Using the tailored school app has paid dividends in less obvious cases, too. For instance, you might not think that putting ‘Permission to Administer Medication’ forms on the app would achieve much, but it has. In the past, parents would hand over medicines at drop-off time and then fill out a 12-question paper form, which clogged up the foyer and absorbed staff time and attention. Now, however, parents fill out the form on the app at home and simply drop off their child along with the medicine at school, making the process less stressful all round.

Additionally, unexpectedly, putting absence forms on the app has helped boost engagement among less engaged parents. Cheryl explains:

“Families not comfortable phoning in absence or coming into school would often prove very difficult to contact by phone. However, if their child had not arrived, we needed to reach them. The app has really opened up the communication channels with them; they feel comfortable filling out the app absence form. They are communicating with us more now.”

Moreover, many of Hargrave Park’s families don’t use email, so the school used to distribute printed newsletters, which was a labor-intensive and costly task involving staff manning the photocopier and placing a newsletter into each child’s bag. Now, however, the newsletters go on the app alongside news from the school website and the school’s Twitter account (both automatically fed into the app), making it simultaneously more engaging for parents and less time-consuming for the school.

In conclusion, “we can demonstrate better engagement through the tailored school app; it’s really made a difference,” says Cheryl.