Global Star School says it uses its own mobile app, available on the iOS App Store and Google Play, to keep parents informed during the day. According to the school's published description, the app covers the daily schedule and activities, health and meal updates, photos and videos of children, school announcements, push notifications and direct chat with the homeroom teacher. The app is meant to replace scattered group chats with a single place where school information arrives.
This guide sets out what those features are for, what to ask the campus when you first install the app, and the habits that help families get the most from it without checking it every ten minutes. Details such as how accounts are issued, which languages the interface supports and exactly what each campus posts can change over time and may differ between campuses, so confirm them with your campus office rather than relying on any single description, including this one.
What the school says the app includes
The school lists six main functions. Here is what each is generally used for in a preschool setting, and the question worth asking about each when you enrol.
- Daily schedule and activities. The rhythm of the day and what the class worked on. Ask whether this shows the class plan, your child's own record, or both.
- Health and meal updates. Notes on eating, rest and any health observations. Ask how quickly a health note appears and whether serious matters are also communicated by phone.
- Photos and videos. Moments from the day shared by teachers. Ask whether images are shared to the class or to each family individually.
- Direct chat with the homeroom teacher. A private message channel. Ask what hours teachers are expected to answer and who replies if the teacher is away.
- Push notifications. Alerts on your phone when something new is posted. Ask which kinds of posts trigger them.
- School announcements. Notices from the campus or the whole school, such as holidays and events. Ask whether announcements are also sent by email or on paper.
Writing down the answers in your first week saves confusion later, particularly if two parents, a grandparent or a nanny will share the information. It also lets you compare what the app actually does on your campus with what you expected from the brochure.
Setting it up in the first week
The steps below are general. The exact process, including how logins are created and linked to your child, is decided by the school, so follow the campus office's instructions where they differ.
- Search for the school's app by name in the App Store or Google Play and check that the developer listed matches the school before installing it. Lookalike apps are rare but worth ruling out.
- Ask the campus office how your login is created and linked to your child's profile. Do this before the first day, so photos and reports from day one reach you.
- Decide who in the family needs access: both parents, a grandparent abroad, a nanny who does pick-up. Ask how many accounts are allowed and whether access levels differ.
- Check that names, the spelling of your child's name and your contact details are correct. Errors here are behind many missed messages.
- Look through the notification settings on your phone and in the app. Keep alerts for chat and announcements on; consider grouping photo alerts so they do not interrupt your work day.
- Send a short first message to the homeroom teacher introducing yourself and saying which language you are comfortable using. It confirms that chat works in both directions.
If anything does not work by the end of the first week, raise it with the office straight away. Technical problems are easy to fix early and frustrating to discover after a month of missing reports.
Photos and videos: a window, not a live feed
For many parents, the photos are the main reason they open the app. Seeing your child at circle time or splashing at water play can be the best moment of a working day, especially in the first weeks when you are not sure how they are coping. It helps to know how these images are made. Teachers take them while they are supervising, usually in short bursts during activities that look good on camera. Quieter moments, such as a child sitting alone or a hard transition, are less likely to be photographed.
That means two things. First, the absence of your child from a batch of photos rarely means anything; they may have been just outside the frame, or the teacher was busy helping another child. Second, a cheerful photo is genuine but partial. If your child seems unsettled at home despite smiling pictures, trust what you see at home and talk to the teacher.
Some families find that frequent photos make them more anxious, because each gap becomes a question. If that happens, it is reasonable to decide to look at photos once in the evening rather than as they arrive. The photos will still be there, and your child benefits more from a calm parent at pick-up than from one who has spent the afternoon refreshing an app.
Using direct chat with the homeroom teacher well
Use chat for information the teacher needs today. A poor night's sleep, a new medication the school has been asked to give, a change in who is collecting, a child who skipped breakfast. Short, factual messages sent before drop-off help the teacher plan her morning around your child.
Keep big conversations for a meeting. Concerns about development, behaviour or relationships with other children are hard to handle in chat. Use a message to ask for a time to talk, then have the conversation in person or by call, where tone is easier to read.
Remember the teacher is with the children. During the day, the homeroom teacher is supervising a class. A reply may come at nap time or after pick-up. If something is urgent, such as a pick-up emergency, phone the campus rather than waiting for a chat reply.
Write so that translation survives. If you and the teacher do not share a first language, short sentences without idioms translate far more accurately. Put times, dates and names in plain form, and ask a direct question if you need a direct answer.
Keep a copy of agreements that matter. When a teacher confirms something important in chat, such as an agreed approach to toilet training, a food your child must avoid or a change to the collection arrangements, take a screenshot or note it elsewhere. App histories can be reset when a child moves class, changes campus or the school updates its software, and a short personal record avoids the awkward position of remembering an agreement that nobody else can find.
Respect the boundaries the school sets. Some schools ask parents not to message teachers late in the evening or at weekends. Even if the app allows it, holding non-urgent messages until working hours helps teachers stay in the job, and continuity of staff matters a great deal to young children.
Announcements and notifications: not missing the important ones
A school app carries messages of very different weight in the same place. A notice about an upcoming holiday closure or a change in pick-up arrangements matters much more than a new photo album, yet both can arrive as the same kind of alert. Families who are new to Vietnam can also miss announcements about events that they have no cultural reason to expect, such as celebrations around Tet, the Mid-Autumn Festival or Vietnamese Teachers' Day in November, which can change the timetable or involve dress-up days.
A few habits help. Read announcements in full when they arrive rather than from the notification preview, which can cut off the most important line. If an announcement asks you to do something, such as send a costume, sign a form or confirm attendance, act on it or put it in your own calendar the same day. If a notice is unclear, or seems to be written for Vietnamese-speaking families in a way that leaves out a detail you need, ask the office or the homeroom teacher to clarify; you are almost certainly not the only parent wondering.
If both parents use the app, agree who is responsible for acting on announcements. A surprising number of missed deadlines come from each parent assuming the other had seen it.
Things the app is not the right channel for
A single place for school messages is convenient, which tempts families to use it for everything. Some matters go better elsewhere, either because they need a conversation, involve other families, or need a written record kept by the office.
- Questions about fees, contracts or withdrawal. These belong with the admissions or finance office, in writing, so that the answer is on record. A homeroom teacher usually cannot give binding answers about money.
- Concerns about another child. If your child is being hurt or upset by a classmate, ask the teacher for a meeting. Naming another child in a chat thread, or sharing their photo, creates problems for that family and for the school.
- Formal complaints. A complaint about care, safety or staff conduct should follow the school's complaints procedure, addressed to the campus manager, so that it is handled by someone with the authority to act.
- Medical instructions. If the school is to give medicine or follow a care plan, it will normally need a signed form and the medicine in its original packaging, not just a chat message.
- Long explanations of family circumstances. A separation, a bereavement or a health problem at home is worth sharing with the teacher, but in person first, with the app used afterwards for practical updates.
Keeping these matters out of the chat thread also protects the thread itself. When chat stays practical and brief, teachers can read and act on it quickly, which is what makes it valuable on the day your child is unwell or your plans change at short notice.
When the app goes quiet, or something seems wrong
There will be days when the report arrives late, photos do not appear or a message goes unanswered until evening. Most of the time the reason is ordinary: a teacher off sick, a busy day with an outing, a connection problem at the campus, an app update. Before assuming anything, check whether other parents in the class are experiencing the same thing, and give the school a reasonable time to catch up.
If gaps become regular, raise it calmly with the campus office rather than with the teacher alone. A pattern of missing reports can point to a staffing or workflow problem that the campus manager is better placed to fix. Be specific: which days, which features, what you expected to see.
Also keep the app's role in proportion. It supports communication with the school; it does not replace it. If something about your child's care worries you, whether it comes from a photo, a note or something your child says, the right next step is a direct conversation, not a closer study of the app. The school's own guidance on how to raise concerns, usually set out in the parent handbook or enrolment agreement, applies just as much to issues spotted in the app as to anything else.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Is the Global Star School app free for parents?
The school does not list an app charge on its public pages, and parent apps of this kind are usually part of the service rather than a paid extra. Check your fee sheet and enrolment documents, and ask admissions directly, since what is included can change and may be set out in the agreement you sign.
Can grandparents overseas see photos in the app?
That depends on how many accounts the school allows per child and whether it permits access by family members other than parents. Ask the campus office. If extra accounts are not possible, agree within the family how photos will be shared, and keep in mind that other children may appear in class pictures.
What language is the app in?
The school's public pages do not say which interface languages the app supports, and content such as announcements may be written in Vietnamese, English or both. Ask the campus during your tour or first week. If a notice reaches you only in Vietnamese, it is reasonable to ask for an English summary.
Should I use the app or phone the school when my child is sick?
Use the method the school asks for in its absence and illness policy. As a general rule, a phone call to the campus is better for anything time-sensitive, such as a child who will not attend today or a change to who is collecting, while the app suits information that can wait a few hours.
Can I ask the school not to post photos of my child?
Yes. Most schools have a process for photo consent, and you can ask how it works, whether you can opt out of photos shared beyond your own family, and how class pictures that include your child are handled. Raise it at enrolment so the teachers know your preference from the first day.
What if I prefer email to the app?
Many schools now route nearly all communication through their app, so relying only on email may mean missing things. Ask which messages, if any, are also sent by email. Setting up the app for at least one adult in the family is the safest way to make sure nothing important is missed.