Consent Form Templates

This guide explains how to set up and manage parental consent forms in e-maktab.

1. Overview

The Consent Form Templates feature allows schools to:

Create configurable consent forms with multiple items
Have parents digitally submit or update consent per student
Track consent status across all students via a dashboard
Display consent warnings when staff log incidents

Note: Only one active consent template can exist per school at any time.

2. Setting Up a Consent Template

Who can manage templates? Only Admin and Manager users. The link appears under Settings > Consent Templates in the sidebar.

Creating your first template

Navigate to Settings > Consent Templates
Click New Template
Enter a Title (e.g. "Parental Consent Form 2026")
Tick Active (visible to parents)
Add your consent items (see section 3)
Click Save

Tip: Once a template is created, the "New Template" button is hidden. To create a new version, edit the existing template — this automatically creates a new version and carries forward existing consent.

3. Consent Items

Each template contains one or more consent items — these are the specific things parents are consenting to.

Item fields

Field	Description
Label	The name of the consent item (e.g. "Photographs and Video"). Shown to parents.
Description	Optional details shown to parents explaining what this consent covers.
Position	The order number for display (1, 2, 3...).

Checkbox options

Each item has four options. Hover over the info icon for a tooltip explanation.

Option	What it does
Requires Initials	Parent must initial this item to confirm they have read and understood it.
Has Free Text Exception	Allows parents to provide a written exception or note when declining this item.
Safety Critical	Flags this item as safety-critical. When staff log an incident, a warning is shown if the parent has declined or not yet consented to this item.
Visible to Teachers	Teachers can see this consent item and its status. Items without this are only visible to Admin/Manager.

Recommended setup

#	Item	Safety Critical	Visible to Teachers
1	Photographs and Video	No	Yes
2	First Aid and Minor Injuries	Yes	Yes
3	Off-site Activities and Trips	Yes	Yes
4	Medical Information Sharing	Yes	No
5	Contact Consent	No	No

4. How Parents Submit Consent

Accessing the consent form

Parent logs in to their e-maktab account
On their Dashboard, they see a View Consents button in the Quick Actions section
They click it to see all their enrolled students and consent status

Submitting consent

Parent selects a student
The consent form displays all items from the active template
For each item, the parent ticks Agree or Decline
If Requires Initials is enabled, they enter their initials
If Has Free Text Exception is enabled and they decline, they can add a note
Parent clicks Submit Consent

Updating consent

Parents can update their consent at any time. When they do:

A new consent record is created
The old record is archived (not deleted)
If they withdraw consent for a Safety Critical item, this is flagged on the dashboard

5. Consent Dashboard

Navigate to Dashboards > Consent to view the consent dashboard.

Stats overview

Card	Meaning
Total Students	Number of enrolled students
Consent on File	Students with a completed consent record
Pending	Students without a consent record
Template Version	Current version number of the active template

Per-item breakdown

Each consent item shows the number of students who Agreed and Declined.

Filtering students

Use the Consent Status dropdown filters to narrow the student list:

Filter	Shows students who...
Agreed	Agreed to this item
Declined	Declined this item
No Record	Have no consent response for this item

Note: Filters use OR logic — for example, filtering "Agreed" on Item A and "Agreed" on Item B shows students who agreed to either A or B.

Active filters appear as removable badges. Click Clear All to reset.

6. Incident Logging Integration

When staff log an incident for a student, consent status is displayed automatically.

Student incident modal

When clicking Log Incident from a student's page, a consent banner appears at the top of the modal:

Banner	Meaning
Warning (yellow)	No consent record on file
Warning (yellow)	Parent has declined a safety-critical item (with exception text if provided)
Success (green)	Parent has agreed to a safety-critical item

New incident form

Select Student from the "Incident For" dropdown
Select the specific student
The consent banner loads automatically below the student dropdown

For teachers

Teachers only see consent items marked Visible to Teachers. Items without this flag are hidden from teacher views.

7. Template Versioning

When you edit a template that already has consent records on file, a new version is created automatically.

What happens during versioning

A new template version is created with your changes
The old version is deactivated
Existing consent records are carried forward — responses for matching items (by label) are copied to the new version
New items that don't match any previous label receive a "Pending" response
The dashboard updates to reflect the new version

What parents see after versioning

Previously consented items carry forward with the same status
New items show as Pending — parents need to review and submit consent for these
Parents receive no automatic notification; they should be informed to review their consent

8. Access Control Summary

Role	Manage Templates	View Dashboard	View Items	See All Items
Admin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manager	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Supervisor	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Teacher	No	Yes	Visible only	No
Viewer	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Parent	No	No	Own students	Own students

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Question	Answer
Can I have two active templates at once?	No. Only one template can be active at a time. When you create a new version, the old one is automatically deactivated.
What happens to old consent records when I create a new version?	They are archived (not deleted). Responses for matching items are carried forward to the new version.
Can parents update their consent after submitting?	Yes. Parents can update their consent at any time. Each submission creates a new record.
What does "Safety Critical" actually do?	Safety-critical items trigger warning banners when staff log incidents for students who have declined or not consented to those items.
What does "Visible to Teachers" do?	Teachers can only see consent items marked with this flag. Items without it are hidden from teacher views.
Can I delete a template?	Yes, templates are soft-deleted. You can restore them if needed.
Why do some items show as "Pending" on the dashboard?	Pending items appear when a new template version has items that didn't exist in the previous version. The parent needs to re-submit consent for these new items.
How do I know if a parent has withdrawn consent for a safety-critical item?	Check the Consent Dashboard. When logging an incident, a warning banner is displayed for any safety-critical item the parent has declined.

10. Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Template won't save	Ensure at least one consent item has a label.
Can't edit a template	Only the active or latest version can be edited.
Parent can't see consent form	Ensure the template is marked Active.
Teacher can't see consent items	Ensure items are marked Visible to Teachers.
Dashboard shows 0 students	Ensure consent records exist (parents have submitted).
Consent banner not showing on incident form	Select a student from the dropdown first.

Consent From