happens

• Students — admit new students, search and edit records, promote or transfer at year end.
• Fees & Billing — set up fee categories, generate vouchers, collect payments, and print challans.
• Attendance — mark the daily register for your class.
• Examinations — create exams, build date sheets, enter marks.
• Reports & Analytics — print report cards and see school-wide numbers.

Each of these has its own guide here in Help & guides — look for them by name, or use the search box at the top. You can also click the ? button in the top bar from any page to see the guides for the page you are on.

6. Getting help when you're stuck

If something isn't working, or you simply don't know how to do something, go to Support in the sidebar (under Organisation). Raising a ticket there gets your question in front of the right person, and you can track replies right inside CloudSchool. See the article "Raise a support ticket" for the full walkthrough.

Take your time exploring — nothing in CloudSchool is destroyed by clicking around, and every screen that changes real data asks you to confirm first.