Schools are closer than ever before to their parents as a result of the pandemic. It’s time to cement that relationship by focusing on the nuts and bolts of effective parental communications, says Simon Hay of Firefly
Parents are, perhaps, the school’s most important partner in children’s learning. In an ideal world parents are there, supporting their children at home and supporting the school community, as well as acting as volunteers and fundraisers.
Over the past year the role of parents has become even more important; with the country currently in lockdown, and the majority of children learning at home, parents have had to step up and try as best they can to juggle the role of surrogate teacher with jobs and hectic family lives. Keeping parents informed and engaged is even more important today than it has ever been. Unfortunately, many schools still struggle in this area.
Communications is one important area. The temptation is often to over-communicate, using too many methods of communication – such as paper, email, text and website – in the process. The result is that the information you want your parents to hear and take notice of can become fragmented and they don’t hear your messages. This can add to the frustration of parents.
Here are six suggestions that will help to make your communications with parents work more effectively.
Get planning
Communication with parents shouldn’t be seen as a bolt-on, or by-product, but as an activity to plan and schedule. Start by critically reviewing your communications’ aims and current approaches. The planning cycle should include a timetable of key calendar events and announcements, including online or face-to-face parents’ evenings, tests and exams, sport fixtures, music and drama. Work out an approval system so that key communications can be checked and approved before they’re sent out.
Ask the parents
An online survey will help you to establish parents’ favourite communication methods and the data provided by tech platforms can help you to decide when to send communications out depending on parents’ work patterns. For example, during the first lockdown some schools published home learning tasks on a Friday afternoon, allowing parents to review it over the weekend and help schedule in time to support their child during the following week.
Think about your audience
Plain, crisp English is always preferable to waffly jargon and buzzwords. Seek clarity wherever you can and keep the detail down to only the information they need to know. Structure messages so that the key point is at the top and highlight key details so that they can be understood at a glance, especially if it is a call to action.
Standardise your style
Agree a set of standards for how you communicate so that there is a consistency in the way you present your information to parents. Set out where and when to use bullet points, bold text, capitalisation – and standardise the terms you use in a brief style guide. You can also save time by creating a standard template for communications, incorporating the same design, logos and brand guidelines.
Train staff
It makes sense for staff to learn how best to harness parent power. Full working knowledge of school communications systems is key to this. Training mentors is the most effective way to spread best practice, as is providing people with a forum where staff can post queries, share what’s worked for them, and post sample newsletters or trip forms and proformas for others to use.
Join it up
Today’s parents are increasingly tech-savvy, running their lives through a smartphone. To give them a seamless experience, and reduce frustration, look into integrating all your platforms – with communications history, blogs, newsletters and payments – into one ecosystem across your school. If this ecosystem can be accessed through a mobile app and browser, even better.
And remember that, in an age of GDPR and cyber security fears, parents want and expect secure access to sensitive information relating to behaviour, attendance, and academic progress.
Be the first to comment