Observatory allows you to add Notes against a school record so you can track actions or key events associated with a school.
These can be really simple, or more structured depending on how your organisation want to use them.
Please note: Unless you are an Administrator, you will only see the Notes tab for schools assigned to you. You will see the list of other schools in the organisation, however, the Notes tab will not be accessible for schools not assigned to you.
If your trust subscribes to Observatory premium then your Notes tab will be replaced with a Visits tab. You can still add Notes by selecting Create New and then choosing Note from the dropdown. For more information on Visits, please see our Visits & Actions guide.
Quick Steps
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Click Schools
- Select the relevant school
- Click Notes
- Click New Note
- Save when complete
Need More Detailed Help?
Navigate to the Schools page to view your schools and then apply any filters necessary in order to locate the school you'd like to add the note against.
Once you have found the correct one, click on the school's name to be taken into the profile. Then click on the Notes tab (or Visits, if your trust use Observatory Premium).
You can view all previously added notes for the school here. To add a new one, click New Note. You can then add your text, select note priority and type.
Please note: Note Types are set up by your administrators via the Schools > Admin > Manage Note Types page. If you don't see a Type to select, your organisation haven't set any up.
You can also add an attachment to the note by clicking Attach File. Once you are happy with your note and attachments, click Save Note.
Your note will then be attached to that school and confirmation of this will appear on the Alerts page.
To make changes to an existing note, click the Edit button next to it.
To delete a note, click Delete next to the relevant note. This will also delete the note from the Alerts page.
Please note: Only the author of a note can edit or delete it.
Alerts Page
The Alerts page shows you key notifications about your schools. This will highlight changes applied to your schools via their dashboard. You can filter this page by using the relevant drop-down menus across the top of the page.
You will be alerted to several things, including:
- New or amended Notes
- Changes to any school's Ofsted grade
When any of those items are added or changed, a new alert will be added to the top of the Alerts page. The example below shows alerts where a note has been added for one school, and a tag removed for another.