School and Nursery App
Dear Parent/Carer,
Following feedback received from parents directly, through the HMIE surveys and from Parent Council members, we have been looking at ways of improving school to home communication. Many parents have reported missing communications by email, children not receiving paper letters and others being unsure where to find important dates in the newsletters.
To try and overcome this and provide an area for parents to find all information, we are launching a new school app. Parent Council members have had access this app and agreed on behalf of the parent forum that we try pilot it in 2025 before deciding whether to continue beyond that.
There are many useful features within the app:
Calendar
The ‘School App for Parents’ includes a calendar section which is populated with diary dates up to the end of June. Dates can be added directly into parents’ own phone calendars from the app.
Messages
There is a group messaging system meaning we can send group emails to parents but rather than these being buried amongst the many emails coming into your inbox, they will stay within the app to review or read back at your leisure. As this app is intended to be used by all school and nursery parents/carers, the subject header will state SCHOOL, NURSERY or ALL ahead of the detail to alert you and allow you to only open the appropriate messages and, if you choose, delete the rest. You can also select groups within the app so should only be notified of the appropriate messages.
Individual messages about individual children will still be sent directly to parents via text message or email. Only group messages will be sent through the app.
News
There is a news feed within the app that links directly to the blog section of our school website. Website updates will appear automatically here, but we also anticipate using the news section to celebrate our pupils’ achievements and to promote some of the excellent learning experiences going on in Kirkshaws. As per our social media/website permissions, these will be respected within the app and no child’s name will be shared alongside their photograph. Any children whose parents/carers have not granted social media/website permissions will not feature within the news section on the school app.
Information Section
There is an information tab that has links to useful sections of our website, the school and nursery menu, iPay impact, school holidays and a ‘call the school’ and ‘email the school’ that will open within the appropriate apps on your phone.
The school app effectively gives us a One Stop Shop for you accessing and being notified about information that is relevant to you as a parent/carer but can also be downloaded by grandparents and anyone else who cares for your child and needs to receive information about school but do not receive the emails or are unsure on where to access information on the school website.
Whilst we pilot the app, we will continue to send group emails through our Groupcall system to ensure no messages are missed but ask that if you are able to, download the app and explore it. We will seek feedback from parents in late 2025.
The app can be downloaded from the App stores on your phone by searching for ‘School App for Parents’. It is free to download and use. The attached user guide further explains how to access the app.
Thank you for your continued support as we listen to and respond to parent/carer feedback.
Best wishes,
Ms Megan McCrossan
Head Teacher
School App For Parents – User Guide
