The OSM Parent Portal is the parental front end to the online administration system that the 5th Ware Scout Group uses to reduce the time leaders have to spend on administration tasks. It allows you access to more information about your child’s Scouting and means that all of the information you need about activities or events is secure and accessible at any time.
Because the system also sends out emails about activities and events to your registered email address, it means that we can cut down on the amount of paper letters and printing that we do, which will save significant sums of money every year that we will be able to spend on our young people instead.
The Parent Portal gives you access to:
- The programme for the current term
- A list of upcoming events and the ability to indicate attendance
- A list of payment schedules (we use GoCardless)
- The badge status for their child along with an image indicating where they should be sewn onto the uniform
- Review a list of emails that you should have already received
- The ability to make a Gift Aid declaration (when requested via email)
- The ability to provide census information (when requested via email)
- Access to the child’s personal details (via an additional layer of security)
Security
The Parent Portal is a part of Online Scout Manager (OSM) which is used by most Scout Groups in the UK. The system has been designed from the start to be as secure as possible – and uses the same encryption and security methods as major banks and other secure websites.
When you make a payment through the Parent Portal, your payment details are processed securely by GoCardless who are registered with the FSA and sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland. All payments through the Parent Portal are protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee meaning that your money is protected by law at all times.
Logging in to the Parent Portal
Once you have registered with the Group you will be added to the OSM system and you should then receive an introductory email – if you haven’t had this please let a leader know.
The introductory email will give you a direct link to the OSM ‘Parent Portal’ system. Where you should be greeted by this login page:
You can also access the Parent Portal from any device connected to the internet. Simply click the Login button at
https://www.onlinescoutmanager.co.uk/
If this is the first time you are logging in then you will need to Create an account using the email address you gave us when you registered your child.
You will receive a welcome email. When you receive it, follow the instructions and click on the ‘click here’ link. Once you click the link in the email, you will see the Reset Password screen in your web browser. Enter your chosen password, and enter it again to confirm.
Using the Parent Portal
Once you have logged in to the Parent Portal please remember to bookmark the address on your PC or Mac for easy access. If you mainly use a tablet or Mobile Phone to access the internet, once you are in the portal, you can add it as an Icon to your screen
If you have more than one child in the group, use the same email address when creating the account will allow you to manage them all from one login. Each child will be presented in the list on the right hand side of the portal.
Your child may be listed multiple times; once for the section they are in currently and also in the “Group Section”. We use the Group Section for activities that span across sections. When your child transitions from one section to another, they will appear in this list an additional time also.
Clicking on any item from the left panel will give you various options.
Noticeboard
This section of the portal displays a summary of this guide.
Payments
Shows you any payment schedules/payments currently in place.
We will create at least two payment schedules for each child. The first will be for Membership Subscriptions and the second for events and activities. We will occasionally create addition schedules for camps and larger events if payment is made through installments.
There is sometimes one or more payments associated with an event or activity. This is clearly identified in the original invitation email so that you are aware before you sign up your child. Payments can easily be made by Direct Debit using the GoCardless system that is linked to the portal. We no longer accept cash or cheques as banking these is challenging. Please speak to a leader if you are unable to use a Direct Debit or have any other issues regarding payments – we will always try to find some solution.
There are two modes that the payment system operates in:
- Subscription – Your direct debit will automatically be debited whenever there are payments needed. This is set up by clicking ‘Create Subscription’ in the top right.
- Pay Now – You have to approve each payment on an event by event basis by logging onto Parent Portal. This is done by clicking on ‘Pay Now’ next to an event
Whether or not you choose to authorise each payment individually, or subscribe to them all, you will be emailed each time a payment is needed and you’ll be able to cancel it if you want. All payments are protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee.
When you click on ‘Pay Now’ or ‘Create Subscription’ you will be taken to ‘GoCardless’ which is the secure payment provider where you will be asked to enter your bank details.
Events
Shows you any upcoming events which are not part of the weekly programme, or past events if you click on ‘Past’ tab at the top.
When we launch an Event, you should receive an email invite containing a link to the portal. Follow this link and use the buttons to accept the invitation. If you receive an invitation to an event, we would appreciate it if you could use the Parent Portal to inform us whether your child will be attending or not.
If you do not respond, you will receive one or more reminder emails. Unfortunately some activities have limited space and when this is the case, you will not be able to sign your child up after that number has been reached. All events will have a closing date by when attendance needs to be confirmed. If you miss this deadline then you will need to contact the Section Leader directly.
For some activities you can use the portal to change the initial response provided but only up to the deadline date shown after with you will also need to speak directly to a Section Leader.
Clicking on an Event brings up additional details and access to any downloadable files.
Programme
Shows you the planned programme for the upcoming term. This area also includes any requests for Parent Helpers for specific sessions.
Please note that the programme is subject to change and may not fully reflect the leader’s plan.
You can use the portal to let us know if your child will not be attending on a particular day.
Badges
Shows the badges that have been started or completed by your child. Clicking on ‘uniform’ tab at the top brings up a picture of where the badges should go on the uniform.
Personal details
The Parent Portal allows you to view and edit the personal details we have for your child and also the contact details we have for you and for emergencies. This requires an additional security check each time you access it. We ask you to keep this up to date especially if you change your email, telephone numbers or if any of the medical details of your child changes.
You should have completed this information when we registered your child but if not then please do so now.
Emails
Think you may have missed an email? Allows you to review any emails sent by leaders via the system in the last three months.
Gift Aid
If your tax circumstances change, please return here and adjust accordingly.
Allows you to sign a declaration giving us permission to claim Gift Aid on any payments you make to the group. This brings in an additional 25p for every £1 spent on subscriptions and events.
Retail Discounts
Takes you to a number of discount links, available for you to use as part of being part of, or related to, The Scouts Association.
Access
Shows you who has access to your Parent Portal account – if you notice any discrepancies with this, please let us know as soon as possible.
Calendar Feeds
The Parent Portal allows you to link the Programme and Events to your Google Calendar or iCal. This automatically places these events on your calendar. You will see in the Programme and Events a button “Get programme calendar feed” and “Get events calendar feed”, click these to get the link.
How do I add the Calendar to Google
You can add your calendar feeds to Google Calendars by opening up your Google Calendar in a web-browser (it cannot be done via the mobile app).
Currently, about half-way down the page, you may see “Other Calendars” where you can add a friend or co-worker’s calendar – use this option to paste in the URL.
If you cannot see this, go to the calendar settings and find “Browse interesting calendars” and paste the URL into the “Add by URL” option.
How do I add the Calendar to Apple Ical
You can add your calendar feeds to Apple Ical by opening up your Apple Calendar in a web-browser (it cannot be done via the mobile app).
Data Protection
We comply with our obligations under GDPR by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.
We only use your personal information where that is permitted by the laws that protect your privacy rights. We only use personal information where:
- we need to use the information to comply with our legal obligations
- we need to use the information to contact with you, regarding meetings, events, collection of membership fee’s etc, (i.e. for the day to day running of the Group)
- it is fair to use the personal information in your interests, where there is no disadvantage to you – this can include where it is in our interests to contact you about products or services within scouting.
- the processing is necessary for the person’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of our Scout Group unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests.
We are committed to the protection of your personal information.We generally store personal information in a secure digital online database system where access to that data is restricted and controlled.
We will only normally share personal information within our Scout Group leaders and executive members.
We will however share your personal information with others outside our Scout Group where we need meet or enforce a legal obligation, this may include, Ware & District Scouts. Hertfordshire Scout County, The Scout Association and it insurance subsidiary “Unity”, local authority services and law enforcement, we will only share your personal information to the extent needed for those purposes.
If you move from 5th Ware (Christ Church) Scout Group, to another Scout Group or Explorer Scout Unit we will transfer your personal information to them.
We will never sell your personal information to any third party for the purposes of marketing.
We will retain your personal information, throughout the time you/your child(ren) are a member of 5th Ware (Christ Church) Scout Group.
We will retain your full personal information for a period of one year after you have left 5th Ware (Christ Church) Scout Group and in a much more limited form (just name, badge and attendance records) for a period of up to 15 years (or until the age 21) to fulfil our legal obligations for insurance and legal claims.
We will also keep any Gift Aid Claim information for the statutory 7 years as required by HMRC (which may be beyond age 21)
A full copy of our Data Privacy notice can be found on our website at http://5thwarescouts.org.uk/privacy-policy/ or by request.
