Introducing PointDash Rewards: Turn Points Into Prizes

We're excited to announce the launch of PointDash Rewards — the next step in making your school's house points system even more powerful.

From today, students don't just accumulate points. They earn coins. And coins can be spent in a fully customisable rewards store that your school controls entirely.

Why rewards matter

Points are a great way to recognise positive behaviour and achievement, but recognition alone can only go so far. The most effective engagement systems give students something to work towards — a tangible goal that makes earning points feel worth the effort.

That's exactly what Rewards is designed to do. Rather than points disappearing into a leaderboard, they now translate directly into something students can see, plan for, and spend.

How it works

The flow is simple and transparent for both students and staff.

When a teacher awards points, coins are credited to the student's account automatically — no extra steps required. Your school controls the conversion rate, so you can decide how many coins a given number of points is worth.

Students can browse the rewards store at any time, see exactly which rewards are available, and check how many coins each one costs. When they've saved up enough, they redeem — simple.

Here's the full journey:

1. Student earns points — A teacher awards points for positive behaviour or achievement.
2. Coins are awarded — Coins are credited automatically based on your school's settings.
3. Student explores rewards — Students browse the store and see what's within reach.
4. Reward is redeemed — When they have enough coins, they redeem their chosen reward.

Your store, your rewards

We've deliberately kept the rewards catalogue open-ended, because every school is different. The best rewards are the ones that genuinely resonate with your students.

Some ideas for your rewards:

• Extra lunchtime or a free period
• A parking spot
• Meeting with the principal
• A leadership opportunity or special privilege
• Exclusive school merchandise
• Gift cards
• Stationery

You control the coin cost of every reward, and you can adjust pricing at any time. If a reward becomes too easy or too hard to reach, rebalancing it is a matter of seconds.

Rewards can also include variants — different sizes, colours, or versions of the same item. Students select their preferred variant when redeeming, so you can offer flexibility without creating separate reward entries for each option.

Full visibility for students

One of the key principles behind Rewards is transparency. Students should never have to guess how close they are to something they want. The rewards store shows every available reward alongside its coin cost, so students can set their own goals and work towards them deliberately.

This visibility is a meaningful motivator. A student who can see that they're 40 coins away from their target reward is far more likely to stay engaged than one who simply sees a number going up.

Redemption management: you're in control

Different rewards need different handling, and we've built Rewards with that in mind.

Digital rewards like virtual gift cards, extra free periods, privileges, or access to a service — can be set up for auto-fulfillment. The reward is granted instantly when the student redeems, with no staff action required. For rewards like gift card codes, PointDash can automatically allocate and deliver unique codes to students upon redemption, so they're immediately ready to use.

Both digital and physical rewards can require staff approval before a redemption is confirmed, if you prefer. This gives your team the ability to review requests, manage inventory, and ensure fair distribution.

Every redemption — whether auto-fulfilled or manually approved — is recorded with a complete audit trail for full transparency.

Inventory tracking and analytics

As your rewards programme grows, keeping on top of what's popular and what's running low becomes important. PointDash Rewards includes inventory tracking for any reward, with your choice of automatic inventory counting (which deducts stock when rewards are redeemed) or manual tracking for complete control. Low-stock alerts ensure nothing catches you off guard.

You can also dig into redemption analytics: which rewards students are choosing most often, when redemptions are spiking, and how the programme is influencing overall engagement over time. These insights help you continuously improve what you offer and make sure the rewards feel valuable.

Getting started

PointDash Rewards is available now for all PointDash Premium and Elite schools. Setting up your first reward takes just a few minutes.

If you'd like a walkthrough of the Rewards feature or help thinking through what a good rewards catalogue looks like for your school, get in touch with us or book a demo — we'd love to help.