Parentapps Blog

4 reasons to become a paperless school

Parentapps Team

We’re all trying to reduce our carbon footprint and a great way to embrace it is to take steps toward becoming a paperless school.

It sounds daunting, there’s so much paper used in schools – from consent forms to parents evening timetables, to letters about changes to the school, class trips – basically everything. How can you start to make the shift toward becoming even slightly less paper-focused?

 Although we understand that going completely paperless might not be an option for your school right now, making some changes to your systems can help staff, parents, and pupils.

 So, if you’re not yet convinced about going paperless, here are four reasons you should consider it.

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It can save your school time, money and space

Do you know how much your school spends on printing outside of classroom activities? Keeping your printing costs down can mean you have budget to spend elsewhere in your school.

Every day your school is processing letters to parents – the process can be admin-intensive – from creating the document to getting it printed and managing that whole administrative process, it’s hard work! Also, imagine the space you could save in your offices without unnecessary paper?

Communicate easier with parents

How many times have you had to call parents to chase an answer from a letter you sent out only to find the parent who never received the letter. Many children leave letters in their bags, on the bus or bin them by mistake. If a parent has more than one child at the same school, they can receive more than one letter – this means unnecessary paper wastage, and it’s only wasting someone’s time sending extra letters.

A school communication app, not only means less paper wastage, but it also means more accessible and faster communication between the school and parents. With the majority of UK adults having access to a smartphone, notifications can be instantly read and responded to.

It can lighten the workload

Without the need to chase parents for responses and send out letter after letter, this can free up some time for both your teachers and the wider school staff members. Office staff won’t have to call to chase parents as often, and teachers can focus on their primary job at hand – teaching!

Reduces GDPR risks

With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect in the UK back in May 2018, businesses and organisations had to implement significant workplace procedures to ensure data was obtained legally and processes were in place to protect the privacy of users.

 As long as the loose paper is lying around offices and sent home with children, there still poses a risk to the compliance of GDPR practices. With a paperless communication system, this risk is drastically reduced. With data solely accessible on locked computers in schools and in the hands of parents on smartphones, it is easier to exercise the General Data Protection Regulation.

 Having all data secured and accessible from one place can also make updating records and accessing necessary information easier and quicker for staff.

Hopefully, these ideas have given you food for thought, and you’ll consider stepping towards a paperless future. In the meantime, are you struggling to engage parents? Read our blog post Why 2020 should be your year to improve parental engagement.

Ready to experience what a school communication app can do for your school? Sign up for our 30-day free trial.