The importance of effective communication

Parents—current and recent—are every school’s front-line sales team; they are the people who spread the key messages about your school and whose experience and the way they communicate it convince others to bring their children to you.

Think about how your parents receive your communications. There are no more important messages from your school to parents than the ones about their child’s progress and attainment. Make sure these are inclusive and encourage engagement.

And what goes for pupil reports goes for every message that goes out from the school—whether by email, text, letter, newsletter, post or tweet. They are all important.

Take a good look at all your communications, individual and general, that go out to parents. What do they tell you about the school and its ethos? And it’s not just how things are communicated, it’s what you choose to communicate. Use your communications to emphasise, implicitly as well as explicitly, your key messages. If your school has a reputation for being academically rather too relaxed, make sure that every edition of the newsletter contains some news of academic achievement.

Also don’t forget the staff. Every member of staff—not only teachers but everyone who comes into contact with parents—should be aware of the importance of what they say and write to parents. They should also feel in the loop themselves. A good communications policy includes every important stakeholder—members of staff, governors, parents,and pupils. It’s hard to legislate for the member of staff who doesn’t check his email (though, frankly, that should be no excuse) but staff who feel they know what is going on and the school’s direction of travel, are much more likely to make parents feel the same way.

To find out how MTM can help your school, call 01502 722787 or email office@mtmconsulting.co.uk.