Parent-school communication: How much is too much?
ITV’s parenting expert and former Deputy Head Sue Atkins discussesthe best way to engage parents, and the dos and don’ts of parent-school communication… Making the transition from primary to secondary school is both exciting and challenging for both pupils and parents. New larger buildings, as well as new school routes and new friendships must be navigated which can be quite daunting. But it’s also an ideal time for schools to create a strong home to school bond. So, what processes can schools set up to send news and updates without consuming more time for precious office staff while securing parental support for the years to come? And how do schools know when they are overdoing it when it comes to parental engagement? Too many school systems A major culprit of ‘information overload’ can be the sheer number of communication systems a school operates, which can have an adverse effect on parental engagement. A recent survey by parent communication and online payment experts, ParentMailrevealed a disconnect between what schools believe and how they are operating in practice. 62% of schools felt using two or more systems to communicate with parents was detrimental to effective engagement. And yet, a significant 45% admitted they had fallen foul of this trap and were operating more than one parental communication system. Using separate systems for emails, texts, cashless paymentsand booking parent eveningappointments means multiple login details for parents to remember, which can add to confusion and leave parents feeling disengaged. Managing all your parental communication in one place not only creates staff and cost efficiencies but dramatically improves parental response rates too. Keep on track Targeted messaging that is easy to access and relevant will help establish the important bridge between home and school. My advice is to make sure you keep them onside, by being ‘on task’. Think interrogative pronouns! Who, when, why and what. Who do you need to target? When is the best time to reach them? Why do you need to message them? And what do you want to tell them and is there any action they need to take? Year 7 parents want to know how to access homework schedules, not information about GCSEs so ensure your communication is targeted. ‘Pupil post’ may have been replaced by ‘paperless post’ thanks to technology, giving schools greater control over getting the right information to parents at the right time. But there is still a risk important messages will be missed if parents receive too much information from too many sources. Keep it simple – you don’t have to ‘shout’ to get your voice heard. Parent-friendly communication engages and informs, it doesn’t overwhelm or confuse. Simplifying your technology and your messaging will support staff and keep parents onside from the outset. For more information on how to connect your school and parents efficiently and reliably visit ParentMail.
Longmoor Primary School wins Shine a Light communication award
Longmoor Primary School in Liverpool, which is dedicated to developing their pupil’s communication skills, has won the coveted Primary School of the Year Award at the 2019 Shine a Light Awards organised by Pearson, in partnership with The Communication Trust. The awards were presented by British comic actress and writer, Sally Phillips with special performance from Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley (Lost Voice Guy). Longmoor Primary School started an initiative in 2011 to address the very low communication and language skills of their youngest pupils and due to the team’s hard work and dedication, Longmoor Primary has now become a ‘trailblazer’ in their local authority! The school has developed a bespoke diagnostic assessment for pupils on entry to early years so they can specifically tailor interventions to individual needs. This has formed the basis of provision that has been so successful, it has been expanded throughout the whole school to improve the language skills of every child. The Shine a Light judges were blown away with the level of importance the school places on communication. It is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and the school has a dedicated oracy team and a communication specific teacher performance management target. In addition, Longmoor Primary has joined the nationally recognised Voice21 project and a dedicated section about speech, language and communication within their annual school improvement plan. The high priority of oracy is also reflected in the school’s curriculum planning documents and despite school budgets being squeezed, a portion of Longmoor’s budget is directed to the development of oracy for staff training and purchasing specialist equipment. They have also employed a specialist drama teacher and invested in a new communication and language tool, Stoke Speaks Out. It wasn’t just the senior leadership team and staff room activity that grabbed the judges’ attention, it was also the support they provide their children. Following assessment for speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), a provision map and pupil profile is created for each child requiring additional support, working with their experienced Communication and Language Assistants to ensure progress. On a wider, whole-school level, the school is constantly looking at ways to promote and support communication in a fun and interactive way. They have introduced themed weeks with an oracy element and encourage participation in whole-school/public performances with their spelling bees, Poem a Day, choir, orchestra and productions at Christmas and over the summer. Longmoor Primary has even created specific roles and clubs that prioritise communication including school councillors, playground buddies, play leaders, debate team, public speaking club and press gang. As if all that wasn’t enough, the staff take the time to extend their support to parents, working closely with them to promote speech and language skills via parental training, oral motor and health sessions and stay and play sessions. They have also created a weekly Lego Club for parents of children with special educational needs (SEN), particularly those who have SLCN. Longmoor recently worked with the Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service team in Liverpool to develop a programme for new-entrant pupils, who have English as their additional language, and their families to support integration into school, assessment of their language needs and appropriate provision. The school performance results are testament to the school’s amazing work in promoting communication. Just 10% of their pupils are at the ‘expected’ level for communication and language (C&L) upon admission to the nursery. By the time the children leave, they are articulate, fluent and confident speakers. Summer 2018 results showed 94.9% of children were at expected level in C&L come the end of Reception. By the end of Key Stage 2, 93% of children were at expected level in reading, 88% in writing and 91% in EPGS (English, grammar, punctuation and spelling). For more information on the Shine a Light Awards visit shinealightawards.co.uk and follow on Twitter: #awards_SAL
Zoom video platform improves communication in education
Jane Ross, head of public sector at the Zoom video platform, discusses how it’s helping schools both in meetings and in the classroom… Could you explain what the Zoom video platform is, and how it helps teachers? Zoom is a unified video-first communications platform that provides remote communications services using cloud computing. It offers software for video, voice, chat, and content sharing. Zoom was named a Leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Meeting Solutions. The Zoom solutions also have the benefit of being available for procurement through the UK government’s official G-Cloud Digital Marketplace framework. This accreditation provides full access to Zoom’s range of solutions, including its Zoom Rooms, which implements its high-quality video, audio and content sharing in rooms of all sizes. Zoom services are available in cloud or hybrid deployments, and the solutions are available on the G-Cloud version 10 of the framework, in the Cloud Software category. Zoom also benefits the ease of sharing critical information, with the one-click activation, the school board can hold meetings, students can join classes, teachers can bring in remote guest lecturers or host office hours online, and so forth. We are living in a digital age, and more and more schools are looking for ways to adapt to this transformation while being conscious of their budget restrictions. Zoom can bolster any eLearning initiatives, by providing a secure platform for online tutoring, online parent teacher meetings, teacher conferences etc. The possibilities for Zoom to positively impact and transform the way a school works is only limited to what they can imagine doing with it! What is the effect on pupils’ attainment when Zoom is used? Zoom can be the next step in introducing synchronous activities into school’s existing or future eLearning programs, it can work to build stronger relationships and better learning experiences for students and teachers alike. For example, webinars and online teaching sessions hosted via Zoom can bolster the engagement of pupils whether at home or at school, providing alternative outlets for those students who are hungry to learn. This will not only build their academic confidence, but also give them a chance to hone this confidence in situations outside the comfort of a classroom, by giving them vital experience of a technology and a way of communicating that they will most likely be using when they come to enter the working world. How does Zoom save the school money? With unique but straightforward pricing structure, Zoom offers affordable and attainable solutions for organisations with even the strictest of budgets. That is why over 17,000 educational institutions are using Zoom for virtual and hybrid classrooms, office hours, administrative meetings, and more. Does Zoom help students prepare for higher education and the world of work? Zoom can play a huge part in helping students understand the tools available to keep up with the modern world of work, and the often-remote experience of attending a University far away from home. Zoom can teach students how to work effectively from anywhere, a skill that will be vital in the world of work as more and more companies offer a flexible working structure. Not to mention, that most companies, even if based in the office 5 days a week, will need to use some form of conferencing software to communicate with other parts of their business, customers, or clients. Using Zoom at school gives students this exposure to collaborative working from a remote environment. What do you see in the future of video technology: what will students be using next year, for example? Today’s students are mobile first. We are talking all the time about the benefits and pitfalls of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and so we are now seeing schools and universities addressing the need to integrate this into a learning environment in a productive way. Teachers are now realising they need to meet the students where they are, with synchronous engagement that goes straight to their mobile devices with real-time video, audio, and content sharing. The future of video technology is bright and totally mobile, and is sure to become something that students, teachers and school boards see as a seamless and entirely essential part of learning in the modern era. Could you give an example where the Zoom video platform has really made an impact on a school? The University of San Francisco was looking for a solution to support its growing online programs, and it decided that the answer was Zoom. The impact that Zoom has had at the organisation is real and palpable; not only does Zoom create an easy and accessible way for teachers and students to connect no matter where they are, it has also expanded the University’s ability to share knowledge globally. This is demonstrated by its collaboration with remote hospitals in Vietnam, with whom the University’s faculty and researchers share healthcare knowledge and best practice to ensure patients are receiving the right treatment – all through Zoom. The University has credited the ease of clicking to connect, and simplicity of deployment and usability as some of the reasons why Zoom has made such an impact. See www.zoom.us for more details on the Zoom video platform.