Email Communications
Overview
Compass provides the ability for users to send emails to other users in multiple places throughout the portal. Dependent on the page you are on, you will see the Email icon (envelope) and the individuals or groups that you can send the communication to.
Examples include:
Quick Actions menu -
Email options via a Student's page -
Email options via a Class page -
Email options on a Year Level Profile Page -
Email options via an Event page:
Email options via People Management -
There are other places in Compass to email from including News Feed, Learning Tasks and Chronicle. As modules can have specific email options please refer to the relevant Knowledge Base article for each module for further details.
Composing an Email
Clicking on an Email option within Compass will launch the 'Send Email' screen.
Depending on the context you have generated the email from, there can be pre-filled content and a prescribed recipient list. In most intances, the included content and recipient list can be edited however, when generating from Chronicle entries, the content may be based on a template that is locked and unable to be edited.
Email Content -
| Email subject | This is the subject of the email. |
| Insert context | If selected, the displayed context will be included in your email. If you do not wish for all recipients to know what this email is regarding, unselect this box. |
| Mask sender email | If selected, emails sent using this service will be sent on behalf of a generic Compass email address. Recipients will not be able to reply to this email. If left unchecked, emails sent using this service will be sent on behalf of your registered email address. Replies to this email will then be directed to your registered email address. |
| Body | This is the details of the email. Staff can utilise the formatting functions at the top of this section to configure the details of the email. |
| Recipients | The right-hand side of the screen includes a list of the Compass users who will receive the email. Users can be removed from this list if they should not receive the email by clicking the associated red cross icon next to their details. Additional recipients can be added to the list via the 'Add Recipients' button in the top right hand corner of the screen. Recipients that are greyed out and denoted with a red exclamation mark icon will not receive this email when sent. This can be because they do not have a valid email address recorded in their user account; their account has been set to not allow emails or, in the case of parent user accounts, they may be set as 'Do Not Contact'. Please contact your school administration officer for further assistance. |
| *Attachments | Click here to attach a file from your device to the email (parents and students can also add attachments when emailing staff). File size can be up to 10MB. |
| Name (when adding Attachments) | The name of the attachment file that the recipient will see. |
| Select File (when adding Attachments) | The file chosen from your device that will be the attachment for this email. |
*Should an incorrect file be issued as an attachment, CompassSponsors are able to go to 'Administration Tools' (under the cog icon) and access the 'Email Attachments Manager' page to delete the attachment. When deleted, if a recipient of the email attempts to download the attachment, they will no longer be able to do so and receive an 'Email attachment not found' message.
Schedule Send
If you use the 'Quick Actions' menu option to send an email, you will have the additional Schedule Send option. This allows you to set a future date and time for the email to be issued.
Emails can be scheduled up to a maximum of one year in advance and will show on the communication log once sent.
Sent Emails
The user (staff/parent/student) sending the email within Compass will receive a copy of the communication to their registered email address. This copy will also display the list of recipients.
This copy is essentially your 'Outbox', as there is no Compass 'Inbox'; all emails you send and recieve through Compass go to your registered email address. This copy is your record of the communication that was sent.
Example of Sender's copy -
The Recipients are all Blind Carbon Copied (Bcc'd) and will not see who else received the email or anyone else's email address.
Communication Log
Staff with the CommunicationsAdmin permission are able to view email and SMS communications that have been issued to a user (student or parent). To do so, search for the user in the main Compass searchbar and on their profile page click to the 'Communications' tab.
You can view communications within a specified date range and also export the log to csv if required.
Parent & Student Portal Email Options
By default staff will be able to email students and parents through Compass. Whether parents and students can send emails through Compass is up to the school to decide. Each group's permission is managed separately, so you can allow parents to send emails through the system, without allowing students to, and vice versa.
To activate either or both of these email options for your school community please email the Compass Support Team on support@compass.edu.au. This request must come from the Compass Sponsor or another member of the school's leadership team.
Parents Emailing Through Compass -
Parents have a link on their Compass homepage that allows them to quickly email all of the teachers that teach each of their students.
Clicking this link will open the 'Send Email' screen.
As you can see in the image below parents do not have the option to mask their email address when sending emails.
In the 'Recipients' list each teacher's name is displayed, as well as which class they teach the student. Please keep in mind that only the lead teacher for each class will show up in this list.
Parents can use the 'Add Recipient' button at the top to select any other staff members that may be relevant for their communication.
Students Emailing Through Compass -
Students do not have a button to email all of their teachers the way parents do. Students can email their teachers by going to the class page and clicking the 'Email Teacher' link under the teacher's name.
This will open the familiar 'Send Email' screen, seen below. Please note that students do not have an 'Add Recipients' button so must email each teacher individually.
Students can only email teachers from a class page, and students only have access to the class page for classes they are (or have ever been) enrolled in. As a result, students are only able to email their own teachers.
If your school allows students to see staff members' profiles on Compass then the student can search for the staff member's profile page in the main search bar at the top of their Compass screen. When the student then clicks to go to the staff member's profile page, the staff member's email address is visible.
If the student click's the email address and it is one of their class teachers, the 'Send Email' box will open. If it is not one of the student's class teachers, they will not have the option to email the teacher within Compass however the student could then copy and paste the email address into an email within their email client (gmail etc) if required.
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