Enrolment for the new school year opens. The first forms land on the site manager's desk, more arrive by email and two families have handed in their documents at the school office. One enrolment is missing a phone number, another does not say on which weekdays care is needed. The situation is an example, but it shows why online enrolment for after-school care should do more than turn a paper form into a PDF.
To decide on places, you need complete information in a consistent format. At the same time, parents want to know whether their enrolment has arrived and what happens next. With moto, preparation, the parent form, review and decision are connected in one process. The rules for allocating places stay with the site, the school and the provider.
What to settle before enrolment opens
Before parents open a form, an authorised person from site management or the provider prepares the enrolment period in the Staff app. They set the period the enrolment applies to and decide when the form opens and closes. For a school year or half-year, the relevant care options are added as well.
The form includes fixed basic details about parents and child. Depending on the setup, you can add further questions, required consents, year group, care option and preferred weekdays. You decide which information you really need for your work. Before release, you can check exactly what parents will see. This shows whether care options, questions and confirmation make sense together.
The Staff app from moto supports this preparation. The Parent app then shows the families' side. Both sides work with the same enrolment period and the same care options.
Online enrolment in six steps
- Prepare the enrolment period: The site manager or an authorised person at the provider sets the period, enrolment deadline, form and care options. Parents can only select the period once it is active.
- Share access with families: Parents open the site's public enrolment link. Families with access to the Parent app can start there and reuse details they have already stored. A parent account is not required for the public link.
- Choose the period and care option: Parents choose the right enrolment period. Depending on the setup, they select a care option and enter the weekdays they need.
- Enter the details: At a minimum, the name and email address of the parent or guardian and the name and date of birth of the child are recorded. The configured form can contain further required fields, questions or consents. Several children can be entered in one form.
- Submit the enrolment: After submitting, the family receives a confirmation and can view the status of the enrolment. The distinction matters: received means the site has the information. It is not yet a confirmed place.
- Review and decide: Authorised staff open the enrolment in the Staff app. There they see the contact details, information about the children, chosen care options and answers from the form. They can confirm the enrolment, put it on the waiting list, reject it or first mark it as under review. The family sees the new status and receives the message set up for it.
What you see after an enrolment is submitted
New enrolments appear together in the enrolment overview. You can filter them by enrolment period, status or care option and search for a child. The detail view shows exactly what parents submitted. No more printing out an email and laying it next to a spreadsheet.
The decision is recorded for each enrolled child. When a place is confirmed, moto transfers the released child and contact details into day-to-day care. If a child is put on the waiting list or rejected, that status stays visible on the enrolment. Parents therefore do not have to guess from a receipt confirmation alone whether a decision has already been made.
Paper, email and Excel compared with moto
In a fragmented process, the same information often passes through the organisation several times: parents fill in a form, the office checks the required fields, someone copies care requests into a spreadsheet and the reply goes out later as an individual email. If a detail arrives through another channel, it has to be added to the right row.
With moto, parents enter the required information directly into the configured form. Required fields are checked before submission. You see the enrolment in your overview and record the decision there. Above all, this cuts out sorting and copying between paper piles, inbox and Excel file. It does not replace a professional review.
Holiday care can also be organised with digital enrolment periods. The process described here, by contrast, covers enrolment for the school year or half-year and the decision on places that follows.
What moto supports and what you decide locally
The platform provides the form, enrolment overview, status and decision steps. It does not automatically decide which child gets a place. Admission criteria, capacity, deadlines, hardship cases and how to handle missing documents are set by the school and the provider. Who is allowed to make decisions is also controlled through the site's roles.
During the setup of moto, enrolment periods, care options and responsibilities are adapted to your existing process. The online form should only ask for information needed for enrolment and care. If a special case needs a personal conversation, that conversation remains part of the work on site.
Frequently asked questions about online enrolment
Do parents need an account to enrol?
No. The site can share a public link to the enrolment period. Parents with access to the Parent app can also open the enrolment there and reuse details they have already stored.
Does an online enrolment mean a confirmed place?
No. After submission, the enrolment is first marked as received. An authorised person at the site or provider reviews the information and then sets the appropriate status.
What information do parents have to provide?
The basic form includes the contact details of the parent or guardian and the name and date of birth of the child. The site defines in the form which further information, care options, weekdays or consents are required.
Can siblings be enrolled together?
Yes. Parents can enter several children in one form. The site then decides for each child individually.
Who can see and edit full enrolments?
The enrolment overview is role-based. Full details and decisions are only accessible to people the site has given the corresponding administration permission.
Conclusion
Online enrolment creates one shared path from the parent form to the decision on places. Parents see that their information has arrived. Your site reviews complete enrolments in one place and records the decision transparently. Which children are admitted and which rules apply remains a responsible decision for the school and the provider.