Importing Teachers

Teachers can be added to your account by uploading a spreadsheet to Parent Interviews. When you import any new teachers into your account, we'll send them an email letting them know they've been added to your school's Parent Interviews account.

Preparing a spreadsheet for importing

Before the import process begins, you will need to prepare a spreadsheet. The information needed can be extracted from your student management system (SMS) or a similar user database (e.g AD or Exchange). 

As a reference, you can download an example spreadsheet from the Import Teachers page.

Spreadsheet data format

The columns required (in sequence) are:

  1. Last Name. This should be entered as Title Case (e.g Smith)
  2. First Name. This should be the teacher's preferred name and entered as Title Case (e.g John)
  3. Email Address. This will be used to email the teacher their password and any timetables. If your school doesn't have individual email accounts for teachers, a catch all account should be used (e.g interviews@school.co.nz)
  4. Subjects. A comma separated list with either the classroom of the teacher, or the different subjects that the teacher teaches (e.g Room 8 or English, Mathematics, Biology)
  5. Teacher Code. This is an optional field for the teacher's unique student management system identifer (e.g JS or jsmith).
  6. Default Interview Room. If you set up an event that uses rooms, this room will be used by default for the teacher. 

The data inside the spreadsheet needs to follow the sequence above to ensure that the correct data is mapped to the correct place. If you aren't filling in a column, you will need to leave a gap where the column would be.

You can choose whatever subjects you need for your teachers, and any new subjects will automatically be added to your account. Parent Interviews has a default set of subjects, but you can manage your custom subjects from the Settings page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What happens if I mess up an import and need to clear all the teachers?
A: Visit the Clear Data section on the Settings page. From there you can remove all teachers from your account.

Q: My spreadsheet keeps being rejected, but I'm sure it's in the right format
A: CSV files or ODS files are not supported. Re-save your file in Excel format (XLSX) or Excel 97-2003 format (XLS)

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