How can your school make Parents’ Evening easier?

Parents’ Evenings are one of the most complex events schools organise, arranging hundreds of consecutive meetings between parents and teachers within very tight time constraints.

We know that it’s not just schools who find Parents’ Evening difficult; parents can find it frustrating and time-consuming too. We conducted a survey and spoke to over 1200 parents to get a better idea of the difficulties surrounding Parents’ Evening and how it could improve.

Of the 1219 parents who took part in our survey, 65% told us that they book Parents’ Evening by completing a paper form sent home from school. A further 15% told us that their child arranges Parents’ Evening with their teachers, meaning parents have no involvement with the booking process and don’t always get to see the teachers they want to see.

However, the great news was over 90% of parents told us that they would use an automated online service to book Parents’ Evening, so in line with our quest to improve communications between schools and parents, we developed Parents’ Evening Manager.

Parents’ Evening Manager makes life easier for schools and parents, with a simple online booking process that can be set up, sent to parents - and returned back to the school in minutes.

Designed with the different needs of Primary and Secondary schools in mind, the Parents’ Evening Manager App saves administrative staff time, simplifies appointment booking for parents and pupils – and gives teachers the information they need so they can prepare for meetings. By moving the process from paper to online, it’s quicker and easier for all involved to have the meetings they want, when they want, with no complications.

A great optional feature for schools and parents is they can add notes to teachers in advance of the meetings, so in the brief time available they can quickly get to talk about what’s important. Over 70% of parents told us that a feature like this would improve Parents’ Evenings.

With the release of our ParentMail mobile App for parents, they will be able to receive notifications, alerting them instantly when they can book Parents’ Evening – making it simpler than ever for parents to book appointments at a time that works for them.

Once parents have finished booking their appointment, parents and teachers can both download a schedule of their appointment so everybody is fully prepared for the event.

Lynne Green, Business Manager at St Paulinus Primary School, told us: “Parents’ Evening Manger is going to be extremely helpful, not only saving time in school but also for the parents, who won’t need to hunt through bags for forms and slips, but will receive it all through ParentMail. We can’t wait to use it.”

The Parents’ Evening Manager App is great as a stand-alone app or as an additional app to those already using ParentMail.

No double bookings, no missed appointments, and a simple booking process for all involved. To find out more about Parents Evening or to arrange a free demonstration, leave a comment below or email enquire@parentmail.co.uk