SZ Insider - 2025 Edition 2
From the CEO's Keyboard
G’day Schoolzine Community!
Welcome to the second edition of the SZ Insider for 2025!
Yes—we’re running a little behind on this one. But honestly, it’s a credit to all of you. While we’ve been busy juggling updates, improvements, and the odd tropical cyclone, you’ve been smashing out your newsletters consistently and keeping your communities informed like absolute pros. You continue to inspire us every day.
Kia Ora and Welcome to School-Links Schools
I'm excited to share some big news—Schoolzine has acquired School-Links, a long-time provider of school communication services based in New Zealand.
We’ve worked closely with the School-Links team for years. They’ve built a strong reputation for helping schools get important messages out quickly and reliably via text messaging and email, especially during emergencies. With their founder, Andrew Balfour stepping away, it was really important to both teams that their schools were left in safe hands. We’re honoured to carry that legacy forward and can’t wait to support even more schools across the ditch.
It also means more tools, better value, and expanded support across both Australia and New Zealand—all under one roof.
Going Remote… All the Way to Tassie!
As many of you know, Schoolzine is a big believer in remote and flexible work. And I’m putting that into practice myself—my family and I are relocating from Brisbane to Tasmania! It’s a big move (and yes, we’ve packed our winter woollies!), but I’m really looking forward to this next chapter. If you’re in Tassie and would like to catch up in person, I’d love to hear from you.
What’s Next?
We’ve got more updates, improvements, and resources coming your way in the next few months. From streamlining the Help Centre experience to improving onboarding and adding new features to existing tools, we’re working hard to make sure Schoolzine continues to grow with you.
As always, thank you for your ongoing trust and support. You’re the reason we do what we do, and we’re so proud to be part of your school’s communication journey.
Cheers,
Dan Dawson - CEO/CTO Schoolzine
What's New At Schoolzine?
We’ve been busy behind the scenes making a few changes based on feedback from schools just like yours. These two updates are all about saving you time, reducing stress, and giving you more control (without adding more to your plate).
Oops? No worries—Recycle Bin is here!
We've all been there. You delete a contact, an event or even a whole newsletter... Then immediately realise you didn't mean to do that! Now, instead of needing to call for help, you can just jump into your Recycle Bin and bring it back yourself!
You'll see things that have been deleted in your account (by you, or someone else) for the last 30 days, and you can restore one item - or everything at once - with just a click. It's simple, and it'll save a lot of headaches.
This is a new feature though, so if you have any feedback let us know! We want to make sure we're focusing on the right things to make your life easier and works the way it should.
Managed Services: Extra help when you need it
We know a lot of schools and organisations are being asked to "do more with less". You're expected to keep your website fresh, know what's working, and report on things like SEO, open rates and page traffic - even if no one's quite explained what that actually means!
Oh, and don't forget you're also managing the absentee line, the sick bay, prepping your newsletter and doing everything else that comes with the hectic day-to-day of running an entire school! We SEE YOU.
We've had so many chats with staff in this exact situation, and they often go something like this:
"My boss wants know what pages on our website get the most traffic and asked me to get us to number 1 on Google search...but I have no idea what that means".
Which is exactly why we've officially introduced Managed Services.
It's for schools and organisations that want to improve how they show up online - but don't have the time (or brain space) to learn all the behind-the-scenes stuff. Whether it's refreshing your website text with our copy writing service, making design updates, fixing SEO issues, or helping explain the numbers to leadership - our team can jump in and take care of it.
Give us a shout if these are the kind of things that are being added to your plate and you need a hand.
Top Tips & Tricks
Making the Most of Schoolzine’s Booking System
Session Keeper
Coordinating parent/teacher interviews can be a bit of a juggling act—but if your school is using Schoolzine’s booking system Session Keeper (yep, the one built right into the platform), you’ve already got the tools to make it a whole lot easier.
Whether you’re setting up bookings for the first time or just want to avoid a few common hiccups, here are our favourite tips to help you get the most out of the system:
Best for One-on-One Meetings
Session Keeper works best when you're organising in-person, individual meetings, like standard parent/teacher interviews. It's not designed for group info nights or student-led conferences, so if that's what you're planning, check with our Customer Success team for alternatives.
Let Teachers Control Their Availability
There's a handy 'availability management' tickbox in the settings that lets teachers choose exactly when they're available for bookings. It puts the control in their hands and saves you from playing go-between!
Bonus tip: Encourage teachers to build in breaks so they’re not going back-to-back all day.
Future them will thank you!
Top Tips
Avoid Reusing Old Sessions
We get it - it seems quicker to just update an old session with new dates. But in reality, that can cause booking overlaps and confusion, especially if there has been a change in staff. Always create a fresh session for each round of interviews to keep everything clean and accurate.
Don't Forget to Make It Visible
One small tickbox can make all the difference - make sure your 'Session Status' is marked as Active. Otherwise, you might find yourself fielding a flood of “why can’t I book?” messages.
Number 1 Tip? Don't Share the Wrong Link (Seriously)
It's happened before - you're so used to grabbing the newsletter URL from the browser address bar (you probably do it every week without thinking), that when it comes time to share your Session Keeper link, you do the same thing on autopilot.
Totally understandable… but unfortunately, that browser link doesn’t go to the parent booking page. It actually leads to your Schoolzine admin login, which means your phone is about to start ringing with confused parents asking why they can’t book an interview.
Instead, make sure you copy the link from next to the green ‘Bookings Open’ box in your Session Keeper dashboard. That’s the one that leads straight to the public booking form.
(We’ve dropped a quick gif below to show you exactly where to find it!)
Schoolzine on Socials
Yes… we know this edition is fashionably late. But we've been a bit busy showing our faces on the socials lately—don't pretend you haven’t seen us!
If you’ve been online lately, there’s a good chance you’ve caught a glimpse of our CEO, Dan, dropping video gems over on the Learn with Schoolzine YouTube channel. From SEO strategies for schools to the eternal question: “Is that expensive drone footage on your homepage really doing anything for enrolments?”, Dan’s been unpacking some seriously valuable insights in bite-sized, easy-to-digest episodes.
Meanwhile, Dion has been making waves on LinkedIn, sharing weekly tips drawn from his decades in the school comms game. The catch? He’s doing them all in one take. No reshoots. No filter. Just raw, useful advice with a side of sass. We’ve affectionately dubbed them Dion’s One Take Wonders. Keep an eye on the Schoolzine socials—we’re sharing them too so you won’t miss a beat.
And if you’re more of a podcast person, both Dan and Dion have recently popped up on the Schoolyard Cast podcast with host Alex Brodie. They've been diving into everything from the crucial role of strong Customer Success teams to support very busy schools, to how AI is opening up new doors for equality and inclusion—and how Schoolzine is proudly leading the charge.
Give Dan and Dion’s episodes a watch/listen for some absolute cracker insights—and if you've got something worth sharing with the education world, hit up Alex Brodie and join him on Schoolyard Cast.
Team Highlight: Meet Braydon
This edition of SZ Insider, we’re pumped to introduce you to Braydon! While he might be flying under the radar, Braydon’s one of the behind-the-scenes heroes making sure your custom websites look schmick and your sponsored newsletters run like a dream.
Role: Braydon is our go-to Service Delivery Specialist, managing custom website builds and coordinating advertising campaigns from external businesses featured in Schoolzine newsletters. Whether it’s a slick school website or making sure our sponsors get the spotlight, Braydon’s the calm, collected force making it happen.
Fun Fact: Speaking of calm – don’t let his zen exterior fool you. Braydon’s a travel junkie and is heading off to Japan again next week! From cherry blossoms to convenience store snacks, Braydon can probably give you a better itinerary than TripAdvisor.
Favourite Work Snack: An Aussie classic – cheese and tomato toasted sandwich. Simple. Reliable. Delicious. Just like Braydon’s work ethic.
Hidden Talent: You might not guess it from his desk setup, but this guy can pull off a half backflip. We haven't witnessed this hidden talent mid Teams meeting yet … but we wouldn’t put it past him.
Favourite Things: Braydon is a massive Harry Potter fan – books, movies, trivia, you name it. And while he says he goes to Japan “too much,” we reckon there's no such thing when you're that passionate about a place.
What They Love About Schoolzine? Braydon says, “I appreciate the flexibility of working remotely, allowing me to effectively manage my time and complete tasks efficiently – and the team is pretty awesome.” And we couldn’t agree more.
Braydon Living His Best Life!
That's a Wrap on Term 1!
As we wrap up this edition of the Schoolzine Insider, we want to take a moment to acknowledge just how big Term 1 has been. From NAPLAN to swimming carnivals and everything in between, it’s been a full-on start to the year—and through it all, you’ve kept your school communities informed, supported, and connected.
We know how much time, energy, and care goes into making a school tick, especially in Term 1. You’ve shown up, rolled with the chaos, and kept things moving—and we’re constantly inspired by the work you do.
With Easter just around the corner, we hope you get a chance to catch your breath and enjoy some well-earned rest (and a bit of chocolate too!). You’ve earned it.
As always, we’re here to support you—whether it’s with tools, tips, or just a friendly voice when you need one. Stay connected with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram over the break, and if there’s anything you’d love to see in future editions, just say the word.
From all of us at Schoolzine, thank you. Have a safe and happy holiday—and we promise we’ll try to be on time for the next edition (famous last words, right?).
