The CHE-First Academy Platform for Potchefstroom Academy & SAAHST
Not just learner management — a connected academy backbone for compliance, programmes, quality, operations, and learner communication. Built to complement Sage, not replace it.
More than learner management.
An academy command centre.
Why This.
Why Now.
The CHE landscape has tightened, and 180–220 learners moving through the academy each year deserve a single, defensible operational backbone — not a patchwork of spreadsheets, email, and ad-hoc folders.
Self-Evaluation Reports, accreditation evidence, document libraries, and governance trails need to be ready on demand — not assembled in a panic before a review.
180–220 students per year need consistent visibility on enrolment, attendance, progress, evidence, and communications. Spreadsheets cannot carry that load reliably.
skillSYMS adds the academy operations layer — student finance visibility, POS reference, learner billing context — while Sage Pastel and Sage Payroll stay exactly where they are.
Audit trails, review findings, evidence readiness, and corrective actions become an everyday workflow — not a quarterly fire drill the team has to recover from.
A 6-Module Academy Platform
Built as a CHE-first ecosystem — six modules that together cover learner lifecycle, compliance, delivery, quality, operations, and communications. Activate the full bundle from day one or phase modules in.
- Full learner profiles & documents
- Enrolments & lifecycle tracking
- Attendance & progress
- Communication history
- Institution profile & CHE document library
- SER projects & SER versions
- Programme readiness & reviews
- Action plans, policies, governance
- Programme & module setup
- Sessions, calendars, timetables
- Student progress visibility
- Academic operations
- Audit trails & activity logs
- Review findings & evidence
- Corrective action tracking
- Compliance reporting
- Calendar & delivery coordination
- HR / People & staff roles
- CRM & tasks
- Internal workflows
- WhatsApp comms — 5,000 msgs/mo
- Notifications & reminders
- Student billing / POS reference
- Sage-friendly finance visibility
Everything Potch Academy Needs,
In One Platform
Mapped directly to the requirements André raised — every workflow engineered for CHE-first academy reality.
Full learner records, documents, enrolment forms, attendance, progress, and communication history — visible to admin, compliance, and academic staff.
Self-Evaluation Report projects, SER versioning, CHE document library, programme accreditation, policies, and governance evidence — review-ready.
Programme setup, module delivery, session/calendar support, timetables, and student progress dashboards for the academic team.
Audit trails, review findings, quality actions, evidence readiness, corrective action tracking, and compliance reporting — kept review-ready.
Staff roles, HR records, task management, and CRM workflows — covering enquiries, follow-ups, and operational visibility across the academy.
5,000 WhatsApp messages/month for reminders and follow-ups, plus POS reference and student billing visibility that complements Sage.
WhatsApp Automation &
Compliance Assist.
Built into the platform from day one — automated reminders for the academy team, compliance evidence prompts at SER milestones, and learner nudges on the channel students actually open.
- 📲Automated WhatsApp Reminders
Class reminders, document deadlines, payment prompts, and follow-ups — sent through templated WhatsApp flows.
- 📌Compliance Evidence Prompts
SER milestones, governance reviews, and policy refresh dates surface automatically before they become overdue.
- 📈Learner Progress Nudges
Trigger-based comms when attendance dips, assessments lag, or submissions are missing — closing the loop early.
- 🔎Smart Document Search
Instant retrieval across the CHE document library, learner files, and policies — saved searches and tags.
From Sign-Off to Go-Live
A phased, low-disruption rollout — designed to keep Potch Academy operational throughout while the new backbone is configured around your existing rhythm.
Transparent Pricing.
One Recommended Bundle.
A modular CHE-first bundle for ~180–220 students annually, billed monthly with an annual option. All prices exclude VAT (15%).
- ✦skillSYMS Scale Platform · 1 academy · up to 500 learners
- ✦Full CHE Workflow Pack — SER, documents, governance
- ✦Quality / Audit Pack — evidence, reviews, action plans
- ✦Operations Pack — Calendar, Delivery, HR/People, CRM
- ✦WhatsApp Comms Channel — 5,000 messages/month
- ✦Finance / POS Reference Module — Sage-complementary
| Component | Monthly (ZAR) |
| skillSYMS Scale Platform | R 3,999 |
| Full CHE Workflow Pack | R 4,500 |
| Quality / Audit Pack | R 1,499 |
| Operations Pack — Calendar, Delivery, HR/People, CRM | R 2,500 |
| WhatsApp Comms Channel — 5,000 msgs/mo | R 1,499 |
| Finance / POS Reference Module | R 1,500 |
| Estimated Monthly Total | R 15,497 |
| Estimated Annual Total (before VAT) | R 154,970 |
| Item | Investment (ZAR) |
| Setup & Tenant Configuration — branding, roles, modules, environment | R 35,000 |
| Training & Enablement — admin, compliance, academic, ops, finance | R 22,500 |
| Customisation & CHE Process Mapping — SER mapping, templates, QA config | From R 30,000 |
| Finance / Sage Integration Discovery | To be scoped |
Sized for current annual student volume within the Scale Platform's allowance of up to 500 active learners. Scope is for one academy / institution group.
skillSYMS handles academy operations and student finance visibility. Sage stays as the accounting and payroll system of record unless a separate integration scope is approved.
All pricing excludes VAT (15%). Annual billing structures available on request, subject to final scope confirmation.
Returns Beyond
the Monthly Line
- →Faster, defensible SER cycles with evidence already organised
- →Lower admin load — learner records, documents, and comms in one place
- →WhatsApp-first reminders that reach learners on the channel they actually use
- →Audit trails on tap — compliance becomes routine, not a quarterly scramble
- →CHE-readiness as a posture, not an event
- →Sage harmony — academy ops layered on top, no accounting disruption
- →Stronger learner retention through consistent communication and visibility
- →Board and council confidence backed by audit-ready evidence
We Build
Academy
Ecosystems.
skillSYMS specialises in CHE-aligned academy management platforms for South African private institutions — built for compliance, designed for learner outcomes, and engineered to coexist with the financial systems you already run.
Our approach is complementary, not disruptive: we add the academy and compliance layer your team needs, while Sage Pastel and Sage Payroll continue to do what they do best.
SER, document libraries, governance, action plans, and review-readiness baked into the platform — not bolted on.
Programmes, modules, sessions, calendars, attendance, HR, CRM — the full daily operating surface of a private academy.
Finance/POS visibility for student operations, while Sage Pastel and Sage Payroll stay as accounting/payroll systems of record.
South-African-built communications that reach learners and staff on the channel they actually open — automated and templated.
From Sign-Off
to Live Platform
Review the recommended bundle and once-off fees, confirm the modules in scope, and lock in the kick-off date. skillSYMS provisions the tenant within a week.
Tenant setup, branding, users and roles, learner imports, programme/module setup, and calendar baseline established.
SER projects, document library, reviews, action plans configured. Admin, compliance, academic, ops, and finance teams trained with practical walkthroughs.
Full platform launch, then a usage review at 60–90 days to confirm whether a deeper Sage integration or finance migration should be scoped separately.
Build the CHE-Ready
Academy Backbone
Let's confirm scope and a kick-off date for Potchefstroom Academy & SAAHST. Tenant provisioning starts within a week of sign-off.