1. Communication - 21 st Century Style

2. Questions we need to ask ourselves In order to help self-evaluate schools might ask themselves: Have we effective systems in place to make sure that all parents, including those not living with their children, receive school communications? How do we communicate with hard-to-reach parents? How do we collect the views of parents on methods of communication? Can we amend methods of communication in the light of what parents tell us? How effectively and frequently do we communicate the progress of pupils to parents? Does the school keep parents informed and consult them about actions for school improvement? Do we enable parents to support their child’s learning? How do we involve the parents of pupils with special needs in supporting and developing their learning?

3. Today’s Objective We live in the communication age and communication has never been easier. So, how can we use technology to improve our communication methods with parents?

4. Things to remember… It is important that we use the technology to make improvements and, ultimately, make our lives easier -this is the main aim of technology! It shouldn’t be something extra we do just because it looks impressive, if it doesn’t help us make things easier and more effective, we should consider why do it at all.

5. Today we are going to focus on the following areas: How effectively and frequently do we communicate the progress of pupils to parents? Do we enable parents to support their child’s learning? How do we involve the parents of pupils with special needs in supporting and developing their learning?

6. Online learning platforms moodle.org www.wikispaces.com www.edmodo.com There are many more… The school portal also has the potential to be used in a similar way.

7. How do these work? Let’s look at a good example! http://ranelaghalevelphysics.wikispaces.com/