With the increasing demands on educational institutions to streamline operations and enhance parent-school communication, the need for robust online payment systems has never been greater. Recognising this need, Tucasi, a leading provider, is proud to announce it is expanding to offer its solutions for school administration and online payments for Northern Ireland schools.
Established in 2004, Tucasi has been a pioneer in the field of school payments and administration for two decades. With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs), Tucasi has continuously evolved its flagship product, Schools Cash Office (SCO), to meet the evolving needs of the education sector.
The Schools Cash Office (SCO) system comprises a suite of modules, offering schools a centralised platform to manage a wide range of financial transactions and administrative processes efficiently and securely. From school meals and trips to extra-curricular activities and uniform sales, SCO provides schools with the tools they need to simplify administrative workflows, reduce operational overhead, and enhance financial transparency.
But what sets Tucasi apart from other online payment systems? Not only do we have outstanding onboarding and training programmes: on average, our dedicated UK-based support team solve 95% of issues on the first call and calls are answered in under 2 minutes, but also, we truly recognise the very unique needs of every setting. That’s why every school can customise their package to only ever pay for what they really need.
Let’s break down each of the modules to understand how they address the challenges faced by schools and why they are the preferred choice for educational institutions nationwide.
School Dinners
As Northern Ireland schools transition to cashless environments, the demand for robust online payment solutions for school meals has never been greater. Tucasi’s Dinner Money module empowers schools to digitise their meal ordering and payment processes, offering parents a convenient and secure platform to manage their child’s dining options.
With Tucasi’s Dinner Money module, parents can easily pre-order school meals, top up meal balances and view their order history. The software also enables schools to manage and track Free School Meals easily, from eligibility to meal ordering and reporting.
The The Dinner Money module with fully-integrated online payments for Northern Ireland schools reduces reliance on cash and paper-based systems. This helps schools to streamline meal administration and reporting, minimise errors, reduce food waste and improve financial accountability.
Wraparound Care
Tucasi’s Extended Day module provides schools with a comprehensive solution for managing breakfast, after school and holiday clubs. This module helps schools to manage payments, and track alternative funding such as Childcare Vouchers and Tax Free Childcare Payments.
You can streamline the registration process, automate billing and communicate with parents in real-time.
Communications
Efficient and effective communication is easy with the Communication module. It helps schools to engage with parents, facilitating seamless communication and enhancing collaboration within the school community.
This module helps schools to send targeted messages, announcements and updates quickly and easily, ensuring timely and relevant communication to recipients. Whether it’s sending important notices, event reminders or personalised messages, the Communications module provides schools with the tools they need to keep parents informed and connected.
By integrating with existing management information systems (MIS) and other modules within the SCO system, the Communications module automatically pulls across up-to-date contact information and relevant data, ensuring accurate and personalised communications. Schools can create customised message templates, schedule messages for future delivery and track communication history, allowing for efficient management of communication workflows.
With options for text messaging, email, and letter correspondence, the Communications module offers flexibility and versatility, enabling schools to choose the most appropriate communication channel for each situation.
Trips and Events
School trips, events and enrichment clubs provide invaluable opportunities for children to explore new environments, build social connections, and deepen their learning.
However, organising and managing these activities can be a real logistical challenge. Tucasi’s Trips and Events module simplifies the process of planning, booking and coordinating school outings and clubs, allowing schools to focus on delivering the best enrichment activities.
With Tucasi’s Trips and Events module, schools can allow parents to book places online, collect consent and other information electronically, and track payments in real-time. Comprehensive reporting options also simplify the tracking of participants and enable schools to compare income to expenditure for any activity. By providing a comprehensive platform for trip management, Tucasi helps schools to manage the whole process efficiently, minimise administrative overheads, and deliver memorable extra-curricular experiences.
Stock Control
Uniform, books and stationery sales are an important source of revenue for many schools, but managing inventory and processing orders can be tough. Tucasi’s Stock Control module provides schools with a comprehensive solution for managing sales, tracking inventory and processing orders efficiently.
Schools can easily set up online shops, manage product listings and track stock levels in real-time. By automating the ordering process and providing parents with a user-friendly platform for purchasing items, Tucasi helps schools streamline their sales operations, increasing revenue and keeping parents happy.
Lettings
You may have valuable facilities that sit idle outside of school hours, presenting untapped opportunities for generating additional income. Tucasi’s Lettings module simplifies the process of hiring out school facilities, allowing schools to maximise the return on their resources by generating revenue through external bookings.
With Tucasi’s Lettings module, schools can control who can hire their facilities and track information such as insurance details, set multiple price bands and manage facility availability with ease. By providing a centralised platform for managing lettings, Tucasi helps you to streamline the booking process, optimise resource allocation and generate additional income streams.
Parents' Evening
Tucasi’s Parents’ Evening module helps primary schools to organise and manage parent-teacher interactions, providing a comprehensive solution to streamline scheduling, share notes between teachers and parents, and simplify administration. With customisable session times, real-time calendar updates and automated booking reminders, schools can effortlessly coordinate parents’ evening appointments, ensuring smooth scheduling and minimising the risk of double-bookings or scheduling conflicts.
For parents, this system provides an intuitive online platform to view available time slots, select preferred appointment times, and receive instant confirmation via email.
Speaking about the launch into Northern Ireland, Steve Parrott, Managing Director of Tucasi, explains,
“At Tucasi, our mission is to empower schools with innovative solutions that streamline operations, enhance transparency and improve parent engagement. With our comprehensive suite of modules, schools can simplify administrative workflows, reduce operational overhead, and focus on what matters most: providing a high-quality education for every child. We are delighted to be able to bring Tucasi’s 20 years of education innovation to Northern Ireland, offering our specialised administration system and online payments for Northern Ireland schools.”
Find out more about Tucasi and how we can support your school payment and administration – book your free demo.
