FEATURE: PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT
and is there any action they need to take? Year 7 parents want to know how to access homework schedules, for example, not information about GCSEs, so ensure your communication is targeted. ‘Pupil post’ may have been replaced by
‘paperless post’ thanks to technology, giving schools greater control over getting the right information to parents at the right time. But there is still a risk important messages will be missed if parents receive too much communication from too many sources. Keep it simple – you don’t have to ‘shout’ to get your voice heard. Parent-friendly communication engages and
informs, it doesn’t overwhelm or confuse. Simplifying your technology and your messaging will support staff and keep parents on side from the outset.
Five top tips for effective parental communication
1. Clearly define your communication strategy Although it is important to take parents’ wishes and feedback into account, schools that try to appease everyone and cover all angles – social media, newsletters, WhatsApp, emails –often find that it gets both staff and the parents into a muddle. Which source contains the most up-to- date news? Are parents only receiving an abridged version because you are restricted on characters? Who has read what? The best way to cut through the confusion is to
decide which communication routes suit your school, and then simply tell parents how this will work. A pared back approach eliminates confusion, and is also time-effective for schools.
2. When to use social media Social media channels are great bulletin boards for newsflash announcements but do remember that the information you broadcast there is in the public domain. Anyone could be reading, which means there are limits to what is appropriate to
post. For example, although it might be a quick way to let parents know that Year 6 have safely arrived at their residential week, is that something you want the wider world to know? If the answer is no, investigate more private options such as email and texts. However, social media can be a good way to share and celebrate student work, school achievements and events.
3. Make all information relevant Schools that get into the habit of sending everything to everyone – ostensibly because it is quicker to implement internally – do themselves
quite a disservice. In an environment of information overload, parents will soon stop opening emails if they are continually irrelevant. Instead, look to technology that can support you in tightly targeting messages just to parents of the hockey or chess club, for example. This ensures people know that, whenever they see a message from the school, it’s worth opening it right away.
4. Ensure your newsletters are newsworthy A weekly, detailed newsletter is a good way to tell parents about school successes and upcoming opportunities – as long as it gets read. The trick here is timing. Is Friday after school a time when parents are winding down and therefore have time to read a longer missive, or are they frantically trying to finish work before the weekend? Would a different day and time encourage better engagement? A quick poll can help schools gauge what is most convenient. You might find that a ‘little and often’ approach, sending out just a couple of punchy paragraphs every other day, effectively keeps parents in the loop and there are tools available that can help schools manage this simply.
5. Track success Good school-parent communication relies on messages being read at the right time by the right people, so tracking what’s working – and having the flexibility to modify things if need be – is crucial. Think about the bigger picture too, when evaluating success. Does your system make it easy for parents to update contact information? Can they immediately pay for the school trips they have just been told about? Did they respond well to an invitation to the Christmas concert? The answers to these can help you assess if you are getting your messages across in the best way.
uFor more information on how to connect your school and parents efficiently and reliably visit ParentMail from IRIS Education
February 2020
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