Involving parents as much as possible in the education of their children is important. That’s something that most head teachers, as well as mums and dads, would wholeheartedly agree with. It’s not just these two sides who benefit though – without good cooperation and communication between parents and schools, children can find their education suffering.
According to The Teaching Times:
“Schools must create an effective partnership by providing an open and communicative environment with its wider community, forming a link between the classroom and the home, and the school and the family.”
Many schools in the UK nowadays are looking for better ways to make that connection between teachers, parents and children so that everyone can play their part in education. The great news is that new technology is enabling all of us to do just that.
Schools already make a large amount of effort to stay in touch with parents and keep them informed about what is going on. In the past, this has involved a sizeable investment in admin staff who can contact parents with important information. More recently, schools have been opting for technological solutions that don’t just make life easier and cut costs but vastly improve the speed, quality and level of communication.
The Benefits of Better Communication
- Schools can find ways to cut down the pressure on reaching parents and reduce the amount of administration time that is devoted to this activity.
- Parents are always kept informed of what is going on in school which means they can better tailor their own lives to meet the needs of their children and work responsibilities.
- Parents feel more involved with school activities and are better equipped if an issue arises and are more willing to engage with representatives from the school.
- Parents are assured that their child is receiving a good standard of education and can keep track of events and important dates in the school calendar.
- Better communication elicits a greater sense of community that benefits children and ensures that parents remain involved at all stages of the educational process.
Not everyone’s circumstances are the same and having improved communications means that parents are not treated with a one size fits all solution that benefits some but not others. This is particularly important when new technology is used such as a school app that can be tailored to the individual needs of the school.
Of course, one of the problems is that parents are generally very busy. They are more often than not both working and finding more effective ways to pass on messages or send reminders and get them involved has become a priority for schools. Introducing school apps that can send immediate push notifications to parents and allow them to check what’s going on when they have a spare moment is becoming the norm rather than the exception.
For schools it allows better management of their administration procedures. For parents it gives a permanently open line to the place where their children are spending a good part of their time. It’s fast becoming a vital part of the whole process of improving communication between parents and schools.
If you would like to find out more about how an app could benefit your school please get in touch to arrange for a free demonstration. Our friendly team will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.