Best Parent Communication Software

What is Parent Communication Software?

Parent communication software streamlines interactions between schools and parents, offering a comprehensive suite of tools, such as messaging, payment collection, and calendar updates. Typically accessed through a dedicated school communication app or messaging service, it enables direct communication between schools and parents.

Routine tasks, like reporting absences or notifying parents of incidents or illness, are effortlessly managed through school communication software, freeing up valuable time for teachers. Automated features such as online payment processing and group messaging further enhance efficiency.

Parent communication software allows for both personalised messages to individual parents regarding their child, and mass notifications about year group activities or school-wide events. Some platforms emphasise positive reinforcement, while others offer versatility in communication formats, including multiple languages or video messages.

The overarching goal of school parent communication software is to enhance parental engagement, streamline interactions, and ensure important messages are received promptly and acted upon. Successful implementation hinges on aligning the technology with the school’s objectives and the specific needs of its parent community.

The Typical features of School Parent Communication Software

School parent communication software offers a range of features designed to enhance communication between schools and parents. While features may vary across platforms, here are some common functionalities:

• Messages and alerts: Easily send individual or group messages to keep parents informed about their child’s progress and upcoming school events.
• Absence reporting: Parent Communication software allows parents to report their child’s absence securely via the app, with security measures in place to verify authenticity.
• Achievement notifications: Notify parents of group activities or individual achievements via messages and alerts to celebrate success.
• Calendar: Access the school calendar to stay informed about events, activities, and deadlines.
• My Child’s Page: Parents have access to a dedicated informational page for their child, providing important information and milestones in their school life, such as homework assignments and upcoming school trips.
• Rewards System: Recognise students’ progress with stars, thumbs up, and certificates sent directly to parents.
• Homework Tracking: Monitor homework completion and share feedback with parents to support their child’s learning.
• Behaviour management: Inform parents about incidents, demerits, and consequences, fostering collaboration between one another in addressing behavioural challenges.
• Language translator: Some platforms offer translation of messages and alerts into different languages, ensuring accessibility for ESL families.

The Benefits of Parent Teacher Communication Software

Implementing parent communication software yields numerous benefits, contributing to both streamlined communication and the achievement of broader school goals. Here’s an overview of these advantages:

1. Improved parental engagement

• Contact at the touch of a button: Reach parents effortlessly through smartphone apps, accommodating their busy schedules and preferences.
• Quality Interaction: Foster meaningful engagement by offering support in crucial areas such as homework completion and behaviour management, enhancing engagement over matters than can improve a child’s school experience.
• Emphasis on Praise and Positivity: One of the common complaints from parents is that they don’t feel ‘in the loop’ when it comes to their child’s progress and successes at school. With parent communication software, schools can easily share praise and positive feedback, ensuring parents feel connected and motivated.
• Overcoming Barriers: Whilst some parents are forthcoming and want to be actively involved in their child’s school life, others can prove more difficult to reach for various reasons. School communication software breaks down barriers and caters to diverse parent needs by offering features like video messages and multilingual communication.

2. Help accomplish organisational goals

• Academic Success: Research has consistently shown that better parental engagement correlates with higher student attainment, attendance, and motivation, aligning with school-wide organisational goals.
• Attendance and Achievement: Targeted parental engagement facilitated by communication software contributes to reduced absenteeism and enhanced academic performance.

3. Efficiency in Daily Operations

• Streamlined Communication: Easily send individual or group messages regarding activities, events, or student progress.
• Seamless Payment Collection: Simplify the completion and management of transactions by allowing parents to make payments for activities and trips via the app.
• Absence Reporting: Enable parents to report absences securely through their school communication app, including identify verification that ensures the message has come from the parent.
• Calendar Integration: Keep parents informed about school events and deadlines through shared calendars.
• Transparent Feedback: Share both positive achievements and behavioural issues with parents, ensuring they are involved at every stage.
• Efficient Parents’ Evenings: Track attendance and access student information easily to facilitate smooth parent-teacher meetings.
• Homework Collaboration: Engage parents in homework tasks and progress tracking by sharing the student’s assignments, deadlines, and progression, fostering collaboration between home and school.

School Parent Communication Software: Purchasing Considerations

Before investing in parent communication software, it’s crucial to consider several key questions to ensure you choose the most suitable platform for your school’s needs:

What are the specific needs of your parent population?

A clear understanding of the needs of your students’ parents will help you establish what functionality you require from your parent communication software, and help you get the most from the platform you choose.

Consider carrying out a needs analysis of your parent population to get a deeper understanding of the barriers to better parental engagement. A good needs analysis should have a particular focus, such as on disadvantaged and minority ethnic parents, or fathers.

Once you understand who the hardest-to-reach parents are, you can choose parent engagement software that will help you establish better engagement with them. If you have a large number of parents for whom English is a second language, you might want a platform that has the functionality to send messages in different languages and in a variety of formats (video or text messages). Alternatively, if one of your goals is improving motivation amongst students, you can opt for parent engagement software that emphasises praise and encouragement.

What are the national guidelines on parental engagement?

Once you’ve carried out a needs analysis of your parent demographic, it’s worth looking at national guidelines to keep you up to date with the most recent findings and evidence-based recommendations on parental engagement. This knowledge will help you to shape your school’s parent-oriented goals and select school parent communication software that has features and functions relevant to your ambitions.

What do other schools say?

Once you find parent communication software you like, it’s always worth looking at other schools’ reviews of the product before deciding whether it’s right for you. Look out particularly for reviews from schools similar to your own to get the most valuable insight into whether a platform delivers on metrics such as reliability, value for money and impact on attainment.

School Parent Communication: Sources

• Waterford: How Two-way communication can boost parent engagement
• TES: Why Convenience is the key to effective Parental Engagement
• Digital Promise: Using Technology for Effective Parent-teacher communication
• UK GOV: Review of Best Practice in Parental Engagement, a summary
• SecEd: Case Study: effective parental communication
• Estyn: Parental Involvement placed at the heart of school life
• D Toper et al: Parent involvement and student academic performance: a multiple mediation analysis