Reliable and Quick   The school can choose to import all the contact details of school members and parents directly from SIMS .net. This removes any duplication of data entry and enables immediate messaging. Alternatively, the school can invite students and parents to register through the web site, entering and maintaining their own contact details, removing that administration from the office.   The administrator or teacher can then easily select who they want to send the message to using a powerful group selection tool. Just type the message into the message box and click ‘Send’. The message will automatically go to all the recipients linked to Schoolcomms. Emails and SMS messages are delivered promptly, directly to the address or number chosen by the parent or student. Parents know that they will receive all the letters as soon as they are issued. No longer will they miss out because letters have been lost or ‘delayed’ in their child’s school bag!   “I would just like to say how impressed I am with the email/text messages, it seems to be working really well. It was very useful the day that there were road closures and the buses were delayed. It was really good not to be worried about the non-appearance of the children.”   Parent The system can equally be used for communication within school; teachers contacting their classes about homework, the office notifying staff of meetings or room changes, teachers contacting parents with a quick ‘well done’, ‘thank you’ or ‘don’t forget…’. For parents that need daily or weekly updates on their child’s progress, Schoolcomms provides an easy and quick channel for two-way communication.   “Our parents who have email have given us very positive feedback. They know that they will receive our messages promptly, and that they won’t miss things that have got lost”   Graham Taylor, Head Teacher   Using the application is very simple. No expensive training is required and full help is available on every screen. Selecting the recipients of a message is easy, by highlighting the names of individuals or groups. SIMS groups are held in Schoolcomms including all the teaching groups. Further groups can be selected for special messages e.g. trips. Emails can include attachments prepared in other applications, or text can be cut and pasted. The message can be previewed or printed before sending to check the content. Parents can reply by email and SMS message, with the messages displayed on screen.
	Pays for itself   The school can send as many letters by email as they wish, at no extra cost. SMS messages cost only 6p each. Emails can include pictures and hyperlinks. School newsletters can include colour photos with no extra printing cost to consider. Substantial savings on printing and photocopying can be made, not to mention the administration time on preparation and distribution. The licence only costs the equivalent of 3 stamps per pupil per annum. There is no set up cost and the licence includes all support and updates. If you would like more information on prices please call the Schoolcomms sales desk on 0844 445 7147. Click here to see the order form.   “Wow, real time support, you want to bottle that one”   Email from customer
	Combat truancy, reduce absences   Phoning parents to explain absences is a very time consuming but important task. It can be achieved much more quickly and efficiently by texting or emailing. Schools find that most parents are happy to be contacted by text and can call or text back at their convenience to explain the reasons for absence. This leaves the attendance officer more time to concentrate on those that really need it. Schoolcomms reads the absence data from SIMS Attendance and presents the user with the list of students whose parents need to be contacted. The user can select those for SMS or email just by ticking the boxes and sending the messages. The data from SIMS is constantly updated to avoid unnecessary messages or duplication.   “I send first day contact messages and I can watch the phone and know it will start ringing within 10 minutes. Some parents who were always difficult to contact are much happier to get texts”   Sue, Attendance officer When the parents reply by SMS or email, the messages are displayed on screen. The attendance officer can read the message and enter the appropriate mark which is written directly back to SIMS without having to move between applications. In the same way telephone and voice calls can be logged and the mark written back. This makes sending absences messages and processing the responses much quicker and more efficient.   For unexplained absence follow up, the screen displays all the absences in the date range selected. The user can then select those for SMS and those for email and send them at once. The messages detail the sessions missed and ask for a reply. Parents find it much easier to reply to an email with their explanations, so more responses can be expected. The system keeps a full attendance contact history, by student. The school can demonstrate the efforts that have been made to follow up on a student’s non-attendance.   “We use Schoolcomms to request explanations for unexplained absences by SMS. One family were away but their son had forgotten to hand in a holiday form. His mother was pleased that we knew that her son was not in school and had tried to contact her to make sure that he was safe. She will make sure that he hands in the form promptly next time!”   Sue, Attendance officer
	Keep Parents Updated   It is generally acknowledged that the children that achieve well at school are those with more parental support at home. Parents can be kept more involved in their child’s education if they are well-informed. With email and text, it is so much easier to send more messages and keep everyone up to date with what is happening in school. Emails can include links to web sites that the teacher wants the parents to see. Most schools now have a wealth of resources available for parents and students but only the most pro-active go to search it out for themselves. By putting links in an email to web sites or Parents’ Gateway, the parent or student is much more likely to look. Clicking on the link in an email is so much easier!   Schoolcomms can be launched directly from the Student Details screen in SIMS. When a user is looking at the details of a particular student and wishes to send a message, they can click on the ‘Quick email’ or ‘Quick SMS’ button. This takes them directly to Schoolcomms with the recipient names already inserted. The user only needs to type in the message and press Send.   “Y10 Girl: Sur, can you take off your mobile numbers from that text message thingy? Me: Why would you want to do that? Y10- Girl: Coz my dad knows everything that's going on in school! Amusing!”   Richard, Assistant Head
	Whole School Solution   It is important that those families that do not have email or a mobile phone are not excluded. For each message, those not linked are listed so that paper copies of the letter can be given only to those that need them. The lists are presented by registration group for easy distribution. This means that you can reduce printing, postage and paper costs.   Up to four adults can link to each student. This means that all parents in separated families can be kept in touch and involved in their child’s education. When the school sends a message they can choose whether the message is to go to all parents or only the ‘prime’ parent. Newsletters and other general messages can be sent to everyone, while messages like ‘The trip will arrive back at school at 7pm’ or ‘Please collect John as he is not feeling well’ can be sent to only the prime parent.   Appropriate reply addresses and phone numbers can be chosen for responses so that they can be directed to the best person for action.   Teachers and support staff can all link to Schoolcomms, as well as other interested people; governors, EWOs, community contacts. Minutes of meetings can be circulated easily saving on time and postage.   “We had a lot of tickets left for the school play and the organising students were getting worried. I sent an SMS reminding pupils and parents to buy, and within half an hour we had a queue round the corner!”   Richard, Assistant Head