Managing Parent Queries About SchoolsBuddy: A Front Office FAQ and Response Guide
The questions front office staff hear most often about SchoolsBuddy - and the clear, confident answers that resolve them quickly.
SchoolsBuddy is the platform parents interact with most directly for activities, clubs, transport, and consent. That makes the front office the first port of call when something does not work the way a parent expects - which happens regularly, especially at the start of a new season or when a new family joins the school.
This guide is a reference for front office and administrative staff. It covers the queries that come in most often, what is actually happening in SchoolsBuddy when each problem occurs, and the response that resolves it fastest. Keep it open alongside SchoolsBuddy during busy periods.
Good to know: Many SchoolsBuddy parent queries have a simple answer that you can give from the front desk without needing to escalate. The ones that do need escalation are usually about account access issues affecting multiple families, payment problems, or activity configuration errors - these should go to whoever manages SchoolsBuddy at your school or to FariaSupport.
Login and Account Queries
"I cannot log in to SchoolsBuddy"
Most likely cause: The parent has forgotten their password, is using the wrong email address, or their account has not yet been activated.
What to do: Ask the parent which email address they used to register. Look up the account in SchoolsBuddy and confirm the email on file. If the account exists, send a password reset from the parent's profile. If no account exists under that email, check whether they registered under a different address or whether their account has not yet been created - new families sometimes try to log in before the school has sent their welcome email.
"I never received my welcome email"
Most likely cause: The email went to spam, was sent to the wrong address, or the account was not yet set up when the parent expected it.
What to do: Ask the parent to check their spam or junk folder first - SchoolsBuddy welcome emails are occasionally filtered, particularly by school email addresses with strict filters. If it is genuinely not there, verify the email address on file in SchoolsBuddy and resend the welcome email. If the address on file is wrong, correct it first, then resend.
"My child does not appear in my SchoolsBuddy account"
Most likely cause: The parent-student link was not set up correctly when the accounts were created, or the student was added after the parent account was established and the link was not made.
What to do: Open the parent's account in SchoolsBuddy and check which students are linked. If the child is missing, link them manually. If the child does not appear in SchoolsBuddy at all, check whether their student record has been created - new students need to be added to SchoolsBuddy before they can be linked to a parent account.
Activity and Registration Queries
"I cannot find the activity my child wants to sign up for"
Most likely cause: The activity is not yet open for registration, the registration window has closed, or the activity is not visible to the parent's child due to a year level eligibility filter.
What to do: Check the activity in SchoolsBuddy and confirm its registration window dates and eligibility settings. If the window is not yet open, tell the parent the exact date it opens. If it has closed, confirm whether late registrations are possible - this is a decision for the activity coordinator, not front office. If eligibility filters are preventing the parent's child from seeing the activity, confirm with the activity coordinator whether an exception should be made before overriding anything.
"I registered my child but have not received a confirmation"
Most likely cause: The confirmation email went to spam, the registration did not complete fully, or the automated email was not configured for that activity.
What to do: Check the activity in SchoolsBuddy to confirm whether the child appears in the registered participants list. If they do, the registration was successful and the confirmation email likely went to spam - advise the parent to check there and to whitelist notifications from SchoolsBuddy. If the child does not appear in the list, the registration did not complete - ask the parent to register again and stay on the confirmation screen until they see a success message.
"The activity is showing as full but we want to join the waitlist"
Most likely cause: The activity has reached its participant capacity limit and waitlist functionality may or may not be enabled.
What to do: Check the activity settings to see whether a waitlist is active. If it is, direct the parent to register normally - SchoolsBuddy will place them on the waitlist automatically once capacity is reached. If no waitlist is configured, this is a decision for the activity coordinator - do not manually add the student to the activity without authorisation, as this overrides the capacity settings that exist for a reason.
"How do I withdraw my child from an activity?"
Most likely cause: The parent cannot find the withdrawal option or is unsure whether they are able to withdraw at this stage.
What to do: Check your school's policy on activity withdrawals - some schools allow parent-initiated withdrawals through SchoolsBuddy; others require the withdrawal to be processed by the school. If parent-initiated withdrawal is enabled, direct the parent to log in, find the activity in their child's registered activities, and use the withdrawal option. If withdrawal needs to go through the school, confirm whether there are any fee implications before processing it.
Consent and Payment Queries
"I completed the consent form but the system says it is still outstanding"
Most likely cause: The consent form was not fully submitted (the parent may have filled it in but not clicked the final submit button), or the form was submitted but not yet refreshed in the admin view.
What to do: Check the consent record in SchoolsBuddy. If it shows as submitted, reassure the parent and confirm that your admin view shows it as complete. If it genuinely shows as outstanding, ask the parent to log back in and check whether there is an incomplete form still waiting - they should look for any sections marked as incomplete or a final submit button that was not clicked.
"I paid for an activity but it still shows as unpaid"
Most likely cause: The payment was made but not yet reconciled, the payment did not fully process, or the parent paid via bank transfer but the reference was not matched.
What to do: Ask the parent for their payment confirmation or bank reference. Check with whoever manages payments at your school - this may sit with the finance team rather than the front office. Do not manually mark an activity as paid without confirmation from the relevant team that payment has been received and verified.
When to Escalate
Most SchoolsBuddy parent queries can be resolved from the front desk. Escalate to your SchoolsBuddy system owner or FariaSupport when:
- Multiple parents are reporting the same problem at the same time - this suggests a system or configuration issue rather than an individual account problem
- A parent's account appears corrupted or their data is displaying incorrectly
- A payment was made but cannot be traced in the system
- An activity is showing incorrect capacity, eligibility, or dates that you did not configure and cannot explain
- A parent is unhappy with how an issue has been handled and is escalating the conversation
In Summary
- Most SchoolsBuddy parent queries fall into four categories: login issues, activity registration problems, consent form queries, and payment questions - knowing the likely cause of each saves significant time.
- Always check the relevant record in SchoolsBuddy before responding - the answer is almost always visible once you look.
- Do not override capacity limits, eligibility filters, or payment status without authorisation from the relevant coordinator or finance team.
- Escalate when the same issue is affecting multiple families simultaneously - this signals a configuration problem, not individual user error.
If a SchoolsBuddy issue goes beyond what you can resolve from the front desk, contact FariaSupport through your school's plan. Include the parent's account email and the activity name in your request to speed up the resolution.