How the Pegasus Academy Trust uses MagicBooking to maximise parent and staff satisfaction - The Best Booking System for Schools and Clubs

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Use case

School Dinner Wraparound Care Trips Extra Curricular Clubs E-Shop

School size

2,000+ children

Location

London

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Customer Stories

MagicBooking has saved us time and money, allowing us to focus on what truly matters: the children. The system has grown with us, and every pound saved goes straight back into supporting our pupils.
Jolyon Roberts, Executive Principal & CEO, Pegasus Academy Trust

6 min read

The Pegasus Academy Trust (PAT) is a Primary Multi-Academy Trust in Croydon, consisting of six primary schools that serve over 2,000 children and employ 350 dedicated staff members. PAT fosters a dynamic and nurturing environment where pupils are encouraged to excel both academically and personally. Each school within the Trust takes pride in striving to offer the best opportunities for every child to thrive.

Pegasus Academy Trust building in Croydon London

Before MagicBooking, Pegasus Academy Trust was dealing with a different booking and payment system. This system was cumbersome and had many limitations, frustrating the staff at The Pegasus Academy. The sheer volume of administrative tasks was overwhelming, leading to frustrations across the board, from staff to parents. At the heart of the problem with their previous system were several critical issues:

Overwhelming admin load: Staff were bogged down by endless paperwork and managing parent payments, especially when it came to dealing with 10+ childcare voucher providers parents used.
Parent debt: Manual payment systems resulted in late payments and debt piling up.
Unpredictable bookings: Clubs and activities were hard to manage efficiently, creating stress for both staff and parents.

The Pegasus Academy Trust introduced MagicBooking in 2017 for all wraparound care, including breakfast and after-school clubs, school dinners, school trips, and activity clubs. MagicBooking was implemented to improve the handling of bookings, payments, and communication with parents. Indeed, unlike the old system, MagicBooking streamlined bookings, payments, and automated many time-consuming tasks. Pegasus Academy Trust saw a dramatic shift.

Automation across the board: Admin tasks like booking confirmations, payments, and attendance registers are all automated, saving hours of staff time each week.
Seamless payment management: Parents can book online and pay upfront for services or spread the cost of larger trips, such as the school’s annual Isle of Wight trip.
Transparency and fairness: There are a limited number of spaces for certain activities; MagicBooking’s real-time booking system enables parents to know exactly when they've secured a spot, thanks to a first-come, first-served model.
Facilitation of various payment types: The Pegasus Academy is working with over 10 different childcare voucher providers! But no matter how many parents wish to pay for a breakfast or after-school club session with a voucher, MagicBooking’s portal easily processes the payment with little manual input required from school staff.

Key features illustration in Pegasus Academy Trust branded colour

Switching from a previous system to MagicBooking was an instant game-changer. In one week, MagicBooking enabled parents to make 6000 bookings for the school's extracurricular and out-of-school clubs with 2000 of these occurring in one 2-hour time slot!

MagicBooking reduced The Pegasus Academy Trust’s admin time and improved financial oversight. Parental contribution for school trips is sizeable, like the annual Isle of Wight trip for roughly 150 children. Now the payment system manages, tracks and calculates all the parents' payments so the finance and admin team have to deal with less paperwork and parents can pay in instalments, so they can spread the cost of the trip.

Easier, streamlined process - All documents, communication, bookings and payments are kept in one place, with seamless integration to the school's management information system.

Significant time saved in admin - Admin staff reported fewer manual tasks, allowing them to focus on improving services for students e.g. once a booking is confirmed and paid, the child that has booked a place will appear on an automatically generated attendance register.

Significant time saved in finance - Finance staff can access financial reports to see where the money is coming from and where it should be allocated.

Debt reduction - Parent debt dropped as MagicBooking’s automated systems allowed for faster, upfront payments and enabled tighter restrictions on overdue accounts.

Better safeguarding - MagicBooking’s management software enables staff to have peace of mind, as the system manages requirements around safeguarding and permissions etc.

Greater control - With real-time financial reporting, the Trust gained more control over their revenue, helping them allocate funds more effectively.

Happier staff and parents - The simplified booking process and reduced admin burden led to happier, more motivated staff and satisfied parents.

For Pegasus Academy Trust, MagicBooking has been a crucial tool in their growth, helping them manage the increasing demand across their six schools with ease. The platform’s ability to handle complex tasks such as managing multiple payment types and maintaining up-to-date records has provided peace of mind for staff and parents alike.

"MagicBooking online school booking system has been terrific for the Pegasus Academy Trust. It’s saved us a lot of time and a decent amount of money and staff are happier. We’ve got more control over the money that’s coming in and every pound we save is then re-invested to spend on the children. The booking software has grown as the trust has grown, and that is a very positive thing!” - Jolyon Roberts, Executive Principal, Pegasus Academy Trust

With MagicBooking, Pegasus Academy Trust has turned their administrative challenges into an opportunity for growth, ensuring that their focus remains on providing the best education and care for their pupils.