How parents evening online booking systems enhance communication

The importance of streamlined parents’ evenings

Parents evening is undoubtedly a crucial event in the school calendar. It’s one of the only opportunities parents get to speak to a teacher, distraction-free, about their child’s social, emotional and academic progress.

But let’s face it, organising these evenings is stressful – and that burden often lies with the teachers themselves. Not only are they required to organise the slots, but they also have to prepare the necessary notes and evidence to support said slot.

It’s also worth noting that parents’ evenings often clash with the chaotic schedules of modern families. According to a recent report (Families and the labour market, UK) from Office for National Statistics, 50.4% of working families had both parents employed full-time.

A streamlined, simplified parents’ evening format benefits both teachers and parents/guardians. For teachers, parents’ evenings have to be organised around all other duties, from supervising breaktimes, to teaching high-quality lessons, to marking students’ work. For parents and guardians, they can be difficult to fit around work and childcare, and parents who work non-flexible hours or who have other responsibilities may be at a disadvantage.

Streamlining the process means parents and teachers can meet more easily and get more out of the experience, so using technology (such as a parents evening online booking system) to assist the planning and facilitation of parents’ evenings is becoming the norm in many schools.

The evolution of parents’ evenings: Embracing a parents evening online booking system

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major turning point for schools, with traditional teaching methods and ways of running a school upended. Remote learning was implemented for the majority of children in the UK, and schools needed to find new ways of communicating with parents and guardians.

While school pupils are now back to learning in person, some practices have remained in place.

A TeacherTapp poll found that 31% of primary schools and 61% of secondary schools were holding more online parents’ evenings than they were before the pandemic. While this shows there is still a place for in-person communication (particularly for parents and guardians with younger children, it would seem) the benefits of virtual parents’ evenings are not being ignored.

Exploring the parents evening online booking system

Different parents evening online booking systems exist in the market, offering a range of features that can vary between providers. These are some of the core features available with a parents’ evening booking and management portal:

• The ability to digitally manage both in-person and remote appointments, so all meetings can be booked in one place, or cancelled as needed.
• Access to a wider school calendar so parents and guardians can see a birds’-eye view of their child’s school year, including parents’ evenings.
• Easy-to-book slots that can be reserved digitally, scaling back and simplifying the booking process.
• The ability to upload and store other communications and information about a child’s progress, keeping it all in one place.
• Appointment booking and video calls all in one, so that parents and teachers can meet virtually when preferred. This can be helpful beyond parents’ evenings if ad-hoc meetings and discussions are needed.
• Differentiation between pupils when parents have more than one child attending the school. Parents should be able to toggle between pupils easily and clearly to avoid confusion and keep things simple. A single login will help facilitate this.

The best way to explore the features of a parents evening online booking system is to get a demonstration of it in action. Book a no-obligation demo of our software, My School Portal, to find out if it can offer what you need.

Alternatively, watch the video below to find out more about My School Portal.

How a parents evening online booking system speeds up communication

A parents evening online booking system can streamline communication for teachers, pupils and parents/guardians. Here are the top three ways they can save time:

1. Information uploads. Teachers can upload information and documents and will have them to hand during meetings. Information covered at one parents’ evening will not be lost and can be referred back to as needed.
2. Instant booking. Parents are empowered to choose the slots that work for them and can book them instantly, without any administrative burden. There is no chance of human error when booking as the process is managed by an automated system – no more long email chains, phone calls or missed letters at the bottom of school bags.
3. Better planning. Teachers can plan and prepare for parents’ evenings more easily with less admin on their plates, making time spent with parents more valuable.

Is your school the right fit for a parents evening online booking system?

A parents evening online booking system can offer improvements in many school environments but there are some key considerations. It’s important to think about what each individual school needs based on its setup. These are some factors to consider when deciding if parents’ evening software is right for your school:

Ultimately, whether to invest in a communication platform with a parents' evening booking system hinges entirely on your specific circumstances. The considerations listed above serve as the primary factors to keep in mind as you conduct your research.

• Cost. What is the total cost of setup and what are the ongoing fees?
• Needs. Will you derive enough benefit from a booking system to make it worthwhile? Smaller schools or schools with smaller class sizes may not need one.
• Inclusions. What do you get for the price you pay? Is there adequate access to customer support?
• Flexibility. Every school is different and will have individual needs. Make a software shortlist then work to understand the pros and cons of each system to see if it can meet your needs in all situations.
• Data compliance. How will data be managed and how can your school remain compliant? Can it be centralised across all school systems?
• Implementation. Who will be responsible for initial setup and ongoing maintenance? What support is included from the vendor?
• Integrations. Can the system be used alongside existing school software?

Ultimately, whether to invest in a communication platform with a parents' evening booking system hinges entirely on your specific circumstances. The considerations listed above serve as the primary factors to keep in mind as you conduct your research.

Tips for implementing a parents evening online booking system

If you decide to move forward with a new parents evening online booking system, setting it up for success is essential. These are our top tips to help implement your parents’ evening system correctly and get the most out of it:

• Consider the timing. Can the system be set up outside of term time, or well ahead of the next series of parents’ evenings? This will allow plenty of time for testing and implementation.
• Create a project plan. This should include key requirements, rollout dates and any other relevant steps to get the system up and running. Ideally, have one dedicated project owner and other support staff as required.
• Offer training. A parents’ evening booking system should be simple to navigate, but staff will still need to be taught how to use it to its full potential. They may also be asked for guidance by parents and guardians, so training will be crucial.
• Test thoroughly. Test the system internally before opening it up to parents, ensuring everything is operating as expected.

Common concerns with parents evening online booking systems

As experts in the education sector, we spend lots of time with professionals and get to hear their concerns first-hand. These are some of the questions they ask:

• Could there be no-shows? If user experience is poor and parents could make mistakes with their booking, this may increase the number of no-shows on parents’ evening. Get a demo of the product before making any decisions to understand its usability.
• Will parents need lots of support to use the system? The booking process needs to be simple to avoid requests for support that would diminish time-saving benefits. Again, a product demo should help put minds at rest.
• Is it affordable? For schools, cost is one of the most important factors. All costs should be communicated upfront to ensure there are no surprises and schools can fully understand affordability implications.
• Will data be secure? It’s best to work with a provider that specialises in the education sector and can advise specifically about data security in relation to parent-teacher communication.

Future parents’ evening trends

The trend for online parents’ evenings and digital booking will not be going away any time soon. Access Education believes parents will come to expect a digital-first approach to tie in with their everyday lives, which will inform parent-teacher communication.

A report from Firefly Learning found that edtech platforms have already made parents more aware of their children’s learning progress, and that this has transformed communication in many ways. However, this was not without its challenges, as with greater parental awareness can come more questions for teachers. Parents may have concerns over individual results and the minutiae of learning instead of trusting teachers and seeing the bigger picture, which could erode parent-teacher trust if not carefully managed.

The ability to use one central portal will create more of an ongoing dialogue between parents and teachers, helping to overcome some of the barriers. Communication will move towards digital platforms as standard, levelling the playing field for all parents and making good use of available technology.  

Next steps

Would you like to learn more about parents evening online booking systems to manage parents’ evenings? Finding out what a system costs is a great first step. If you would like to know more about how these systems could work for you specifically, book a free, no-obligation demo.