It’s a funny thing about school communication. Parents want to know everything, yet at the same time feel overwhelmed with school-related information. We’ve been speaking with Hubbli customers to learn what their main challenges are. Here are 4 important tips that will help.
1. Target Your School Communication
Targeting your school communication by group—grade, class, club, team, program—allows parents to get the information they need and want, and not the information they don’t.
Narrow the scope of your communications: Include the school team’s wins in your school-wide newsletter; not their practice schedule.
Parents won’t feel so overwhelmed when they don’t have to sift through piles of school communication for information relevant to them, and you’ll get your message to the right people.
2. Watch Your Language
You may not even realize you’ve slipped into edu-speak. Whether you’re writing or speaking face-to-face, remember that ‘everyday’ educational terms and references aren’t so obvious to people outside of the education world.
Not every parent will ask for clarification of a word or phrase they don’t understand, especially if it seems ‘technical’; others even begin to tune out.
It’s not condescending to assume parents aren’t familiar with the language of education. Speak (or write) plainly and slow it down.
3. The 80 / 20 Rule
Psychologist Sarah Chana Radcliffe, a well-known parenting specialist, has what she calls the ‘80/20 Rule’, stating that 80% of parent-child communications should be positive and only 20% negative in order to foster a warm, loving relationship.
The same basic theory applies in school to parent/parent to school communication. What percentage of your school communication is ‘heavy’ (a better word than ‘negative’ for reports, instructions, protocols, invoices) vs. ‘positive’ (interesting, inclusive, engaging)? You may not be able to limit the ‘heavy’ stuff, but you can bump up the positive communications to increase response and grow parent engagement.
4. A Picture is Worth 700+ Words
It’s a sad fact that many parents aren’t reading the school newsletters, or blogs, or weekly blasts designed to engage them through regular positive communication. They scan through them, or they bookmark or set them aside for another time.
How do you capture their interest? If your primary purpose is engagement, keep articles, announcements & blog posts under 300 words and stock your communications generously with pictures.
‘Live action’ pictures will make parents more likely to read the entire written message and knowing they can expect great pictures will increase your open rates.