Achieve ‘outstanding’ in communication and engagement.

The way we’re teaching is changing, it’s time we change the way we communicate and engage with the whole school community.

Following the removal of national curriculum levels, schools have been given a measure of freedom as to how they teach the curriculum – but do parents still understand how to read the performance of their child?

A study by Capita (2016) on 1,864 primary school parents and teachers uncovered 4 areas of concern related to the way the school communicates reports with parents and the way that the whole school community is engaged:

• Lack of information about child performance conveyed between school and parent
• Absence of information around child happiness and confidence
• Requirement from parents for a more personalised approach from schools
• Concern from schools that additional effort in this area will add to teacher workload

These 4 areas can often be the cause of conflict between parent and school, due to not receiving enough information or inability to make sense of the information provided, and teacher and school, as a result of new procedures put in place that add to the workload the teacher has to manage.

The technology industry has provided tools over the years that solve some of the problems faced in modern day classrooms and schools; however it’s often the case that with them solving only one or a few problems, the number of technologies that teachers, and parents, are expected to learn to use, manage and remember login details for, keeps on rising – and this is favourable for neither teacher nor parent.

In addition to the hassle for parents and teachers learning how to use several products, the added cost of multiple technologies to the school can often mount up to tens of thousands of pounds – much needed money that could have been spent furthering the quality of learning and teaching within the school.

The world we live and learn in is evolving and it’s important that we introduce the right tools to ensure everyone in the learning process remains informed, but most importantly, understands what everything means.

It’s important that every school is provided access to a simple, almost effortless to use, whole-school communication platform that, with positive uptake from all users, can guarantee the effective engagement of all stakeholders within the school.

Platforms such as Weduc expand communication and engagement to the entire school community, helping to bring families closer to the school experience and the teaching processes delivered for a fuller understanding of the child’s learning journey.

It’s important that schools evolve with not only the curriculum and teaching strategies, but also with the requests of parents and the advances in technology that surrounds it.

By Jason Staniforth – Marketing Director of Weduc – Whole-school communication and engagement platform.  Please visit www.weduc.co.uk for more info.