What happens during the holidays?

During the school holidays most schools will pause the notifications going out to staff and students. This will stop the prompts and the reminder emails being sent by the system. If a student were to click on an old link to check-in during the holidays, they will be able to check-in and have access to external help or crisis intervention providers.

The second thing to note is that our schools handle out of hours help requests the same way that they would handle a student emailing or reaching out another way during this time. Our schools often set this expectation by:

• Making an announcement to students that this is a school-based app and while you can reach out for help, teachers will respond during school hours.
• Have a class discussion about who students can approach for help outside the app (see notes below)
• Inform teachers of the same: schools we work with tell staff that this is a school-based app, to take the pressure off their time commitment.

One of the reasons why Pulse is always 'on,' is that the moment a student feels both upset enough and safe enough to seek help can be fleeting. Therefore, it was a deliberate decision to have Pulse available to students at any time. 

However, at the end of the academic school year, participants are locked out of Pulse. This is the screen they will see if they try to check-in. From here, they can still have access to external help providers.

Here is a reminder on  how to set up your term dates and managing notifications during the holidays.