Kestrel

Part 5. Administration

5.8 Imports and returns

Version 1.1 ·Updated 2026-10-25

Next reviewed by 2027-04-25.

Written for a school's staff learning how Kestrel works, the trainers who teach them, and the families using the portal.

Loading staff and results files into Kestrel, and checking and producing the files the school sends to regulators.

Written forBusiness managerPrincipal and executiveRegistrarIT

What these pages are for

Data comes in and returns go out through two pages. "Data imports" loads a file the school already keeps, such as a staff export or a set of results, and shows what it would do before it does it. "Statutory returns" checks the record against what a regulator asks for and produces the file.

Who uses it

The business manager imports staff and produces most returns. The principal can read and run returns. The registrar and the school's leaders run the returns for their own collections. A person sees an import kind only if their role has its capability. Without it, the page says "Loading results isn't part of your role".

Key ideas

Dry run
A trial of an import that shows what it would do and changes nothing. Choose "Show me what it would do".
Mapping
Which column of the school's file means which field in Kestrel.
Finding
A problem a check found for a student, with the field and the detail, so it can be fixed before the file is produced.
Collection period
The census or year a return is produced for, such as the August 2026 census.
Substantiation pack
The evidence behind a return, kept with each run.

Screens

  • Data imports

    /app/imports

    The kinds of import the signed-in person's role may run.

  • HRIS export

    /app/imports/hris

    Maps and loads a staff export from the school's HR system.

    Needs staff.record.import

  • External results

    /app/imports/external-results

    Loads HSC, IB or ATAR results and matches them to students.

  • NAPLAN results

    /app/imports/naplan-results

    Loads the student results file, matched by registration number.

  • Statutory returns

    /app/exports

    The returns the school can check and produce, with the latest run of each.

    Needs tenant.export.read

  • A return

    /app/exports/[key]

    Checks the record, produces the file and shows the runs.

    Needs tenant.export.read

Loading a file

  1. Open "Data imports" and choose the kind of import.
  2. On the HRIS page, choose "Map an export" to say which column is which. Kestrel never fetches the export itself, so you bring the file.
  3. Choose "Run an import", then "Show me what it would do". Read what it reports.
  4. Fix the file or choose "Resolve" on a problem in the "Problems to resolve" queue.
  5. Choose "Run it". The import runs are listed on the page.

Results files are matched to students and checked before anything is saved. A corrected file replaces the lines of the earlier one.

Earlier consents can be brought in after the people and relationship files. Each row names the child, the giver, the configured purpose, the day given and the previous tool; it can also give an end day. Kestrel checks the giver's responsibility on the original day and limits a child's consent to twelve months. The rehearsal warns about an ended consent that needs a new ask. The earlier question wording is not imported, and loading the same source row again does not create a second consent.

Checking and producing a return

The returns index has the columns Return, Formats, Reads and "Latest run". The registered returns include the "Non-government schools census" (which NCCD fields join), "Address Collection", "Student attendance collection", "NAPLAN roster", "Board submission", "VASS submission", "IB extract", "VET enrolments", "PRISMS pack", "Student ID card roster" and "Activity roster export".

  1. Open a return and choose the collection period or year, such as "August 2026 census".
  2. Choose "Check against the record". The findings table lists each Student, Field, Problem and Detail.
  3. Fix the record where a finding is right, and check again.
  4. Choose "Produce the file", or "Produce again" after a change. Producing needs the capability to run returns.
  5. Choose "Open the file". Each run is listed with its Finished time, Period, Outcome and Checksum.
  6. Download the "Substantiation pack" if you need the evidence behind the figures.

A return that has not been run shows "Not run yet" in the index, and "No runs yet" on its own page.

Tasks

  • Import the staff export from the HR system. Import staff from the HRIS
  • Check a return and fix its findings.
  • Produce the census file.
  • Load NAPLAN or external results.

Journeys that use this chapter

Settings

The two pages have few settings of their own. Return files follow the school's registered state and the collection period you choose. A board course must be set on each senior class, or the class is left out of the board submission. The Roster export setting chooses the format of the activity roster.

Sync current families and load returned results

  • Current families

    /app/imports/current-families

    Load the SIS's students, adults, relationships and households files together.

  • Record sync

    /app/imports/people-sync

    Dry-run or stage a SIS record sync and resolve its problems.

  • Final-year leavers

    /app/imports/completed-leavers

    Confirm which final-year leavers completed school before recording that leaving reason.

  • Returned identifiers

    /app/imports/returned-identifiers

    Check and load QCAA LUIs or SACE registration numbers onto matched students.

  • Awarding body results

    /app/imports/exam-results

    For England, load the awarding bodies' results onto the matched students.

  • Address Collection

    /app/settings/address-collection

    Set school-location AGEIDs, campuses, departmental contacts and workbook or SIF XML output.

Start with a dry run of a current-family or record-sync file. Review each refused row and download the error report. A dry run records the proposed run without changing student records. Loading stages the plan for the background job; a large change may wait at the guard for review. Check the run and unresolved problems afterwards.

Final-year leavers asks the registrar to confirm completion: Kestrel does not infer it from a blank leaving reason. For returned identifiers, check the matched students before loading; refused rows are left unchanged. Awarding body results is under Data imports and needs the transcript-writing permission, rather than assessment-settings permission.

Map and rehearse a migration

  • Migration

    /app/settings/migration

    Read previous-system mappings and landed extract files, and start a rehearsal.

  • Mapping version

    /app/settings/migration/[system]/versions/[version]

    Read mappings in words, check or edit the document and open the next version.

  • Value maps

    /app/settings/migration/[system]/versions/[version]/values

    Match the source system's codes to Kestrel values and read unmapped codes.

  • Preview

    /app/settings/migration/[system]/versions/[version]/preview

    Preview mapped rows without writing staged records.

  • Rehearsal report

    /app/settings/migration/[system]/rehearsal

    Read counts, refused rows, changes since the previous rehearsal and findings.

  • Staged person

    /app/settings/migration/[system]/staged/person/[identifier]

    Inspect a person as the rehearsal staged them.

  • Sign-off

    /app/settings/migration/[system]/versions/[version]/sign-off

    The analyst and registrar sign the mapping and its latest rehearsal.

  • Moving to Kestrel

    /app/settings/moving

    Record the move plan, signers, dates, readiness and issues for the cut-over.

  1. Open Migration and check that the landed extract files match the source system’s control totals. Open the mapping version and read what each field becomes.
  2. Review Value maps, including codes without a mapping and what happens to an unknown code. Check the version, then Preview the mapped rows.
  3. Run a rehearsal and read its report, refused lines and change from the previous rehearsal. Inspect staged records where offered. Resolve blocking findings, or record the reason for accepting a finding where allowed.
  4. Ask the analyst and registrar to sign that version and rehearsal. Changing the mapping or rehearsing again clears both signatures. A signed mapping is changed by opening its next version.

Moving to Kestrel records the school's readiness and decisions. The operator runs the database cut-over, go decision and rollback; pressing a setting is not a production migration. Coordinate the dates and the systems retained for finance before the move.

Training notes

  • Practise a dry run with a small file so the habit forms before a large one.
  • Show how a finding names the student and the field to correct.
  • Remind staff that producing again after a fix makes a new run and leaves the old run listed.