Payments made in minutes and forms completed instantly!

Brookside Primary School in Stockport recently moved from a basic text only system to ParentMail, in order to collect payments online, collect permissions and feedback in minutes and reach parents through their own school branded app!

Every child in school now has a parent using ParentMail to pick up important school messages, receive permissions forms and pay for school items. School Business Manager Julie Brennan told us, “We’ve really noticed an increase in responses from parents – whether that’s responding to information we’ve sent, completing a form or making a payment, it all happens instantly now we’re using ParentMail.

“It’s a really nice touch that we’re sending our information home to parents through our very own app, it makes our communications unique to us!”

Previously accepting cash and cheques for payments for school trips, Brookside Primary are now creating their trips on ParentMail and allowing parents to pay online through Debit/Credit Card, PayPal or PayPoint. Julie told us, “PayPoint has been really popular with those parents who don’t like to pay for things online, as it means they can take their barcode into their local shop and pay in a way that’s easiest for them.”

Another benefit for Brookside Primary School is that they have gone from sending paper forms and permission slips home to doing everything electronically through ParentMail – and has certainly noticed an improvement in response times as a result! Julie told us, “We usually see 50% of parents responding to a form now within the first hour, and this goes up to 100% within 24 hours, probably because it’s delivered to them instantly and they can complete it in just a few taps!”

Teachers are still just as involved in the process, simply sending their form needs to the school office, who build the template in ParentMail in minutes and get it sent out straight away. The responses are then collated in an easy-to-read report and the school can set automatic reminders for those last few parents who sometimes need an extra nudge!

Having gone from such a basic system to one which offers so much functionality, staff were concerned that it may take time for them to understand how it all works, but have been pleasantly surprised with how easy the user interface is for both school and parents; “The training was fantastic and tailored to our needs, and since then we’ve been able to pick it all up as we go. It’s clear that the system has been designed with schools and parents in mind.”

Brookside Primary are really thrilled with how they’re now engaging with parents and the difference it has made to staff in the school office, saving them hours each week. “We can’t imagine why any school would want to use anything else, when you can do it all, and so easily, through ParentMail.”

If you’re a UK school or college interested in using the leading online school payments system, going completely paperless with our online forms application or reaching your parents through your own school branded app, get in touch today and we’ll show you how easy it could be!