As October half-term approaches, your school will be putting processes in place to manage parents’ evening a little differently this term. With COVID-19, the usual formula for parents’ evening is out the window, and virtual meetings are taking their place.

If your school is currently working out how to tackle a virtual parents’ evening, we’re here to share advice on why you should consider video conferencing software.

What advantages do video apps present for your parents’ evening? Are they better than a phone call? Let’s find out!

Not every parent has seen their child’s teacher

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, some parents still haven’t met or even seen their child’s teacher—particularly if they’re a newly qualified teacher (NQT). 

With social distancing measures in place, and one parent allowed in to drop off their child at a time, it’s been challenging for teachers to build relationships with parents and caregivers.

A video call presents an opportunity to make informal introductions and start building the foundations of a year-long relationship.

The benefits of a video call don’t just lie with the parents. The teacher benefits from reading non-verbal cues, helping them identify anxious parents to help strengthen their understanding of the family dynamic.

Read next: how your school can support parents this term.

Workbooks aren’t seen, but parents can still celebrate accomplishments

Sadly, a parents’ evening without in-person communication means workbooks can’t be shared, but with video calls, you can still celebrate accomplishments. If their child has performed well, you can discuss this at length with the parents and the child together.  

If you’ve anything negative to raise; this could be a tricky situation with the child in earshot along with their siblings. So a phone call might suffice in this scenario. 

Save time and send the same link to each parent

Hosting a video call doesn’t have to be stressful. Share your process for parents’ evening with parents in advance, so they know what to expect. 

On Zoom, for example, you can set up one meeting, and share the same meeting details with each group of parents. Giving them a time slot just like you usually would, and admitting them one at a time to the call.

Stress to parents that no one else can join the meeting until you have personally admitted them from the waiting room. 

If there is a language barrier between the teacher and the parents, Google Translate can make note-taking an effortless task. So you can log on, conduct each parent meeting with ease and send follow-up notes to accommodate parents from other countries.

If you’re looking for an easy way to manage parent bookings, we have a parent booking system within our app. Send reminders to parents, add appointment lengths with the ability to add breaks and easily export the list of bookings so you can organise your day.