Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, AlFalah Academy is a fully online Islamic Sunday school based in Australia. The Academy was created to support families who did not have access to physical madrasas—particularly across Australia’s vast geography, where commuting to in-person institutes is often not feasible.
Operating entirely online, AlFalah Academy focuses exclusively on children’s religious education while supporting its teachers—many of whom are volunteer mothers—through in-house training on communication, teaching delivery, and religious studies. Rather than replacing physical institutes, the Academy intentionally serves families who cannot reasonably attend them.
Before DreamClass: Complex Administration in Excel
Before adopting DreamClass, AlFalah Academy managed nearly all school operations through multiple Excel spreadsheets. Course schedules, attendance records, student data, fees, invoices, and teacher payments were tracked manually across different files.
Attendance was especially time-consuming. Teachers would share roll calls through WhatsApp, after which an administrator had to reconcile and enter each student’s presence into Excel. Teaching hours were also tracked manually, taking into account substitutions and rotating class coverage—adding further complexity to payroll calculations.
As Anwar recalls, “It was a mix of everything… a lot of formulas… and once you understand it, it works—but it’s not easily transferable.”
The system relied heavily on individual knowledge, carried a high risk of errors, and was difficult for new administrators to understand. Reconciling everything took around two hours every Sunday, creating a significant burden for a small, volunteer-driven team.
Searching for a Simple, All-in-One Solution
When Anwar took over as director and administrator, the priority was clear: simplify operations and reduce the weekly administrative workload.
The Academy needed an affordable, reliable system that could handle schedules, students, payments, invoicing, and teacher tracking in one place—without unnecessary complexity. Equally important was strong customer support, as onboarding a new system without dedicated IT resources required hands-on guidance.
“We were looking for something reliable and easy to understand—not super complex,” Anwar explains.
Early interactions with the DreamClass team, including prompt responses and clear explanations, helped build confidence that the transition would be manageable.
A Smooth Transition to DreamClass
The onboarding process proved to be straightforward. DreamClass’s interface, combined with onboarding support and instructional videos, allowed both administrators and teachers to adapt quickly.
Even teachers who were not particularly tech-savvy were able to mark attendance and add class comments without difficulty. Once shown how the system worked, no attendance issues were reported.
According to Anwar, “Our teachers picked it up very easily. Once we showed them, there were no complaints.”
Saving Hours Every Week
The impact of DreamClass was immediate and measurable.
Administrative work that previously took around two hours every Sunday was reduced to approximately five minutes. Attendance is now marked directly by teachers inside DreamClass, and teaching hours are calculated automatically in the background.
Bulk invoicing removed the need to manually issue and track fees, while bulk notifications simplified communication with parents—especially for unpaid invoice reminders and absences. Stripe integration further reduced overhead, as payments are automatically marked as completed once parents pay online.
Reflecting on the change, Anwar notes, “From two hours, it straight away came down to five minutes.”
A One-Stop Shop for Online Schools
Today, DreamClass supports nearly all of AlFalah Academy’s administrative needs—from registrations and re-enrollments to attendance, payments, and communication.
Anwar describes DreamClass as “a one-stop shop for 99% of school management work,” eliminating the need for tools like Google Forms or separate accounting systems.
For a small, volunteer-led Sunday school, this simplicity has been essential. It allows the team to focus on students and teaching—rather than spreadsheets and manual reconciliation.
Schedule a meeting with our experts to discover how DreamClass can perfectly meet your school’s needs!
Built to Support Online Education
AlFalah Academy continues to operate intentionally as an online school, serving families who lack access to physical institutes. With DreamClass providing structure without unnecessary complexity, the Academy is well-positioned to remain efficient, scalable, and focused on its mission—no matter where its students are located.