Kesgrave and ParentMail partner to deliver first-class parental engagement

With over 1800 students and 99% of parents registered on ParentMail, Kesgrave High School collect on average £15,000 online each week, have sent over 700,000 emails home and had a 97% response rate to their first online form. All in all, the school’s partnership with ParentMail has led to great success in parental engagement

We spoke to the Head Teacher’s PA, Julie Garnett, who told us why ParentMail has been such a triumph.
Over 700,000 messages sent
“The majority of parents use our branded mobile app, which means messages are sent home as free in-app notifications, popping up to alert parents of important school communications. As a result, we have saved on text credits as we are no longer sending any SMS and instead send all our communications through email which arrive in one single, school branded feed rather than a busy email inbox, improving our parental engagement as a result!
Collecting £15,000 weekly through Online Payments
“With over 70% of parents regularly topping up and paying online through ParentMail, we’re collecting on average £15,000 each week for payment items and with dinner money top ups going straight into the cashless account system with no work required from our school office, the Online Payments application from ParentMail is a huge time saver for both staff and parents.
What’s more, the weekly settlement report makes it very easy for the auditors within school to keep on top of what amount needs to go to which cost centre – of which there are hundreds. This allows us to easily track what has been paid for within each cost centre, which in a secondary school is very important to keep on top of!
85% of bookings made through Parents’ Evening Manager
“Parents Evening Manager has been fantastic; the most recent evening saw 85% of bookings made through ParentMail and with lots of positive feedback from parents. Previously, students would book their appointments with teachers, which meant they could easily avoid the meetings they didn’t want! Now invitations are sent through ParentMail, the control is with the parents and teachers are far busier on parents’ evenings than they used to be!”
97% response rate to their first online Form
“Form collection is going really well, with the first form sent through ParentMail receiving a 97% response rate! The reporting functionality within this application makes it far easier to keep on top of the administration required for trips, requiring data or gathering information about allergies, for example and has been a fantastic benefit for the school.”
We have to say, if schools were students, we’d have to give Kesgrave High School an A* for how well they’re using the ParentMail system to communicate with their parents!