Paperless parents’ evening booked in less than 24 hours for Whiteabbey

Within 48 hours of launching ParentMail in Whiteabbey Primary School, 80% of parents were able to receive messages, make payments, complete forms and book parents evening appointments online!

Now with 97% of parents registered, the school sends almost all of their communications digitally, bringing with it considerable time and cost savings!

Principal Keith Wysner used ParentMail at his former primary school in Northern Ireland and felt it was perfect in a small school setting. When he moved to Whiteabbey Primary, he was keen to bring ParentMail with him knowing it would be as beneficial, if not more so, in a larger primary school setting.

Now at Whiteabbey, with just over 400 students, he was amazed to see that 174 parents booked their parents’ evening appointments within the first hour!

Keith told us, “We sent out the invitations at 8.30pm on a Tuesday evening and by the following afternoon 88% of our students had a parents’ evening appointment, of their choosing, confirmed!”

Previously the school sent paper letters to tell parents what time their allocated appointments would be – now with Parents’ Evening Manager they can put control in parents’ hands and allow them to book the appointments at the times they want. The majority of parents use the mobile app to book their appointments which means they receive a notification and can book their appointments instantly.

Feedback from parents has been fantastic, with some taking to the school Facebook page to say “Just booked the appointments for parent teacher interviews on ParentMail. So easy and convenient!” and “I had written in my diary re: the upcoming appointments, then my ParentMail pinged about it – I was straight in there.”

The school had previously looked at other parents’ evening booking and online payments systems, but felt that nothing worked as efficiently as having it all under one roof – and with a mobile app for parents!

Keith said “The admin and teaching teams here in Whiteabbey have really embraced using technology to improve our parental engagement and ParentMail has been a real success as a result. Parents’ Evening Manager in particular is one of the most efficient digital tools I’ve used for managing Parent Teacher Meetings and I would recommend the system to other schools to use as it offers choice whilst reducing admin time and costs.”

Want to know more about our parents' evening booking system and how it could simplify processes in our school?