Importance of communication between school, teacher, parents and students

BETTER COMMUNICATION = BETTER EDUCATION

There are many reasons why school/parent communications are important but the foremost of those must be that better parental engagement leads to better educated children.

Why? Here are some broad reasons:

• Students are more conscientious about homework and attendance if they know their parents know about it too.
• Parents who know the content of homework assignments are more likely to assist.
• Parents are more likely to attend school events (such as parent-teacher meetings, plays, concerts and sports matches) if they know about them and are reminded about them.
• Parental involvement leads to greater student involvement leads to greater extra-curricular opportunities leads to better-rounded students – a classic virtuous circle.

There are many more but that gives a flavour.

Benefits of new technology

Traditionally, all communication was by word of mouth or on paper. Messages weren’t passed on, bits of paper were lost, forms weren’t filled in, permissions weren’t given, absence wasn’t properly authorised – the list goes on.

Then there were SMS notification systems, which worked well but were limited.

Now we have secure, instant, multi-purpose communication systems. Messages and emails are sent to the right recipients, forms can be filled in and returned online, homework can be viewed on a mobile phone or tablet – this list goes on too but:

• messages always get passed on
• there are no bits of paper to get lost
• filling in forms is easy and convenient
• permission can be given with a simple tick in a box and
• teachers are fully in the loop too.

What do you need to get involved?

Schools need a single computer connected to the Internet. The online portal manages all their needs.

Most parents now have a smartphone or a tablet. Parents install Student-Alert mobile app, this enables schools to communicate directly with parents, who then become involved in all aspects of their children’s early education. As the children become old enough to have their own phone, they also able to install the Student-Alert mobile app to take over some of the responsibility.

The app has many time-saving and efficient features, including timetabling, attendance recording, instant messaging, homework, parental consent forms and more.