7 Ways a School Calendar & News App

is Transforming Parental Engagement

Last year I published a free eBook entitled 9 Reasons Every
School Should Have Its Own Calendar and News App. Since its
publication many schools have adopted their own smart
phone app and the feedback has been incredibly positive.

So much of the feedback has been about how the app has
helped schools to demonstrate to Ofsted their commitment
to increasing parental engagement in school life. Thats why I
wanted to share that feedback with you in a brand new
eBook.
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These Apps are proving incredibly popular with parents

The High School of Dundee is one of Scotland's leading schools and has 985 pupils.
Since launching their own calendar and news app, the app has been downloaded over
1500 people, showing that it's been received incredibly positively by the entire parent
community.

In this age, parents simply do not want to have to log-on to a computer in order to
access the information they need; they're becoming increasingly reliant on smartphone
apps in their daily lives and they want you to communicate with them on their own
terms via their preferred method.

"We launched our app a couple of weeks ago and I am pleased with how easy it was
to get going and the positive reaction we have had from our community"
Graham Frost, Headteacher
Robert Ferguson Primary School
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Ensures Parents Actually Get Your Messages

Easterside Academy was one school to recently adopt their own school app.
Delyth Linacre told me that one of the key reasons behind their decision was that
she believed lots of important information was simply not getting through to parents
because phone numbers were constantly changing and letters were not always read
(or were lost forever at the bottom of pupils' bags!)

With the huge rise in smartphone usage amongst their parent community, Easterside
Academy was able to use the app's messaging feature to instantly communicate news
and calendar items straight onto parent's phones.

"The app has rapidly become an integral part of school life, it's very aordable service
and there is no xed term you have to sign up to"

Delyth Linacre, Headteacher at Easterside Academy

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School Events are Added to Parent's Personal Calendars

The app enables parents to add school events (such as parents' evenings) to their
personal smartphone calendars, which has proved an incredibly eective way for
schools to increase attendance at their many events.

Parents are able to instantly retrieve event information such as a map of the exact
location, the contact details of the event organisers, and event times and dates.

"We are very pleased with the feedback we are getting from our community and how
well and often our calendar app is being used. In addition, having the app is saving us
money, is more environmental and saves a lot of administrative time"

Val Vannet, Deputy Rector - High School of Dundee

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Parents Filter the Most Relevant Information

The app enables parents to lter in information that is most relevant to them. So, if they
have a child in Year 4 then they can lter out all those events that are only relevant
to children in other years.

Or, as another example, if they have a girl they can lter out boys sport and vice-versa.
This all ensures that parents are not bombarded with information that is not relevant to
them, and only receive the updates that are highly relevant to their child - this increases
condence in the app and ensures they "buy-in" to the app

"This phone app makes it so much easier for us to organise visits to the school for
matches or other events - being able to choose events relevant to us and add them to our
calendar makes it all very easy and a vast improvement on hard copy forms and website
calendars."

Parent at Ardvreck School

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Communicate Last-Minute Changes Instantly

Nothing damages your relationship with parents more than failing to communicate event
changes to them successfully and promptly. As a parent, there is simply nothing more
frustrating than trying to pay an active role in your child's education and then being
thwarted by last-minute changes to the location or time. The app's text messaging and
instant push notications make it perfect for communicating those last minute changes
swiftly and easily to parents. They are alerted immediately of any changes, ensuring
they can update
upda their plans in good time.

"Enabling real-time notication of important matters such as trips and activities, it is an

ideal way to send frequent reminders to parents. We also use social media to drive the
message home. The results speak for themselves as we now have better and larger
attendance of school events.
Andy Howe, Deputy Head - Windmill Primary School, Oxford
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Engages Those 'Hard to Reach' Parents

Many of the schools who have adopted the app so far have told me that its enabled
them to start forging those crucial relationships with parents that have traditionally not
played an active role in their childs education.

This to me demonstrates the true power of the app. It provides such a delightful
experience for users that it becomes a stepping stone to engaging those hard to reach
parents in daily school life.
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Provides Data to Help Improve Your Communication

The app provides you with reports not only on the number of app downloads, but also an
analysis of how your app is being used.

This is such a powerful tool for you to constantly monitor and improve your
communication methods. Youll quickly be able to identify what works and what doesnt
so that you can continuously improve the ways you engage your audience.

Regular communication with our stakeholders is a critical component of the modern

school and our parent body appreciate and value this forward thinking innovation.

Richard Harvey, Head Teacher at Ardvreck School

Do you want to know more about how I can help your school lead the way in
parental involvement?