A separate database per school
Every school runs separately, with its own files and accounts. A problem at one school does not affect another.
The platform
What happens on a school day is in it.
Below are the real screens of orbit.edu, with the demo school. No mock-ups: this is what it looks like for your students, teachers, parents and school office. The screens are shown in Dutch; everyone can switch to English or French.
Calendar and timetable
One calendar, right for everyone.
The school timetable is the basis. Every student sees their lessons, every teacher theirs, every parent their child's.
- A and B weeks, holidays and days off per school year
- Lesson topic and what to bring, per lesson
- Clashes in class, room or teacher are prevented
- Connects to Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple
Assignments and tests
What needs to be done, and by when?
Assignments, tests and exams sit next to the lesson of that subject. Students hand in files, teachers mark with grades and feedback.
- Overview of what is open, with overdue work at the top
- Hand in from a computer or phone, with multiple files
- Every upload checked for viruses
- Learning materials per subject, organised in folders
Attendance and absences
Attendance in ten seconds.
The screen opens at the lesson that is happening now. Mark absent or late, save, done. The school office sees it right away and excuses it afterwards.
- Previous and next lesson of the day with one click
- Students and parents report an absence themselves with the red button
- Whole day, morning or afternoon, single periods or late
- Teachers see "excused", not the reason
Substitutions
The school office's morning, at a glance.
Who is absent today, which lessons are affected and what happens to them? Per lesson you choose a substitute, a study hall, or cancel it.
- Free colleagues first, including who teaches the same subject
- A colleague who is teaching themselves cannot be chosen
- The change shows up in every calendar at once, linked ones too
- Substitution hours per teacher for management
Grades and report cards
Report cards without copy and paste.
Grades from assignments and tests count with their weight. Subject teachers and the form tutor write comments, the school office publishes.
- Exam share and weight per report period
- Hide grades for a while, e.g. during exams
- The school decides whether parents see grades
- Absences of the period appear on the report card
For management
Know what's going on, without asking around.
Absences of the school year per class, the students who are absent most often, and how many substitution hours each teacher did. Everything also as CSV for Excel.
- Manage users, classes, year groups and subjects
- Permissions per role: who may message whom, who sees grades
- A log per person and per date
- Daily backups of the data
On the phone
Made for a student's pocket.
Every screen adapts. On a phone you add orbit.edu to your home screen, and it opens like an app. Nothing to install from an app store.
- Dutch, English and French, chosen per person
- Light and dark theme
- Checked for accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA)
- Email notifications, bundled instead of ten separate ones
Per role
Who can do what?
Every permission check happens on the server, not just in the screens. What is marked "configurable" below, the administrator turns on or off.
| What | Student | Teacher | Parent | School office | Administrator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own calendar, assignments and messages | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| See grades | own | own classes | configurable | – | yes |
| Enter grades | – | own subjects | – | – | yes |
| View report card and absences | own | own classes | own children | everyone | everyone |
| Take attendance | – | own lessons | – | – | – |
| Report yourself absent | yes | yes | for the child | yes | yes |
| Record and excuse absences | – | – | – | yes | yes |
| Arrange substitutions | – | – | – | yes | yes |
| Publish report cards | – | – | – | yes | yes |
| Message a whole class | – | yes | – | yes | yes |
| Messages to classmates | configurable | – | – | – | – |
| Statistics and substitution hours | – | – | – | – | yes |
| Users, classes, school year and permissions | – | – | – | – | yes |
Privacy and security
What we do with your school's data.
Encrypted and well secured
HTTPS, strong passwords with checkmarks while choosing, two-step verification and lockout after too many attempts.
Uploads checked
Every file goes through a virus scan before it reaches anyone else.
No longer than needed
The school chooses how long each type of data is kept. Old data is cleaned up automatically.
Access and erasure
Export or permanently delete all of a person's data, with one button.
Show less where possible
Medical reasons for absences stay with the school office. Doctor's notes are not uploaded.
Rather click around yourself?
We show you the demo school, with your own questions and situations in mind.