News & Updates

NiftySchool is an online software to manage language schools.

In this video I will explain how to manage accommodation for your students.

First of all, make sure the accommodation module is enabled by going to the General settings section under the Configuration tab.

Just click on this check box and save to enable accommodation handling. This makes sure you can see the Accommodation tab at the top.

Schools who don’t handle accommodation for their students may want to hide that and keep the screen uncluttered.

When you go to the accommodation section, you will see the list of your hosts, along with basic information, such as the number of available beds and contact details.

You can search for a specific host by typing the name on the search box on the right hand side, for example ‘Farrel’ and you will see the matching host highlighted, or you can jump to a specific category, such as Apartments, Families or Hostels.

You can see a bit more information about your hosts by clicking on the ‘expand button’ next to the host name, to have a quick look at their details.

Otherwise, by clicking on the host name link, you will be taken to the full host details page.

For example this host offers three beds: one is currently taken by one student, and another one is booked because the student will start his stay from next week.

On this page you have all you need to get a full picture of this host.

You have the name, description and address at the top.

If you click on the ‘map’ link the address will be opened in Google Maps, so that you can see where it actually is.

On the right hand side you have the contact details: phone numbers and email address.

If the host is managed by an agency you will have the agency’s details as well, so that you can phone up or send an email quickly when needed.

Scrolling down you have the list of beds, and the specific details of what this host can or cannot offer.

For example this host has no children, has a dog, has an internet connection available, does not allow smokers, allows the use of the washing machine and can cook dinners as part of the stay.

All of these options, and details about each specific bed, such as shared rooms or private bathrooms, can be amended from the ‘Edit host’ page, clicking on this button.

At the bottom of the page you have the list of students who have stayed with this host over time.

The list is split in three sections, so that you can clearly see who’s staying now, who booked a bed, and who has been here in the past.

It stores pretty much the full accommodation history for this family.

Now let’s pretend we want to find some suitable accommodation for one of our students.

To do that, I’ll go back to the host list and click on the ‘Find accommodation’ button.

You can specify a number of different criteria here.

For example our student is looking for a family who accept smokers, have an internet connection and offer a private bathroom.

Click ‘search’ and the list of matching results will appear at the bottom.

You can then refine your search by area or specify when the student will need the room from.

A room which appears as taken today might be available in a few weeks time, so, make sure to always input the correct check-in date, and the system will give you the correct results.

Once you’re happy with the bed you’ve found, you can click on the ‘take’ button and record a stay for the student.

In this form, you need to type the student name or identifier, and the check-in and check-out dates.

For example I’ll book this room for two weeks, and click save.

Now the booked period shows up at the bottom of the page and this bed will not be bookable by anyone else in the same period.

This information is not only visible from the host page, but also from the student’s profile page.

If I search for this student, you’ll see that there is an accommodation tab in his file.

This will list the accommodation periods recorded in NiftySchool and will let you amend the dates should you need to.

So, to recap: the accommodation module allows you to record your hosts, beds, peculiarities of each family and track which students are staying where, and when.