Astor College saves over £5,000 a year with ParentMail

Previously using a texting service costing over £2,300 each year, frequently spending £500 on whole-school postal mail outs and still sending home general letters, forms and parents’ evening invitations, Astor College were keen to find a way to communicate to parents which would save money – and ParentMail was the answer.

Despite using a text service, there were many letters the school couldn’t use it for so continued to send them home by paper, meaning the cost of paper, printing and post mounted up in addition to their service cost. In just 3 months of using ParentMail, the school has noticed substantial cost savings despite sending more communications home than ever; they predict they will save over £5,000 within their first year.

Now sending texts, emails, online forms and parents’ evening invitations home electronically through one system, the schools have saved hours of time, thousands of pounds, and improved their relationship with parents.

Office Manager Lisa Penn told us, “We are overwhelmingly impressed with ParentMail- being able to send out information in this way makes such a difference when you have to manage communications to nearly 1,000 students and when we looked at the cost savings we were making, it really confirmed that we had made the right decision.  We are also very impressed with how easy the system is to use and the support we have received from ParentMail to get up and running.”

“If you add up the cost of our old text service, as well as the amount of paper we were buying, printing, photocopying and posting - it really is an astonishing amount of money we’re now saving thanks to ParentMail.”

And it’s not just the school who love the new way they’re communicating! Lisa told us, “Parents absolutely love ParentMail and the feedback we have received so far is very positive. They love being able to read messages, respond to forms or book parents’ evening appointments from their smartphone! It’s such an efficient way for them to keep on top of their school needs.”

Parents Evening Manager in particular has been a huge benefit to Astor College, removing the need for 1,000+ sheets of paper to come in and out of school, and hugely simplifying the process for everyone involved.  Once a dreaded event to organise, Astor College now can’t wait for their next parents’ evening!

Improved parental engagement, huge cost savings, and a happy school and parents – just what we like to hear at ParentMail! If your school wants to save money by going paperless and moving to a multi-application communications system, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.