By Anna Toma, Rise SA Team
In last week's Weekly Update, there was an interview with Nastasha Fourie, Bursar at Koos Sadie PS, who finished the training in our system in a record time of 3.5 hours and submitted her 043-Form back in June. If you have missed a Weekly Update#19, you will find it here.
Mr E. Wyngaard, Principal and Mr N. Saayman, Educator, at Firgrove Primary completed the training in RSM on Wed, Aug 26. Below is the full text of the interview with Firgrove Primary's Principal:
Rise: "From the Principal's perspective, how do you find the Rise system?"
Mr Wyngaard: "The system overall is very impressive because it allows a school to do Financial and General Admin in line with the requirements of the WCED. Many other mainstream accounting packages do not cater for the needs of public schools so directly. The fact that your developers constantly improve functionality is a big plus."
Rise: "How did you find the training with our Accountant? Was it easy to follow and understand?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Yes, the training was easy to follow and understand. The fact that Natassja recorded the training meetings and sent it afterwards helps a lot. The video support on the YouTube channel is also an excellent resource."
Rise: "Did everything make sense to you?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Most of the time, I did. Where things were unclear, Natassja was open to answer questions via email and at the beginning of the next lesson."
Rise: "In terms of RSM school functionality, how did you find it? Is it useful for schools?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Yes. The different modules make it very useful tools. We are very keen on using the inventory module as soon as we are completely comfortable with the finance part of the system."
Rise: "What did you like the most?"
Mr Wyngaard: "The most significant aspect for me is the Finance Module. It eliminates a lot of duplication and combined with the billing functionality on the Communicator App it provides for almost real time updates to parents."
Rise: "What did you find useful in RSM for the day-to-day running of your School?"
Mr Wyngaard: "The Finance and Communicator modules. I think the discipline module will also make a significant difference when schools return to normal".
Rise: "Do you maybe have any suggestions for improvements?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Bulk assignment of School Fee exemptions".
Rise: "What do you think of the Rise Communicator?"
Mr Wyngaard: "We are not using the Communicator yet and are in the process of getting parents on board. I would like to suggest that you make it easier for parents to change information on their profiles. The other challenge is that the communicator only makes provision for learners with SA ID numbers to be linked. Please amend the system to accept the ID's of foreign learners too."
Rise: "Has it improved your School's communication with parents?"
Mr Wyngaard: "I foresee a major improvement in communication and cost saving once we start using it. I suggested to Natassja that activating or deactivating the chat facility be made more flexible for teachers or that a school could put a time limit on it, e.g. 15:00 to 19:00 on weekdays. This will allow for good communication between parents and teachers at appropriate times."
Rise: "How has your overall experience been with support, training & Rise SA Team?"
Mr Wyngaard: "It is very good and the communication via the principal's report provides a good framework within one can monitor your progress."
Rise: "You have mentioned that now since you and one of your Educators have been trained in the system, you are planning to train your Bursar as well. Please elaborate."
Mr Wyngaard: "We started the on boarding a bit late in the year and she was more comfortable keeping up to date with our old systems while we get the Rise system populated with past transactions. We worked out a timeframe within which she will familiarise herself with the rise system, so that the two systems are in sync by the end of September. We will then terminate the old system with the drafting of the 2021 budget and should be working exclusively on RSM from there."
If you would like to see Rise School Management in action, feel free to attend our biweekly School Forums.
Just pop an email at info@risebiz.co.za and we will email you a link.
In last week's Weekly Update, there was an interview with Nastasha Fourie, Bursar at Koos Sadie PS, who finished the training in our system in a record time of 3.5 hours and submitted her 043-Form back in June. If you have missed a Weekly Update#19, you will find it here.
Mr E. Wyngaard, Principal and Mr N. Saayman, Educator, at Firgrove Primary completed the training in RSM on Wed, Aug 26. Below is the full text of the interview with Firgrove Primary's Principal:
Rise: "From the Principal's perspective, how do you find the Rise system?"
Mr Wyngaard: "The system overall is very impressive because it allows a school to do Financial and General Admin in line with the requirements of the WCED. Many other mainstream accounting packages do not cater for the needs of public schools so directly. The fact that your developers constantly improve functionality is a big plus."
Rise: "How did you find the training with our Accountant? Was it easy to follow and understand?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Yes, the training was easy to follow and understand. The fact that Natassja recorded the training meetings and sent it afterwards helps a lot. The video support on the YouTube channel is also an excellent resource."
Rise: "Did everything make sense to you?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Most of the time, I did. Where things were unclear, Natassja was open to answer questions via email and at the beginning of the next lesson."
Rise: "In terms of RSM school functionality, how did you find it? Is it useful for schools?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Yes. The different modules make it very useful tools. We are very keen on using the inventory module as soon as we are completely comfortable with the finance part of the system."
Rise: "What did you like the most?"
Mr Wyngaard: "The most significant aspect for me is the Finance Module. It eliminates a lot of duplication and combined with the billing functionality on the Communicator App it provides for almost real time updates to parents."
Rise: "What did you find useful in RSM for the day-to-day running of your School?"
Mr Wyngaard: "The Finance and Communicator modules. I think the discipline module will also make a significant difference when schools return to normal".
Rise: "Do you maybe have any suggestions for improvements?"
Mr Wyngaard: "Bulk assignment of School Fee exemptions".
Rise: "What do you think of the Rise Communicator?"
Mr Wyngaard: "We are not using the Communicator yet and are in the process of getting parents on board. I would like to suggest that you make it easier for parents to change information on their profiles. The other challenge is that the communicator only makes provision for learners with SA ID numbers to be linked. Please amend the system to accept the ID's of foreign learners too."
Rise: "Has it improved your School's communication with parents?"
Mr Wyngaard: "I foresee a major improvement in communication and cost saving once we start using it. I suggested to Natassja that activating or deactivating the chat facility be made more flexible for teachers or that a school could put a time limit on it, e.g. 15:00 to 19:00 on weekdays. This will allow for good communication between parents and teachers at appropriate times."
Rise: "How has your overall experience been with support, training & Rise SA Team?"
Mr Wyngaard: "It is very good and the communication via the principal's report provides a good framework within one can monitor your progress."
Rise: "You have mentioned that now since you and one of your Educators have been trained in the system, you are planning to train your Bursar as well. Please elaborate."
Mr Wyngaard: "We started the on boarding a bit late in the year and she was more comfortable keeping up to date with our old systems while we get the Rise system populated with past transactions. We worked out a timeframe within which she will familiarise herself with the rise system, so that the two systems are in sync by the end of September. We will then terminate the old system with the drafting of the 2021 budget and should be working exclusively on RSM from there."
If you would like to see Rise School Management in action, feel free to attend our biweekly School Forums.
Just pop an email at info@risebiz.co.za and we will email you a link.