COMPUTING & IT RESOURCES
Online parents’ evenings: fad or fixture?
teachers they wanted to from the comfort of their own homes, with no more getting lost as they tried to find the science lab or the library for their next meeting! They also liked being able to add others to the meetings, such as estranged parents or carers “I am a bit dense when it comes to this sort of thing, but it made it really
easy for me and my partner to both be there for our daughters first parents evening, when normally that wouldn't be an option due to working.” (Thomas: Parent) Staff loved the new system too – being able to join from home or school as
they preferred meant huge benefits to their work-life balance. In addition, since there was no longer any ‘walking time’ between appointments, they could speak to more parents in less time than with the more traditional face- to-face evenings. “Excellent system which is so easy to use. Video conferencing has made an
W
ithout doubt, the use of online parents’ evenings during the pandemic has been one of the stand-out successes for many
schools. With COVID restrictions preventing schools from holding traditional
on-site meetings, virtual sessions ensured parental engagement could continue, enabling parents and teachers to discuss their children’s progress and schoolwork. Gone were the parents’ evenings whose schedule went off track from the
first meeting and the queues of parents waiting to see a single member of staff. Parents no longer had to rush home from work to get to their allocated timeslot and staff didn’t have to remain at school until the very end of the evening, knowing full well that the last parent would not arrive despite the wait… Instead, parents and staff were able to join the meetings from home or
work – whichever suited them best. Parents separated by divorce or work were still able to join without any difficult moments and everyone involved found the meetings ran to schedule – a novelty to us all! But are such ‘virtual’ parents’ evenings just a ‘fad’ or are they here to stay? Parents Booking (
www.parents-booking.com) already had an easy-to-
use online parents’ evening booking system but realised the need for an online meeting format and quickly developed a video meeting module to cater for this. Using the video meeting module meant that schools could send out
parental invites exactly as they had done previously and have all the appointments instantly converted into separate video meetings. The school sets up the evening and specifies the appointment lengths etc.
and the parents simply log in online and select their favoured appointments from the times available. The booking system even allows parents to simply say which teachers they want to see and then the automated booking wizard works out the best appointments for them with a single click of the mouse! Staff and parents all loved it! The appointments all ran exactly on schedule
- with an onscreen timer showing how long there was left before automatically switching both teacher and parent to the next appointment in their schedule. Attendance increased with parents enjoying the ease of speaking to all the
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www.education-today.co.uk October 2021
enormous difference in this last, very difficult, session. Allowing parents to book appointment times that suit them, without time being wasted between appointments, is the only way forward. I am so glad this system is available to us.” (Deirdre: Teacher) They also thought that the ability to include some ‘buffer time’ between
appointments was so useful, allowing them to make a few notes before the next meeting starts. Overall, using video meetings instead of the traditional face-to-face
parents’ evenings has met with huge approval by school leaders, teachers, admin staff and parents alike and the majority of schools have made it clear that this is no ‘fad’ – online parents’ evenings are here to stay!
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! We believe schools should be able to use our software before deciding whether to purchase it or not and so we are happy to provide a free trial where you can use the software for your next parents’ evening completely free of charge and with absolutely no obligation.
u01463 731000
uinfo@netmedia.co.uk
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