Hello, we are SchoolsBuddy!

Founded in 2013, SchoolsBuddy aims to provide schools with the most efficient and cost-effective solution for a number of common difficulties. We strive for constant improvement and growth through listening and learning from our customers. We endeavour to maintain our personal touch with all our schools by offering support and training whenever it is needed.

Where it all started

Gary Hector, Managing Director

The idea for SchoolsBuddy first originated in 2013, when chatting with David after a round of golf sparked an idea that first started as a solution for sports teams but soon developed into the perfect tool for schools.

With a technical background, it has always appealed to me to help solve problems through technology, but having always just advised on tech that was already available, this was the first time that I would be developing the solution.

There are always new ways to improve the system; a new module to build or a way to make things work more efficiently, so we never rest! Joining Faria Education Group in 2019 has enabled SchoolsBuddy to continue to grow and improve, with the support of a wider, global team.

David Higginson, Sales Director

When Gary and I first discussed the idea of a ‘sports team app’ in 2013, we had no idea that in 2020 we would be working with hundreds of schools across so many different countries.

Like many business ideas, we began with a desire to fix a problem that we had encountered – the difficulties in organising local, recreational sports teams, but along the way, we have developed this business into a complex solution to solve far more problems, particularly in schools.

There is something hugely satisfying to see our clients using a solution that we have created, and personally, I love meeting potential new clients and hearing about the challenges that they face and being able to help them. I am particularly excited to embark on the next part of our journey with Faria Education Group.

SubsBuddy was created 2013

SubsBuddy was the first step on the way to the creation of SchoolsBuddy. The software was originally designed as a sports-team organisation tool.
Becoming SchoolsBuddy 2014

This year saw our first school and the start of our redirection to become a school based solution.
Growth 2015

Gaining more schools across the world SchoolsBuddy is being adopted by schools in some of the most prestigious school groups.
Moving to our new offices 2017

Due to our expansion SchoolsBuddy moved to a larger office in order to be able to grow the team further.
Faria acquires SchoolsBuddy 2019

Crossing 250 school customers. In December 2019, Faria Education Group acquired a majority stake in SchoolsBuddy. This will see the business grow even further from 2020.

Joining Faria Education Group

In December 2019 SchoolsBuddy joined the Faria Education Group, to provide activities management & payment solutions to the world’s leading international schools.

The addition of SchoolsBuddy to the Faria product suite provides international schools with a unified family experience for students and parents encompassing activities management, booking, sign-up, payments and more – complementing Faria’s flagship services, ManageBac and Atlas, for teaching and learning, and OpenApply, for admissions management.

Joining Faria offers a fantastic opportunity to expand SchoolsBuddy across ManageBac & OpenApply partner schools. The SchoolsBuddy team has worked tirelessly over the past 6 years to create and develop our solution and now, with the support of Faria, we can continue our growth and improve our solution for schools across the world.

In 2020, Faria plans to focus product development on further enhancing the existing ManageBac & SchoolsBuddy integration and expanding the service offering with additional modules and broader payments support to deliver on Faria’s long-term promise of unifying systems.

About Faria Education Group

Faria Education Group was founded in 2006 to transition schools from paper onto a curriculum-focused learning platform.

Today, Faria powers over 10,000 schools & districts and 3 million students with a suite of 5 services. ManageBac is Faria’s flagship product and the leading curriculum planning, assessment and reporting platform for IB World schools.

OpenApply is an online admissions solution supporting the applicant journey from enquiry to enrolment.

Atlas is a curriculum management platform enabling schools to collaboratively plan, share, and analyse their curriculum.

Curriculum Trak provides an integrated platform offering curriculum management for faith-based schools.

SchoolsBuddy is an innovative web and mobile solution for extra-curricular management and online payments. Together with our integration partners, we offer schools a world-class software suite for meeting all their information management needs.

Faria’s multi-disciplinary team of over 170 operates globally across 9 offices.