Spider - the web interface of PCSchool

Spider is the web interface of PCSchool. It is the portal that allows staff, caregivers and students access to information based on the security your school assigns to the different user types. It was initially designed to be an easy to user interface for teachers to perform their daily tasks such as roll marking, updating absence entries, entering marks and creating behaviour notes but it now allows access to a variety of other functionality. Since its launch, the Spider has added a large number of additional controls and is becoming the user interface for all aspects of PCSchool. It will replace the current Windows application "Back Office." 

It is installed on a server running IIS within the school’s network, unless PCSchool is being externally hosted. For system requirements, refer to System Requirements

Spider is available beyond your school’s internal network (EG Staff access from home, parent access for profile updates , interviews, viewing school reports and statements…). To do this, your school needs to organise an external URL and set up a matching DNS record to resolve internally. PCSchool can assist with this. Schools have a degree of choice over its name as shown in the example below.

Existing URL  http://www.learning.nsw.edu.au points to the school’s external website.
Spider URL     http://portal.learning.nsw.edu.au/Spider points back into the school to the internal Spider website.

An SSL certificate needs to be added to the Spider server so access is through https://, ensuring data is encrypted between the Spider server and the end user. More information about this can be found at: HTTPS Information

The following documents may assist you preparing for the implementation of Spider.

• The Spider Menu