Traditional communication methods are giving way!!
This seems to be the trend since the digital age has entered society and school life. It seems that more parents are moving away from the traditional forms of communication, handwritten notes from teachers, face-to-face conversations with teachers, and calls from the school to the home.
Many parents of primary school children feel these old-fashioned methods just do not work anymore and prefer a more modern approach viz modern technological communication options.
Instead, they prefer a digital communication system that lets them receive text messages, videos, and other information straight to their mobile devices or computers. These alternative methods is useful for parents and school for communicating unforeseen events like school closure due to weather conditions or providing information about important upcoming seminars or conferences.
The Importance of Parent Engagement
The consensus among education experts is clear: Parental engagement significantly influences a child’s academic and social growth. A few of the universally accepted advantages include:
- Academic Performance- Good parental engagement is seen as a vital reason for students performing better grade-wise. They do their homework, get better grades, and learn better with this support.
- Behavioural Impact- Good parental engagement helps their children to choose healthier activities and behave in a socially healthy manner. Without this support, the behaviour of the students is not exemplary but adds to the stress teachers have to endure.
- Social Skills Development- Finally, parental engagement is important for students as the latter develop better social skills. This can cut down on bullying, and negative interactions with other students and make school life more tolerable for all students.
Also, parental engagement seems to pay off as more students fail to develop a smoking habit and turn to physical education activities. They have a better attitude and perspective on life giving each student a better foundation to succeed in life.
This engagement needs a little help from the primary schools and this help can come in the following ways:
- Creating a vision for parent engagement
- Preparing school staff to work with parents
- Assessing and improving the school’s strategies for involving parents
- Assessing what parents and families need to be more involved in school health
Designing a Parent-Centric User Experience of the school mobile apps
While children and teens are very good at downloading and using apps, more often than not, their parents are not gifted or agile. It is important to create a parent-centric user app whose design allows the less technological advanced parents to use the app easily and without hassles.
To accomplish this objective, the user-centred design method is the go-to option. This allows designers to create an app for adults to use. Its simplicity enables all adults, including the less technologically advanced ones, to use the school mobile phone apps and communicate with teachers, learn about events, the news, and more.
Often parents miss the information needed because they do not have the technological ability to use the different apps and they are in a job that keeps them from accessing this information and more.
These parent-centric user mobile apps create a better experience for parents as they get to access important information concerning their children without trouble.
Various Communication Tools For Parent-School Interaction
The digital age has brought innovation and new tools for parent/teacher communications. There is a vast array of these tools that have moved parents away from the old-fashioned methods used by their parents and grandparents.
One tool is Jotter 3.0 which provides access to school information if one has a QR code. Only the parents will have this code giving them privacy to see what is going on in their child’s school life.
There are various other tools available, all of which include text messages, videos, and alerts that parents need to know about and see. Parents should be able to interact with their children’s teachers with the help of these tools.
Last but not least, there are a host of social media outlets where parents can connect with teachers through private social media accounts.
The digital age has supplied enough tools that parents do not have to take time off from work to communicate with a teacher.
How To Use The Priamry School Mobile Apps To Share Student Accomplishments
These mobile apps come with built-in features that allow teachers to easily upload and share student accomplishments. The instructions are usually found in the operational information that is a part of each app.
The key would be to access the menu to reach the appropriate function that allows you to send student accomplishments to their parents. All mobile apps should be easy to use but some are not as simple as others.
The complicated operation tends to deter parents from using those apps and learning about their children’s success. Then with the direct communication features, parents can interact with their children’s teachers no matter where they happen to be.
This access is also 24/7 so even if you come home late you can still take the time to access the information and learn about your child’s day without waking them up.
Each app will have its own method of operation which may not be the same as another app. Make sure to read the instructions so you understand what to do.
Some Additional Words
While the journey to maximising parental engagement in primary schools has its challenges, leveraging the right technological tools can significantly bridge the gap. With Ofsted compliance in the UK underscoring the importance of effective communication between schools and parents, such platforms become even more critical.
Our suite of products at School Jotter is designed to make this engagement seamless. Visit our website to explore our offerings, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. Your child’s academic success may be just a click away.
