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The Challenge
Situated in the heart of Pukekohe, this vibrant intermediate school of ~750 students from seven contributing schools faced the daily challenges of managing cash payments for their diverse range of activities. With a busy, multicultural community and numerous events happening daily, the school needed a more efficient way to handle financial transactions.
Taking the First Step
"We were looking for a solution for cash handling," shares Rebekah Pearson, Tumuaki / Principal. After attending a finance conference and hearing positive feedback from local schools, Pukekohe Intermediate decided to make the change. Parents had been asking, "Why are you not adopting that same process? Why is it that we come into your school and we have to go back to using cash?"
Starting Small, Thinking Big
The school began their Kindo journey with a social event. "That was our little guinea pig on how we would minimise our cash," explains Stacey Hurunui, school administrator. "People just had to order the ticket online, put in their permission, and it was all good to go. It was easy to look at who had paid, who was coming, who had permission without going 'Have you got your form?'"
Immediate Benefits
The change brought immediate improvements to school operations:
- Eliminated safety risks and time waste of carrying cash deposits to the bank
- No more manual reconciliation - payments automatically allocated to the right place (Major time-saver for admin staff and reduces accidental errors)
- Clear visibility of who has paid and who is attending events, with integrated permission slips
- Parents can track their own payment history and access receipts without contacting the office reducing admin workload while improving parent experience.
- Simplifies live by having all events and payments in one place - clear overview for both staff and parents
- Reduced interruptions to admin staff for payment queries (Lets staff focus on more important tasks)
- Ability for parents to pay online anytime, anywhere (Convenience for parents leads to faster payments)
Parent Response
The transition has been overwhelmingly positive. "We've had some great positive feedback and parents say 'Why haven't we done that sooner?' It's been something that they've used in previous schools... they know what they're paying for, they get the receipts, they can keep track of it all themselves without having to come in and say, 'Have I paid this?'"
Looking to the future
Pukekohe Intermediate continues to expand their use of Kindo. They're now using it for incoming student registrations: "We've added the music instruments they can learn, we've added civic groups they can join... it's giving an interest to these new families and getting them on board. "The school sees Kindo as a way to strengthen community engagement: "It just opens up our community to be involved... they can also see what fundraisers we've got going on that they might be able to contribute to."
Advice to other schools
When asked about advising other schools on Kindo, the response from Stacey is straightforward: "Just do it! Don't even think about 'oh, it might not work' - it is simple, it's good, it does the job you need it to do. It's a huge timesaver."
A partner in progress
Rebekah shared how the support from Kindo has been crucial to their success. "The support was tremendous. We couldn't have been more pleased with the face-to-face meetings, online meetings, phone conversations. Whenever we needed support, we had it straight away." Looking ahead, the school is enthusiastic about further possibilities: "I would never want to see a school take a backward step and go back to cash and go back to the old ways, because this way has been far superior, far more efficient, cost-effective and straightforward for our families. "From managing everyday payments to facilitating community engagement, Kindo has become an integral part of Pukekohe Intermediate's operations, helping them create a more efficient, modern, and connected school community.
