Good Afternoon, Adam
We are a R – 12 school, with a tight-knit R-6 community vs larger secondary cohort with over 60% new families coming into Year 7, so we are on a similar boat. We used to *print* an annual Year Level handbook that included a parent contact list. Opt-in consent was folded into an annual Permission to Publish (student images/work/name) form. However, this has not happened since pre-2020 due to a change of leadership and caution about privacy and potential misuse. Not that we ever had any issue with the printed contact lists previously.
In 2023 our P&F requested the College’s support in letting a parent rep from each class ‘host’ a Year Level What’s App group. It… did not last. In more recent times, we have thrown our support behind the P&F coordinating more than the typical 1-2 events per year that they used to. We also pack Term 1 with family-orientated opportunities for, especially new families, to gather and meet. There’s still more we could do – particularly in an online space – to reach those families who are simply too busy to fit school events into their calendar. As an all-girls school, we are mindful that where a family has sons at another school, their capacity to engage is halved. Buy-in from secondary parents in particular has always been a little up and down, often depending on how close-knit their teenage daughters are as a cohort.
I’m personally not opposed to bringing back a Year Level contact list – I like the idea of utilising Google Forms and inviting families to share contact details that aren’t the same as what is in our system, Natasha. It will be good to hear what other schools are doing in this space – thanks for starting the discussion, Adam.
Thanks,
Danielle