The AOneSchools platform allows learning centres to control how communication happens between parents (guardians) and teachers.

By default, parents can always start a chat with Admins, but they cannot start a personal chat with Teachers unless the school allows it. This setting helps schools manage communication boundaries and follow their preferred communication policy.

Who Can Change This Setting

Only users with the following roles can access this configuration:

If a Teacher tries to access the Settings menu, the system will display an error because the feature is only available for Admin or Superadmin users.

Default Behavior

When a school is first created or when this feature is introduced:

• The setting “Enable parent to initiate personal message with Teacher” is turned OFF by default.

It means:

• Parents can message Admins

• Parents cannot start a new personal chat with Teachers

However, parents and teachers can still reply within existing conversations if those chats already exist.

How to Allow Parents to Start a Chat with Teachers

Follow these steps in the AOneSchools Web App:

1. Log in to the AOne Schools Web App as Admin or Superadmin.

2. Click the Profile icon in the top-right corner of the page.

3. Select Settings.

4. Open the Other Settings tab on the School Settings page.

5. Find the option: “Enable parent to initiate personal message with Teacher”.

6. Tick the checkbox to allow parents to start chats with teachers.

7. Click “Save” to apply the change.

Once saved, the new setting will apply to the school.

What Happens When the Setting Is Enabled

When the checkbox is turned ON:

• Parents can start a new personal message with teachers from the mobile app.

• Teachers will appear in the recipient list when parents create a new chat.

This allows parents to directly contact teachers for questions or updates.

What Happens When the Setting Is Disabled

When the checkbox is turned OFF:

• Parents cannot start a new personal chat with teachers.

• Teachers will not appear as selectable recipients when parents create a new message.

However:

• Existing parent–teacher conversations will not be deleted.

• Parents and teachers can continue replying in existing chats.

Important Things to Know

• This setting applies to the whole school
  The configuration is applied at the school level, meaning it affects all parents in the same learning centre.
  
  

• It only affects Guardians
  The setting only affects users logged in as Guardians in the mobile app. It does not affect teachers, who can still communicate according to their normal permissions.
  
  

• Remember to save your changes
  Any changes to the checkbox will not take effect until you click “Save.” If you change the checkbox but leave the page without saving, the setting will remain unchanged.