Class codes

A class code is how thirty children get into Ten Points on a trolley of shared iPads without typing an address, remembering a password, or putting a hand up to ask you what theirs is.

Classroom plan and above

A Teacher-tier school has no child-facing Ten Points at all. The class code screen will tell you so plainly rather than make a code that lets nobody in. Your administrator can see which plan you are on under Admin → Settings → Modules.

Running one

1. Make a code.

   Class codes, then Make a code, then Who it is for. The code is short and easy to say out loud, and it belongs to that class for as long as you leave it running.

2. Put it on the whiteboard.

   Children open Ten Points and type the code on the first screen. There is a square version for a device with a camera. No address, no surname, nothing to spell.

3. They pick their class, then themselves.

   Two screens rather than one, and first names only. A child who cannot read their own surname can still find their own face.

4. They give their own secret.

   This is the step that makes it them rather than the child sitting next to them.

5. Stop it at the bell.

   A code is a door you opened. Stopping it signs everybody out and the code stops working straight away – which matters most when the iPads go on to another class after break.

Every live code in the school

The Class codes screen lists all of them under Live codes, not just yours. That is deliberate: the code that needs stopping at half past three is usually somebody else’s – a colleague on a school trip, or a supply teacher who has gone home.

Each row shows who it reaches, when it started, and how many children are signed in now. Stopping somebody else’s code is allowed and is sometimes the right thing to do; it signs their children out, so it is worth a word first if they are mid-lesson.

Locked out

Too many wrong tries on one device and that device is held out for a while. It is a classroom, and somebody will always try their friend’s name. Stopping the code and making a new one clears it.

A child's secret is not a password

It exists so that a seven-year-old can prove they are themselves, and it only works inside a code that a member of staff started. It will not get anybody in from home.

Looking one up is a deliberate act. Ten Points asks you to prove who you are again first, and records that you did it, with your name against it. That is not distrust – it is what makes it safe for the secret to be reversible at all.

Common questions

Can two classes use the same code? No. A code is for one class, which is what makes the second screen short.

What if a child is in the wrong class? They will not find themselves on the faces screen. That is usually the roster being a day behind rather than a mistake – see The overnight sync.

Does a code expire on its own? Do not rely on it. Stop it when you are finished; that is the habit worth having.

Can I see who is signed in? Yes, on the same screen, under the code.