Caldicott welcomes new joiners with Classlist

Classlist Director Toby Burton was delighted to interview education thought-leader Jeremy Banks, Headmaster at Caldicott Preparatory School in Buckinghamshire, UK, recently.

This is the second school at which Mr Banks has used Classlist and he introduced it to Caldicott following success at his previous school, Beachborough, Northamptonshire. At Beachborough, Classlist was used initially to tackle the GDPR issue that prevents schools and PTAs from connecting parents by sharing spreadsheets of contact details.

Welcome new families before term starts

Caldicott uses Classlist to welcome new joiners, connecting parents and easing the transition for boys and their families through the summer holidays before the new term starts. The fact that parents can connect with each other and set up playdates without the school getting involved is especially useful to the school during the intensely busy summer term.

A current parent is responsible for adding new families to Caldicott's Classlist when their acceptance form is completed. 

Mr Banks said: “You’re not having to worry about GDPR. With the new parents’ permission, from the get-go, you have a dialogue about the social side of things which will play a part in the child’s induction into the new school.

“We’re trying to manage our new pupils’ induction from the front end and give them a good experience here. We can’t expect the staff to extend that to organising playdates. With (Classlist) running parallel to what we’re doing, you’ve got a really good package of measures to make sure the boys and their parents are feeling very confident about the start of term, come September.”

Easier PTA events management

An equally important piece of the puzzle was to help the parent association manage events and sell tickets using the Classlist app.

Mr Banks said: “The rationale for introducing Classlist was about selling tickets for events and making sure we were communicating to a mass audience, without it being hit and miss via newsletters.

“The events’ organisation has been a game-changer. We have found it is easier for the parents who are organising these events. All these parents are volunteers. The fact that this eases everything suitably compensates for the hard work they put into organising the events.”

To see how other schools from the state, independent and international sectors use Classlist, visit our Success Stories hub.