School apps for Edinburgh, designed around Scottish education.

Every screen uses nursery, P1 to P7 and S1 to S6, with the broad general education and senior phase described as Scottish families know them. Reports and messages use Curriculum for Excellence levels rather than English key stages, so nothing reads as imported from elsewhere. Nursery families see the early level described in the same way their key worker explains it at pick-up.

Where a school wants it, staff record observations against the eight wellbeing indicators known as SHANARRI: safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included. Only named staff see these notes, and they feed the conversations a named person or guidance teacher has with families. Schools that prefer not to record SHANARRI notes in an app can switch the module off entirely.

Staff record a concern quickly and send it to the child protection coordinator, following the school's procedures under Scotland's national guidance. The app does not hold a separate safeguarding file; the note passes to the system the school or council already uses for recording. Staff are prompted to speak to the coordinator in person when a child is at immediate risk, rather than relying on the app.

For council schools, the City of Edinburgh Council controls how SEEMiS data can be shared. We design the app to work with the routes the council approves, such as scheduled exports, and leave writing back to SEEMiS to staff where direct access is not permitted. Independent schools with an open MIS interface can have live two-way sync instead.

Families at Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce and in Gaelic medium classes may want notices, forms and menus in Gaelic. We plan a bilingual interface from the first design, with Gaelic text written by fluent speakers the school trusts rather than generated automatically. Parents who are learning Gaelic can switch any screen to English with one tap.

Parents report absence and lateness with a reason, and the office confirms the mark using Scottish attendance codes. Patterns are visible to guidance staff, in line with the Scottish Government's attendance guidance, which puts the emphasis on early support for families. Families can also add a note for the class teacher, such as a medical appointment time.

Parent councils in Scottish schools organise events, fundraising and consultations. A dedicated area lets the parent council share minutes, run sign-ups and gather views, separate from school notices, with the head teacher deciding who can post. Volunteers recruited through the parent council can sign up for events, while the school checks any vetting they need under the PVG scheme.

Edinburgh's independent schools often combine day pupils with boarders whose families live elsewhere in Scotland or overseas. House notices, weekend sign-outs, guardian contacts and fee statements sit in the same app as everyday features, each visible only to the right families. Overseas families see deadlines with UK time clearly marked.

S4 to S6 pupils and their parents see the exam timetable, coursework deadlines and study leave dates. Qualifications Scotland has now taken over from the SQA, so the app's labels and links can follow the new body's wording without a code change. Study leave dates and revision sessions can be pushed to S4 to S6 pupils directly where the school allows pupil accounts.

Outdoor learning is a strong tradition in Scottish schools, from Arthur's Seat to residential trips in the Highlands. Consent forms carry the itinerary, transport, kit list and medical questions, and trip leaders see on their phone who has permission, who has allergies and who needs medication.