FocusCS Case Note Management Software for Schools (Australia and New Zealand region)

What is FocusCS?

FocusCS is a secure, cloud-based student case note and wellbeing management system purpose-built for school counsellors, school psychologists and wellbeing teams. It streamlines administrative tasks, manages student caseloads, handles digital forms, and satisfies industry-specific reporting and compliance workflows. See our Home or Features tab for further information.

Does FocusCS integrate with School Information Systems (SIS)?

Yes, FocusCS features SIS API integration and automatic syncing. Student data is received to the school account via a one way, read only sync from the school Student Information System (SIS), facilitated via a secure API integration, enabling the automatic creation and ongoing lifecycle management of student profiles in FocusCS for our users, with student data maintained via a weekly SIS sync schedule. See our Integrations tab for further information.

Where is FocusCS data hosted and is it secure?

FocusCS provides highly secure, localized cloud hosting under AWS, with all primary data and backups located in Sydney, Australia. The software enforces Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), and is assessed at ST4S Tier 1 standards. See the security profile section of our Governance tab for further information.

Our ICT Due Diligence Pack is a key source of information for school ICT departments, encompassing FAQ’s in a straightforward Q&A style format, and including a pre-filled Data Privacy Impact Assessment (DPIA) to reduce the administrative workload for your ICT team.

ICT Due Diligence Pack

Who owns the data stored in FocusCS?

Your school maintains sole ownership of all data stored within the platform at all times. FocusCS acts strictly as a secure data custodian under an infinite data retention policy. The software provides a user-facing data retention dashboard to enable authorised user types to easily identify and schedule records (case notes, students) for permanent deletion in compliance with internal school policies and applicable jurisdiction requirements. See the student privacy section of our Features tab for further information.

Can FocusCS case notes be exported for legal or subpoena compliance?

Yes. FocusCS features a single-click student case note history export tool. It allows authorised user types to export a comprehensive case note history in a single click, and facilitates options for customizable date ranges and per-file download of any external file attachments uploaded to case notes by users. The PDF export is suitable for direct subpoena responses. See the case notes section of our Features tab for further information.

What level of involvement is needed from the school’s IT department?

The platform is intentionally designed to minimize school ICT overhead and involvement. Aside from the initial API integration setup, all user support tickets and onboarding aspects are handled directly between the schools’ users and our Brisbane-based FocusCS support staff. See the user support section of our Features tab for further information.

Yes, FocusCS digitises your form templates at onboarding stage for you, ensuring seamless transition to a digital, streamlined form management environment for your school. Users can create unlimited new form templates, and update existing form templates, as often as needed. See the digital forms section of our Features tab for further information.

Does the software generate exportable reports, and can they be de-identified?

Yes. The platform features real-time, exportable and de-identifiable reports for student appointment tracking (scheduled, unscheduled), overall student wellbeing trends, and student and counsellor activity overviews. See the real-time reporting section of our Features tab for further information.

What is the pricing model for FocusCS?

Pricing consists of a one-off onboarding fee ($800 + GST for new schools) followed by a predictable annual subscription based on the number of users. User accounts for university placement students and temporary relief staff are provided completely free of charge. Additionally, members of associations like AEDPA and ConnectEd clients receive discounts. See our Pricing tab for further information.

Software Proposal

Our Software Proposal provides a template to assist you with the preparation of a feasibility proposal suited to your own ELT or school Board requirements.‍ ‍

Yes. We request written testimonials from our live school community, which we believe provide an unbiased, genuine insight into the experiences of our real users. For cybersecurity, we publish only the name of the school and omit any information in the testimonial that may otherwise be attractive to threat actors (enrolment count, SIS platform in use, school ICT insights). It is for this same reason that we do not engage in public marketing campaigns or maintain a heavy social media presence - we prefer our software to ‘fly under the radar’ and rely solely on word of mouth recommendations instead. See our Testimonials tab for further information.

Does FocusCS have any case studies, testimonials or reviews from schools?

What does the data migration process look like for existing files?

FocusCS supports secure file uploads by authorised users to facilitate the transition from legacy systems or paper files. For example, to create a case note history entry on a student profile to house the digital history files (PDF, MS Office, Image, Audio, Video, etc) for that student in FocusCS. See the case notes section of our Features tab for further information.

Can we customize digital intake, consent or referral forms?

How can we help?

Our comprehensive Software Information Pack is a key resource, outlining software capabilities, subscription pricing, implementation timeframes, SIS integration, and providing ICT due diligence material.

Software Information Pack