School Stream has some exciting news coming – stay tuned! We think you are going to be really impressed. In the meantime, we’re sharing some ways schools are using School Stream to keep their parents happy.
5 Quick Ways Schools can Keep Parents Happy
If you’re a teacher you already know the importance of parental involvement, and you’ll also know that parents love communication when it is convenient, time-saving and keeps pace with their expectations. That’s where School Stream comes in. Here are some ways schools tell us they are using it to keep their school community more connected than ever!
Give parents something to talk about
“What did you do at school today?”
“Mumble mumble. Not much”
Every parent has had this conversation. It’s frustrating for parents and schools. Keep parents in the loop in a really meaningful way by communicating specific information about the day. “Stage 3 students had a visit from the Rural Fire Service today to talk about bushfire safety. Students were able to explore the truck and hold the hose!” It helps highlight to parents all the innovative work teachers do and extends the learning experience from the classroom to the home. As we all know, informed parents are happy parents.
Communicate in real time
“Hello families, the sports day has been cancelled due to rain. It will be a normal school day today”.
We hear time and time again how much schools and parents value being able to contact parents in an instant. With people receiving a whopping 97 emails during an average work day, emails from school can be easily missed. Instant notifications to a smart phone means parents don’t need to trawl through busy inboxes or, worse, the bottom of school bags.
Help kids stay organised and on track
“Hello families, please make sure your children have swimming things for house sports tomorrow. Please be at the pool for a 9am start.”
Keeping kids organised… it takes a village! Communicating to parents what students will need on a given school day goes a long way to helping keep kids and families organised and ensure school activities go off without a hitch.
Keeping it calm
“The Frankston bus is running 10 minutes late. Please do not worry if your children are at their bus stop later than usual.”
A recent survey conducted in the US about ‘back-to-school’ worries showed 48% of parents nominated their children’s safety at school as their main concern. Keeping parents informed fills the ‘information vacuum’ before they fill it themselves with a worst case scenario. It’s all about managing the message.
Keep it positive
“Great work from all the kindergarten students today. Nursery Rhyme Rap was a big success. Thank you to all the students, teachers, parents and local preschools who were involved.”
Communicate early and communicate often. It’s an oldie but a goodie. In a school context, this means sending home positive communication regularly. Don’t wait for a crisis before you start communicating with families.
How do you keep your parent community happy?
