Mobile phone apps? Don’t they take ages to build and are really costly?

Not really – we build apps for schools for just £595. All linked to your Greenhouse School Website so that parents, and students, can be updated via their mobile phone or device. Anywhere, anytime.

With just a £95 per year ongoing cost for the service we think you will see straight away that this could be a much more cost effective way to communicate with parents that any text-based services you may already use.

One issue we have heard about from schools and parents with pay-per-text services is that you need to make some tough choices. Where parents are separated you need to pay twice as much to communicate each message to the parents to ensure everyone has the same information. For some schools that can have a significant impact on your budget for communications. This also means you might pick and choose what you send rather than sending out as many notifications as you feel are needed. Although we’re sure parents won’t want to be pinged all day long, our apps do make that possible without costing you loads.

The school apps we create are branded along with your school website so that parents can see your branding, logo, and colour choices across both which helps to create that sense of being part of the school community.

What can I do via the school app?

As well as push notifications to update parents via channels which you create, there are a range of other benefits of a school app.

Calendar dates and newsletters can feed through from the school website to the app meaning parents can easily access information without needing to go through the browser and main website – making it easier and quicker for them as they know everything is in one place on whichever smart devices they use. For older students the calendar dates can also include exam timetable information to ensure they are well prepared during exam season.

You can also update news and photo galleries so that parents feel connected to the school, events, and special days, all from the comfort of home or from the office. For parents who are not able to get to school drop off and pick up, especially those who travel for work, this is a great lifeline and helps them to not feel as if they are missing out. It can also help those busy parents stay organised by keeping reminders in their pocket at all times. Never again need children turn up in school uniform on a dress up day!

You are in control of what gets shared and through which channels so that you can target the right information to the right parents. This could mean certain messages and newsletters are only shared with parents of children in certain year groups. Or your boarding parents may get different information from parents of day students, for example.

Crucially for current times is the absence reporting functionality of the school mobile app. This reporting means that parents can let you know about any absences straight away without waiting to make a call or leave answerphone messages. The office can then see all this information clearly from their dashboard on the app website. The office can also choose to receive an email. Parents can even add a signature if required to ensure you have a robust evidence trail regarding pupil absence.

Your dashboard also lets you know how many parents have downloaded the app and you can track their engagement which is perfect for improving school outcomes through those great relationships with all of your families, no matter where they are in the world!

Please get in touch if you’d like us to build your perfect school app and supercharge your parental communications!