SURVEY FINDS TWO THIRDS OF PARENTS WANT SCHOOLS TO KEEP IN TOUCH BY TEXT

Schools and local authorities should take note of the findings of an independent survey that has shown that more than two-thirds of parents want their child’s school to use text messaging to communicate with them more frequently.

[UKPRwire, Tue Sep 16 2008] Schools and local authorities should take note of the findings of an independent survey that has shown that more than two-thirds of parents want their child’s school to use text messaging to communicate with them more frequently.

68% of parents were in favour of the move in a survey of 1,493 parents of schoolchildren conducted during August by Populus for Becta, the Government's key partner in the development and delivery of its information and communications technology.

Groupcall has now topped the half a million messages per month mark with its Messenger system, which is being widely embraced by primary and secondary schools across the country, including Thorns Community College in Brierley Hill, Dudley; Lytham St Annes Technology and Performing Arts College, and Queens' School, Bushey, Hertfordshire. The system, which has recently been supplemented with the addition of email messaging and a multi-language capability, is now in use by 1000 primary and secondary schools throughout the UK. The ways in which schools are using the system is also diverse. In addition to using the system to chase up unauthorised absence and drive up school attendance, many are using the system for more routine communication, including providing feedback on pupil performance.

“The message from this survey is clear,” says Groupcall’s Lawrence Royston. “Parents really want schools to embrace systems like Groupcall Messenger both to improve the flow of routine communication and to ensure that they can be quickly contacted in the event of an emergency. And at a time when parental reporting and communication is high on the Government’s agenda, schools and authorities really should take note of the survey’s findings.”

“The survey reported that 81% of parents would like more feedback from their child's school on their child's progress and that 85% of parents received updates from their child's school on their progress four times a year or less. We already have schools regularly using the Messenger system to provide parents with updates on their child’s performance and behaviour in school.”

Award-winning Groupcall Messenger enables schools to send text, voice or email messages in any language to parents’ mobile phones or landlines. The system was developed in consultation with primary and secondary schools and provides unauthorised absence chasing and general parental communication all in one integrated desktop solution. The Groupcall system reads pupil and attendance information live and in real time from the school’s management system.

Ends.

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Howard Robinson or Joe Palmer
Early Doors
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E: howard@earlydoors.com or joe@earlydoors.com