Wow — what a summer. Providers held the line, parents booked in droves, and councils wrestled (again) with budgets, staffing, and the awkward gap between policy and delivery. Now we’re back for a new academic year with something simple that’s already working in the real world:
A one-off council fee that unlocks an Ofsted-ready booking and safeguarding system for every school in your region — with £0 monthly licence costs for schools, no hidden fees, and evidence at your fingertips.
This isn’t a new “initiative”. It’s a pragmatic way to meet the Department for Education’s emphasis on sustainable, high-quality wraparound — without burying schools in paperwork or recurring software bills. We’ve been refining this approach with Buckinghamshire, and the feedback from schools and providers has been clear: it’s impactful and smooth to run.
The council problem in one line
Councils carry the accountability for affordable, sustainable, high-quality wraparound — but they don’t control the daily booking chaos that lives in school offices and third-party providers. All Incompass gives you the evidence, the controls, and the automation — without adding cost or admin to schools.
What the model actually includes (and why it lands)
1) A one-off council fee
A single council payment (e.g., £5,000) funds the system for every school; £0 monthly and no hidden fees under the offer window set out in the council communication. Schools keep their revenue; there’s no ongoing licence to budget for. (Payment processing fees from your provider, e.g. Stripe, remain separate.)
2) Four portals so responsibilities stay clean
- Parent portal: cashless bookings, vouchers, payments, live updates.
- Staff portal: live registers, ratios, allergy/SEND flags, incident logs.
- School portal: finance, attendance, and impact reports ready for governors.
- Admin portal: safeguarding, audit trails, revocable access, reporting.
The system was built for wraparound realities, not retro-fitted from classroom software; the four-part structure is foundational to All Incompass.
3) Zero-faff setup and rapid wins
Book today; configure; launch. The platform was designed by childcare operators and technologists in 2023, and has been live since September 2023 supporting major providers: £700k+ in bookings, 2,200+ parents supported, 3,000+ children served to date.
4) Evidence where you need it
Class reports, finance summaries, and impact reports are available by role — with live incident logging and safe-word collection so staff can prove what happened, when, and who saw it.
Why councils say yes (the three-line business case)
Affordability — No monthly licence for schools under the council offer; schools keep 100% of revenue.
Sustainability — Automated admin, fewer manual errors, standardised processes that don’t collapse when a key person is off sick.
Quality & Safeguarding — Time-stamped registers, role-based access, and exportable reports back up your quality narrative.
A council lead put it perfectly: “We need proof without paperwork.” That’s the point — generate evidence as a by-product of doing the work, not as a second job at 8pm.
What schools and providers feel on the ground
“Parents book in minutes.” Mobile and desktop, with sessions even available up to five minutes before start if you permit it. (Your rules, your risk appetite.)
“Staff know what to do.” Live ratios, allergy flags, and one-click registers reduce that pre-session scramble and the post-session reconciliation.
“The head can see the picture.” School dashboards show attendance, finance, and impact in one place; governors get the narrative with the numbers.
“Safeguarding isn’t a separate spreadsheet.” It’s built in — with incident logs, access control, and safe-word collection.
Our Buckinghamshire experience (why this is “smooth”)
We’re delivering this council-funded model with Buckinghamshire, and the stand-out benefit is consistency: same system, same language, same evidence across schools and providers. That makes training simpler, onboarding faster, and data cleaner. (Where councils adopt the model, we tailor configuration to local rules; the underlying platform stays standard.)
Data protection: let’s talk plainly
We process personal data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We limit access to those with a legitimate need to know, and we maintain procedures for breach handling, including ICO notification where required. Controllers (e.g., schools or providers) are responsible for obtaining appropriate consents and meeting statutory retention obligations for children’s data. We provide the tooling; you remain the data controller in your context.
Commercial clarity (no surprises)
For direct customers, All Incompass normally charges £20/month plus a transaction percentage (3.5% standard; 2.5% introductory rate for the first five customers, maintained while they stay continuously). Stripe/payment fees are additional. Agreements run on a one-month rolling basis unless otherwise agreed; Commercial Agreement is mandatory. Council-funded deployments follow the specific council proposal (e.g., one-off fee; £0 monthly) within a time-limited window and remain subject to contract.
Implementation: what the first 30 days look like
- Week 1: Discovery & mapping. Confirm schools/providers in scope, agree local rules (vouchers, late cut-off, safe-word procedures).
- Week 2: Configuration. Brand sites, set sessions, connect payments, create roles/access patterns.
- Week 3: Training & test bookings. Staff portal practice; incident log walkthroughs; school dashboard orientation.
- Week 4: Launch. Parents onboarded via link/QR; live monitoring; same-day tweaks as needed.
A summer to be proud of. A term to make easier.
This summer showed the sector’s resilience. Let’s not carry the same admin into autumn. If you’re a council lead, the fastest path to sustainable wraparound isn’t another spreadsheet — it’s a single funded system that your schools can use tomorrow morning.
Next step:
- Book a discovery call → https://linktr.ee/allincompass
- Or share your brief → https://lnkd.in/eSnD6FmM
P.S. Prefer to see it first? Watch the 5-minute highlights (with a provider walk-through) or the 45-minute deep dive before we speak.