Why bother with a school newsletter?
What do you do with the newsletters that ping into your email inbox? Immediately delete or open just to be sure you really do want to delete?
The good news is that surveys of parents consistently demonstrate they open school newsletters and, moreover, declare them to be a valuable source of information about what’s going on in the school. So, now we’ve established your newsletter is not going to be summarily deleted, let’s examine why your school should be producing one and what should be in it.
Why YOU need a school newsletter
School newsletters may be the only source of school community information that some parents receive. With so many of us working full-time and the pace of life seeming to gather pace at an alarming rate, school-gate chats are rare and the chance to catch up with other parents equally so. The once or twice a year parents evening cannot possibly hope to convey to parents all the highs and lows of a school year, so a newsletter can fulfil this function perfectly. Which is why we developed one of the most popular sections on our app, the Schoop News and Engagement feature.
What do I put in my newsletter?
Traditional newsletters could be time-consuming and costly. Paper and printing alone for a whole school could be onerous where resources were scarce. Because of the time, energy and expense, it wouldn’t make sense to publish a newsletter more than once a term at the most. And when it was printed, chances are it disappeared into students’ bags, never to be seen again!
Schoop has the answer. News and Engagement allows you to create, upload or even copy and paste material from other platforms in an easily accessible format. Rich text means you decide how you want your words to look, while images can be inserted alongside text for a professional touch or videos sharing special moments from the school year may be uploaded.
A school with the Schoop app can create blogs and newsletters whenever they like, as often as they like. True parental engagement can only be achieved through consistent, regular communication of school activities and successes. How about now? It’s the perfect time to put together a round-up of the first term of the year, along with reviews of Christmas events such as the school Nativity or Christmas Fayre. Upload videos of the events – priceless for disappointed parents who weren’t able to attend your festive activities. The Newsletter doesn’t have to clog up parents’ email inboxes either – it’s right there on the app for all to access easily at the touch of a button. Busy parents don’t have time to read your news? Not to worry – your newsletter will stay on the app as long as you like, perfect for parents to browse over a cup of coffee when they get a few minutes!
Have you considered a Class Newsletter?
While school newsletters can be a great idea for informing parents about community-wide events or points of administration, a class newsletter is an ideal tool for parental engagement that doesn’t have to be too onerous yet involves parents and keeps them in the loop with their child’s day-to-day activities. In this way, teachers can communicate effectively with the parents or carers of all their charges in one effective missive. Some suggestions for the class newsletter include birthday congratulations, displaying of artwork or projects undertaken by the children and also hints and tips on helping students with their studies at home for upcoming topics. In this way home-learning can be subtly encouraged through a variety of methods, with all the commensurate benefits this confers. Research has shown that not only classroom attainment is improved, but also behaviour and confidence is boosted in children with engaged parents.
Want to see how Schoop’s Newsletter can improve your school’s parental engagement? Click on the link below for free five minute demo!
