Each import is rehearsed first, checked by your own people, and can be rolled back. Here is how it runs, and what it asks of your team.
01
How it runs.
Five phases. Your people validate before anything is committed.
01
Discovery
We read a full extract of your current system and give you a written mapping of how each field comes across.
Us
02
Rehearsal
A complete migration into a staging copy, with real data at real volumes, for your team to check.
Us
03
Your validation
Your registrar, business manager and a head of house check their own records against the old system, using a checklist we provide. Nothing is committed until you sign this off.
You
04
Correction and re-run
Each import runs as a dry run first and can be rolled back, so each re-run starts clean. Repeated as many times as it takes.
Us
05
Cutover
The final migration, on the date you choose.
Both
02
One step at a time, if you prefer.
01
Admissions first.
Your registrar runs this year’s intake in Kestrel. Your current system keeps everything else.
02
The full move, at the start of a year or a term.
Rehearse it on a copy, check every record, then switch over. Anything already in Kestrel stays as it is and isn’t imported again.
03
A trial period over the break.
Your people work in Kestrel before the new term starts, with your old system still to hand. Then it’s retired.
03
What comes across.
Your discovery mapping names the specifics for your school.
People and relationshipsStudents, staff and parents, with their households and the relationships between them.
Academic historyTranscript years and board results from your previous system, onto each student’s record.
The discovery mapping shows how each part of your data comes across, field by field.
What we doExtract, map, rehearse and import, and each re-run.
What you doValidation, by your registrar, business manager and one head of house, concentrated in phase three, with a checklist we provide.
What it costsMigration is included, and re-runs are free.
05
When to switch.
When it suits your school. Many may start with admissions, then move the rest at the start of a year or a term.
On your dateRehearsals run on your real data as often as you need, so the final run lands on the date you choose, in term or in a holiday.
Early, then topped upEach import recognises the records it has already brought in, so a later extract adds only what is new since the last run. Your history can come across well ahead, and the final run is small.
Planned aroundYour reports, census days and the first days of term, so the busiest moments stay in one system.
06
Safe at each stage.
Through validation, your live system is unchanged. Each import can be rolled back, and your previous system stays readable through cutover.
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Questions schools ask
What comes across from our current system?
Students, staff and parents, with their households and the relationships between them, and academic history: transcript years and board results. Your discovery mapping names the specifics for your school.
Who checks the migrated data?
Your own people. Your registrar, business manager and a head of house check their records against the old system using a checklist we provide, and nothing is committed until you sign it off.
What happens if an import needs fixing?
Every import runs as a dry run first and can be rolled back, so each re-run starts clean, as many times as it takes. Migration is included, and re-runs are not charged.
When can we switch?
Whenever suits your school. Many may start with admissions, then move the rest at the start of a year or a term. Rehearsals run as often as you need, each import recognises what it has already brought in, and the final run lands on the date you choose, planned around your reports and census days.
Bring your data questions.
Start with the eight-minute film. Then, if you’d like, forty minutes with us. Bring the person who knows your records best. Admissions can start on its own. Migration is included when you move, within your implementation project, and pricing is quoted for your size of school.
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