When British School Overseas (BSO) Inspectors recently evaluated two large international in Spain and Bahrain, they highlighted innovative approaches to parent communication and community building.
"Classlist ..has been positively received.. the platform includes secure, closed groups governed by a code of conduct.. it helps filter misinformation, answer questions, and share direct school updates... Anecdotal evidence indicates a reduction in the number of complaints from parents since the introduction of the Classlist parent communication application."
BSO Inspection report : King's College Madrid Soto de Vinuelas (Oct 2024) . Rated "outstanding" in all categories
"The parent portal, multiple social media channels, weekly newsletters, emails from teachers and the use of the Class List app provide other avenues of communication. Parents feel communication is excellent and a strength of the school... Open lines of communication are maintained through three main applications, where Class List is preferred for communication, replacing WhatsApp as a regulated tool for school communication."
BSO inspection Report : British School of Bahrain (May 2024)
Classlist was also singled out by Bahrain's Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) inspectors in their May 2024 BQA Inspection Report on the British School of Bahrain (BSB), commenting on how Classlist's app helps parents play an active role in school life. The school scored an 'Outstanding' rating in all categories.
It is unusual for international inspectors to name specific suppliers, so we were delighted to be recognised in this way.
As the British School of Bahrain's former Executive Headmaster John Maguire notes in this brief video: "Classlist has completely revolutionised our parent-parent communication."
* The BSO is the UK Department for Education’s voluntary inspection scheme for overseas schools.
Two-way communication and involvement
In the reports above, evaluation under BSO Standard 6 ("The provision of information for parents, carers and others") has wider scope than one-way outbound communication from the school. Inspectors commended active parent community ambassadors at the British School of Bahrain assist who support newly arrived families by linking them with the established community; organising and facilitating community and charitable events, They noted how the school is accessible to parents through numerous clubs and daily parental engagement sessions. With King's College, Inspectors highlighted termly community fairs which further build social connections, and how parents are involved in initiatives like wellbeing projects, reinforcing the perception that parents are valued members of the community. They commented that parents often come into the school as volunteer readers; to support the library, or even to help chaperone trips.
A common theme is the emphasis on parent involvement - from community ambassadors who welcome new families to clubs, events and volunteer reading programs.
Measuring Results
To understand where they stand on parent involvement and community health, schools need data on parent participation, event attendance, volunteer involvement, and more. Statistics can be scattered across many different systems, or not collected at all, making it difficult to detect patterns and trends.
Classlist brings community engagement metrics together in one place. This includes weekly data on the number of app notifications and emails opened; parent events and attendees; volunteers; funds raised, and other indicators of community health such as the ratio of parents actively participating and generating content, vs those purely consuming information. Classlist also offers an advanced customer satisfaction metric widely used in business, which is becoming popular in schools and can be run several times during the year - a pop-up Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey
Schools which invest in building positive parent communities with professional tools and a structured approach, like the two above, benefit from a virtuous cycle. Engaged parents build a welcoming environment which creates more school advocates, stronger enrolment, and better pupil outcomes.
Ready to transform your school's parent engagement? Schedule a demo and join the growing community of outstanding schools building stronger parent communities through technology.
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