Sentral
About this Guide
If your school is using Sentral for their database, this guide will help you get comfortable with the user interface and accessing the most common tasks.
Use the contents to the right to jump to a task.
Logging on
Accessing Sentral should be the first thing you do at the beginning of each school day. Look for the Sentral button on your Staff Portal. Depending on the school's configuration, you may be logged in automatically, or be required to enter your school username (the part of your email address before the @ symbol) and password.
Modules
Sentral is broken up into a number of modules. For example, there is an Attendance module for marking attendance, and a Timetables module for viewing staff, student, and room timetables. You can jump between modules by clicking on the menu icon - this is either a round button with the Sentral logo, or a 3x3 mosaic icon, depending on the version of Sentral in use. Either way, ite appears in the top left corner of every Sentral page.
Dashboard
When you first login to Sentral, you will be taken to the Dashboard, a page that brings relevant information from various parts of Sentral together. The dashboard is customisable and varies from school to school, and user to user, but below are some of the common functions you should look out for.
Sign in & out of the school grounds
Schools need an accurate record of who is on-site at any given moment in time. To assist with this, you are expected to 'sign in' and 'sign out' via Sentral whenever you enter and leave the school grounds. The button to do this is typically accessible from the left hand side of the Sentral dashboard.
Staff Notices and Daily Notices
You may see one or both of these options down the centre of the Sentral dashboard page. It is important to understand the distinction between these options.
Staff notices function similar to all staff emails, but accessed within Sentral. These are typically used for day to day/operational staff communications, usually in conjunction with the all staff mailing list.
Daily notices on the other hand, are intended for staff, students, and even parents. They may be accessed online, or read out during roll call. When creating a daily notice, you can specify the school years that the notice is relevant for, and one or more specific dates to keep the notice active.
Student Profiles Search
This search function is typically accessed from the right hand side of the dashboard. Simply type the first few letters of a student's first or surname to search for them and access their profile. Student profiles include family contact information, medical conditions, attendance overview, and other important information.
'My Dashboard' Menu
Clicking on the 'My Dashboard' menu at the top left corner of the page will allow you to access alerts and messages relevant to you, and customise your dashboard with additional widgets.
Accessing Timetables (Where is this person right now?)
Resource Booking
From the Timetables module, you can search for staff and student timetables, or even room and class timetables.
Click the menu icon, then look for Timetables under the Scheduling heading.
Now select Teachers, Students, Classes, or Rooms, and start typing the name to search for a timetable.
The current day and period is highlighted to easily identify what is happening right now.
From the Resource Booking module, you can request the use of common learning or meeting spaces, school vehicles, and other school resources.
See the video below for how to make a booking.