SZ Insider - 2025 Edition 5

From the CEO's Keyboard

Fashionably Late, But Worth the Wait

G’day Schoolzine Community,

It’s fair to say this edition of the Insider has taken the scenic route to your inbox. Term 4 crept up quickly, and between travel, new projects and a few backyard updates, time got away from us. Better late than never, right?

On the Road Again
In term 3, Adam from our Customer Success team and I travelled to Canberra for a series of marketing and communications workshops hosted by our friends at Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn. It was great to spend time with the CECG team and give some presentations to school staff about the way the digital landscape it changing with AI and hear firsthand how schools are putting Schoolzine to work in their communications strategies. 

I’ve also been making the most of being based in Tasmania by catching up with some of our local partners, including the Tasmanian Principals Association (TPA). There’s something really valuable about sitting down in person and hearing directly from schools about what’s working well and what could make life easier.

Data, Dashboards and What's Next
Anyone who knows me knows I love data. It’s been a big focus over the past few months as we continue building tools that give schools better insight into how their communities engage with their content. One of those tools is currently in development and will be rolled out in the coming months, so keep an eye on your Help Desk notifications for updates.

For a little sneak peek, check out the What’s New at Schoolzine article in this edition to see what’s coming.

Backyard Update
On the home front, I can officially say I’ve survived my first Tasmanian winter. The chickens have too, and they’ve finally started laying. After months of feeding and waiting, it’s nice to see a few eggs in the nesting boxes at last. ROI is still a way off, but definitely loving having fresh eggs for brekkie every morning! 

If term 3 was anything to go by, this term is going to be another full term and I’m looking forward to finishing the year strong alongside our schools and partners. We’ve got some exciting updates ahead, and I’m keen to share more in the next edition, hopefully a little earlier than this one!

Cheers, 

Dan Dawson - CEO/CTO Schoolzine

What's New At Schoolzine?

There’s always something happening behind the scenes at Schoolzine. We’re constantly working on new features, improving our systems, and making small changes based on the feedback you send through.

Want to stay in the loop when new features are released or if something's affecting the system?
Make sure you're signed up to receive Help Desk Notifications. You'll get short, helpful updates that keep you informed. 

Education Safe Security Upgrade
If you follow us on socials, you might have seen our recent posts about our Education Safe Security upgrade. It rolled out a few months ago and it's something we're really proud of.

This upgrade has strengthened the security and resilience of the entire Schoolzine platform, giving schools even greater protection for their data, websites and communication tools. It’s part of our ongoing commitment to keeping your school community safe online.

Education Safe Security is built into every Schoolzine product and focuses on protecting your information from the moment you log in to the moment your message reaches families. It combines enterprise-level safeguards, around-the-clock monitoring and child-safe protections, all designed for the needs of schools.

It’s one of those behind-the-scenes upgrades that you might not notice day to day, but it makes a huge difference to how your data is protected.

Newsletter Analytics in the Works 
One thing we get asked a lot is, "How do we know how many people are actually reading our newsletter?"

It's a great question. You spend time and energy putting together your newsletter to share updates, celebrate achievements and keep your community informed. Of course you want to know if people are actually reading it. (I get it - I think the same thing when I'm putting together the Insider!) 

If you’re sending your newsletter through Schoolzine’s communication channels, you can already see email open rates and click-throughs to your newsletter. But if you’re sharing your newsletter through another platform, those insights aren’t visible in your Schoolzine account.

That’s something we’re about to change.

Our team is currently developing a Newsletter Analytics Dashboard that will show you exactly how your community is engaging with your newsletters. You’ll be able to see:

• How many people have viewed your newsletter

• What links were clicked

• How long readers spent viewing it

• Which articles got the most attention

• What days and times your newsletters are most likely to be read

It’s currently in testing and we’re hoping to release it in the coming months.

We’re really excited about this one because it will give schools a much clearer picture of how families are connecting with their content. You’ll be able to see what’s working, try out new ideas and make your newsletters even more engaging for your community.

Make sure you’re signed up to Help Desk Notifications and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s live in your Control Centre so you can jump in and check it out.

Calendar Sync Just Got Smarter
You might have noticed a few tweaks to the Sync Calendar feature recently. While we were working behind the scenes to improve compatibility with newer devices, we took the opportunity to make the whole process a bit more user friendly too.

With so many different calendar apps and devices in use across families and staff, it made sense to give this feature a refresh. When you click Sync Calendar now, a pop-up will appear so you can choose which calendar app you’d like to connect with. Once selected, events will automatically flow through, helping everyone stay on top of what’s happening at school.

It’s a small upgrade that makes a big difference to how easily families and staff can stay organised and connected.

2025 Yearbooks: Limited Spots Left
It’s hard to believe the end of the school year is already just around the corner. For many schools, that means it’s yearbook season, and spots are filling up fast.

Our Yearbook service takes the stress out of creating your end-of-year keepsake. Whether your school wants something simple and classic or full of colour and celebration, our design team works with you to bring it all together beautifully.

If you’ve been thinking about creating a yearbook but haven’t started yet, now’s the time to lock in your spot. The earlier you get started, the easier it is to gather photos, stories and class pages before the end of year rush sets in.

If you need a hand with your yearbook, give us a shout.

From the Help Desk

Welcome to From the Help Desk. In each edition of the Insider, you’ll hear from a different member of our Customer Success Team, sharing tips, wins, and stories straight from the frontline.

We’ve got a group chat that’s equal parts chaos and gold. It’s where we brainstorm, ask each other for help, troubleshoot weird one-off issues, and cheer on the schools we support.

After seeing all the great stuff that comes out of those conversations, we had a bright idea. Each edition, someone from the team will write an article based on a real moment, question, or comment that popped up in the chat.

This edition Judii (with two i's) shares a story we all got a giggle out of and has changed our internal vocabulary for the better. (And yes, Judii really does have a pet cockatoo!)

Let's Make Ka-Ching a Thing
by Judii Cook

Every so often, the Help Desk gets a call that brightens the whole day. Recently, I was walking a school through the steps of clearing their cache. Simple enough, right?

Except then we got stuck on the real question: how on earth do you say it?

Is it caysh? Cash? Cashay? After a good laugh (and a lot of overthinking), we decided to throw the rulebook out and rename it completely. From now on, we are calling it ka-ching. It just feels more fun, and honestly, clearing it can be the quickest fix for those niggly little problems.

So let’s make “ka-ching” a thing. Because what sounds better: “Have you cleared your cache?” or “Give your ka-ching a refresh”? We know which one we would rather say.

What is the Ka-ching (Cache)?
Your browser keeps a little memory bank of images, files, and scripts from the websites you visit. This is called the cache and it is meant to help pages load faster the next time you visit them.

Most of the time, this is handy. But sometimes the cache gets cluttered or stuck holding onto an old version of a page. That is when you might see buttons not working, updates not showing, or layouts looking broken. A quick ka-ching clear-out wipes those stored files and lets your browser grab the newest version fresh from the source.

The Download with Dion

Your Newsletter's Secret Weapon:
The Article Library

Now that we’re on the home stretch of the school year, it’s the perfect time to remind you about one of my favourite features — the Article Library.

Every time you publish a newsletter, the articles you’ve created are automatically stored in your library. That means you can easily re-use them whenever you need to. No more rewriting the same reminders or scrolling through old editions to copy and paste.

It’s especially handy for those updates that come around a few times a year, like uniform guidelines, parent teacher interviews, or awareness days such as Day for Daniel or Harmony Week.

And with Term 4 kicking off, it’s also the perfect time to use it for a “Year That Was” special edition newsletter so you and your community can relive the great year you’ve had.

The Article Library helps you save time, stay consistent, and make the most of the great content you’ve already shared with your community.

Check out the video below to see how easy it is to drop in an article from your library and start using it in your next newsletter. 

Catch you next time,

Dion Guthrie - Head of Global Sales

Top Tips & Tricks

Keeping the right people connected and your data safe

We know schools are busy places. Staff come and go, people change roles, and sometimes they move to another school in the same network. Among all that change, it’s easy to forget one small but important task: making sure the right people have the right access to your Schoolzine account.

Why it matters
Your Schoolzine account holds access to your content, website, newsletters, and the ability to send emails, app notifications and text messages. That's a lot of responsibility and a lot of potential impact if the wrong person has access. 

People generally aren’t doing anything wrong on purpose, but if access isn’t controlled and updated, small mistakes can easily cause big issues.

A Cautionary Tale
Recently, a staff member moved to a new school but their Schoolzine login stayed connected to their old one. They logged in, saw their previous school's details and thought they were updating their own profile. Instead, they accidentally changed the school name, address and contact information for their old school. 

The school called and asked why all their school details were wrong! Our Customer Success legends worked out what had happened and sorted it all out before any harm was done. But it's a good reminder of how important it is to review who has access to your Schoolzine account.  

Add it to your checklist
When someone joins or leaves your school, make sure Schoolzine access is part of your onboarding and offboarding checklist. It's a simple step that helps keep your data safe, your details accurate, and your school community connected.

Why shared logins are a bad idea
It can be very tempting to use a single shared login for convenience, especially if several staff members help with your newsletter or website. But shared logins can create security risks and make it harder to track who made changes or sent communications.

Each user should have their own login. This keeps your account secure, protects your data and ensures everyone’s activity is recorded under the right person. If someone changes roles or leaves the school, you can easily remove or update their access without disrupting anyone else.

A quick note about access requests
We often hear from new staff saying, "I've just started at [School Name] and I'll be looking after our newsletters. Can you give me access?"

We completely understand, they’re excited to jump in. But to protect your school’s account, our team can’t add new admins without approval from an existing System Admin. This ensures the right people have the right level of access. This usually involves our Customer Success team having to call the school, find a staff member who is already a system admin, hope they're available to verify the new user and confirm what access is required. 

The easy way to manage users
The good news is that System Admins can add and remove new users directly within the platform. It's quick, secure and keeps everything up to date without having to wait for our team to verify the new staff member can have access. 
Here's how to check your current System Admins and update them when things change. 

Step 1. Go to Contacts (do not go to groups - see below to find out why)
Step 2. Click System Users 
Step 3. In the filter box that says All Groups, change this to System User - Admin

This will show you all the people who currently have Admin access to your Schoolzine account. If there is anyone in there that shouldn't be, you can update their access by selecting their contact and changing the group assigned to them.

As always, if you get stuck or just want to double check, give our Customer Success team a shout.  

But DO NOT Do This
Don't go into Groups and delete users that way. You will end up deleting the whole system admin group, which will remove everyone's access, including yours.

If you do accidentally do this, give us a call straight away and our Customer Success team will help you out.

Meet Our Mate - Alexander J Brodie

Greetings! My name is Alex and I am very much honoured to share a few words with you, not only about myself – but on how the Schoolzine Team have an incredible positive impact on streamlining the creation of accessible, inclusive and professional quality communications for the entire school communities that I’ve been a part of.

My association with Schoolzine began in previous roles that saw me assist in the planning, publicising and integration of Schoolzine platforms from not only the school side, but also from a Learning Management Software standpoint for several Catholic Diocese school networks. Either it be promoting a special Diocesan partnership deal for a new Schoolzine website/e-newsletter bundle to school communities, or acting on behalf of schools to simplify subscription planning through a Catholic Education Office – the Schoolzine Team were always there to not only support, but provide both ideas and solutions that always came paired with the now famous Schoolzine above and beyond brand of service. One of the easiest aspects of my past positions was knowing I could leave the team at Schoolzine a question and always have an answer waiting around the corner that would benefit not only one – but many schools.

I am proud of my affiliation with Schoolzine – both then and especially now. This year I founded ‘On-Screen Consulting,’ from which I strive to help people stand out in the online crowd with the creative, trusted, professional multimedia and communications skillset that has been supporting both people and education since 2005. From publications and graphic design, to performing concise digital footprint reviews and strategies along with the creation of branded dynamic digital environments, you are assured mindful scalable strategies are combined with engagement initiatives that produce successful identity driven results – all from the honest self-expression of your very own core values and journey.

It is my pleasure to further collaborate with the Schoolzine Team in the creation of the wholly unique Schoolzine Digital Environment, from which springboarded the production of recent Schoolzine videos and video shorts including the ‘Demo with Dion’ series ‘Tour of the Schoolzine eNewsletter Platform’ and ‘Tour of Schoolzine School Websites’ – helping share the Schoolzine story and mission via a platform that you can expect to see more content from, such as digital roundtable discussions with guests, exciting future announcements and more.

I invite you to reach out to me via email info@onscreenconsulting.com.au or message me on my LinkedIn page to organise a free online consultation and explore how I can help you build a brand or refresh an existing one. If you have time, I encourage you to please click through the images in the gallery for more information!

All the very best!

Alexander J. Brodie.

Scribbles With Stacey

Women in Leadership and Why It Matters

There's been so much happening since the last Insider, but the real highlight has to be the Women in Technology (WiT) Awards. You might have seen on our socials that I was a finalist in two categories this year, Excellence in Industry Leadership and Future Focused Business Achiever.

Some of the team and I made a night of it and celebrated together at the awards gala. It was actually the first time I had met Luke in person, and let’s just say he is much shorter than Teams had me believe. The night was full of laughter, connection and a lot of gratitude.

Even though I didn’t take home an award, being a finalist meant more than I could have imagined. It wasn’t really about the trophies or the titles, it was about what they represent, women leading in tech, in business and in education, and doing it in their own way.

For me, women in leadership isn’t about ticking a diversity box or trying to prove we deserve a seat at the table. It’s about creating workplaces where women can lead authentically, where they are supported to grow, and where their voices are heard without having to fit into someone else’s idea of what a leader looks like.

Standing in that room surrounded by so many incredible women reminded me that leadership doesn’t have one shape or style. Some leaders are bold and outspoken, others are calm and considered. What matters is that each of us brings something different, and that those differences make our teams, our workplaces and our communities stronger.

At Schoolzine, I see that every day. The leadership we celebrate here isn’t about titles, it’s about people who step up, support each other and make things better for schools, for families and for each other.

Being a WiT finalist gave me a moment to stop and reflect on how far we’ve come as a company, and how much I’ve grown personally in this role. It reminded me that leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating the space for others to shine while you keep learning too.

So while I didn’t walk away with an award, I walked away with something even better. Perspective, pride and a renewed sense of purpose. And as the awkward introvert I am, it was definitely uncomfortable having a table full of people cheering loudly when my headshot came up on the big screen.

That’s what leadership looks like to me. Lifting others while you grow, and pretending you’re completely fine with being the centre of attention for ten whole seconds.

That's a Wrap!

In our last edition we asked the age-old question: should you be able to eat tuna in the staff room?

The results are in! 18.7% said it’s fine as long as the window’s open, 31.25% said absolutely not, and a whopping 50% admitted they’re the ones eating the tuna. We’re not here to judge… but maybe keep the air freshener close by.

As Term 4 kicks off, we know everyone’s running on fumes and juggling a million things at once. It’s that time of year when classrooms get warmer, inboxes get fuller, and the countdown to the holidays starts to feel very real. The good news is the finish line is in sight, and you’ve got this.

Before the year gets away from you, now’s also the perfect time to start thinking about updates for 2026. If your website needs a refresh, new staff photos, updated calendars, or you just want a quick once-over before the new year, our Customer Success legends are here to help. Reach out any time through the Help Desk or book a Digital Toolkit Session to make sure everything’s ready to go.

And speaking of countdowns, this edition’s poll is all about the big one — the holidays!
When do you start counting down to the Christmas break? Have your say below!

We’ll be back with one more Insider before the year wraps up, and we promise it won’t take us quite as long to land in your inbox next time.

Good luck for the term ahead, and thanks for being part of the Schoolzine community.

From all of us at Schoolzine.

Asking the hard hitting questions!

When do you start counting down to the Christmas holidays?

As soon as Term 4 starts

Once report cards are done

After presentation night

I haven't stopped counting from last year

Vote

Thank you