Staying connected with parents during summer clubs

Posted by Amelia Boldero, 19th June 2024.

Welcome to our second blog in our summer club series! If you missed our previous post, we listed the Top 5 reasons for Running Summer Clubs at your School and the benefits they can have for you, your school, students, parents and the wider community.

In today’s blog, we’re shifting our focus to delve into how you can stay connected with parents during summer club season. Parental involvement is crucial for the success of any extra-curricular activity whether in term time, or during the summer holidays. Here are our suggestions for effective strategies to ensure parents stay connected and engaged.

It all starts with advertising 

Before summer clubs even begin, let’s take a step back to look at the importance of informing and exciting parents about the opportunities available.

Effective club promotion can ensure maximum participation and early engagement from parents. One common way of doing this is through a school app or website, providing parents with easy access to details about the summer club you’re offering, including dates, timings and any associated costs. Displaying this in a centralised hub makes it straightforward for parents to explore the different options available to their child.

To simplify the attendance process further, offering parents a way to book their child onto a school club virtually can save a significant amount of time. This can be easily integrated with your school app, enabling parents to sign up without the hassle of returning paper forms to school.

A detailed online form can capture all necessary information you need to successfully run your summer club and maximise confirmed bookings. The convenience of a virtual sign-up not only enhances parental engagement but will also reduce your workload when setting up your activities.

Regular communication

Keeping an open line of communication is vital in retaining engagement with parents during the summer holidays. If their child is participating in your summer clubs, regular updates about their activities, progress, and any upcoming information they might need will help keep your parents involved.

For a lengthy message such as weekly agendas and timings, emails are a great way to communicate as you can easily include attachments and furnish parents, in detail, about your summer club arrangements. However, you must remember that emails are not always the best way of getting in touch with people and for instant communication, alternative methods should be used.

SMS and push notifications via a school app are a popular and effective choice schools often use to contact parents throughout the year as they’re a great way to quickly grab attention. If you need to tell parents about last-minute changes to your summer club or have an urgent message you must send, SMS and push notifications are the best way to communicate such updates. By maintaining a consistent and multi-method communication strategy, you will be able to keep parents well informed and involved in their child’s activities during the six-week holiday.

Sharing images can go a long way

Keeping parents updated with images is a powerful way to enhance their engagement and connection with the summer club experience. Many parents choose to put their child in summer clubs due to work commitments, so sharing visual updates of their child’s day will be invaluable to them as they will feel a stronger connection to the fun activities their children experiencing during the break. One effective and secure method to share images is to use a virtual noticeboard in your school’s communication platform. This dedicated space allows for easy posting and viewing of photos, ensuring parents can access and enjoy the updates at their convenience.

Visual updates not only make parents feel more involved but also help to build trust and transparency. Seeing their children actively participating and enjoying themselves reassures parents that your summer club is a valuable, enriching experience. What’s more, these images can spark conversations at home, encouraging children to share more about their day. Regularly updating your digital noticeboard with fresh images creates a dynamic and engaging way for parents to stay connected and informed.

Ensuring information is up-to-date

Maintaining accurate and current information is crucial for the smooth operation of summer clubs and the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved, especially the children. Key details such as dietary requirements, medical conditions and emergency contacts must always be kept up-to-date. This ensures that staff members can respond appropriately to any incidents that may arise and caters to each individual child’s specific needs.

One of the most efficient ways to keep this information current is by allowing parents to update their information digitally, ensuring that no communication misses the mark. This method offers several benefits. Firstly, it reduces the administrative burden on staff. As you may be running your summer club with a limited number of staff in comparison to term time, removing the need to manually input data, or chase down information, will allow for attention to be squarely focused on the children. Secondly, it provides parents with the flexibility to update information as soon as changes occur, ensuring that records are always accurate. This digital convenience not only improves efficiency but will also enhance parental engagement by ensuring they stay involved and informed of their child’s progress.

Utilising feedback forms

Particularly if this is the first summer club you are running, asking for parental feedback is crucial for continuously improving the experience of everyone involved. Virtual feedback forms provide an excellent, convenient way for parents to share their thoughts, suggestions and raise any concerns they may have. These forms can be easily distributed via your school app, making it easy for parents to provide feedback at a convenient time for them.

Virtual feedback forms allow for quick and easy data collection and analysis, enabling you to quickly identify common trends and areas for improvement. Additionally, they demonstrate to parents that their opinions are valued and considered, strengthening the partnership between you and the parents associated with your summer club.

Addressing feedback also ensures that your summer club remains responsive to needs and expectations of both parents and students. Showing you’re interested in receiving parental feedback will significantly enhance engagement as they will feel involved in the summer club process and may encourage them to book their child on to the following year as a result of the positive relationship you have built.

The ultimate solution to keep connected with parents

Staying connected and keeping parents engaged during summer clubs is essential for creating a supportive and enriching environment for students. By encompassing all the above tips, you can build a strong, connected community around your summer clubs.

For assistance in securing the ultimate parental engagement with your clubs, Edulink One is perfectly equipped to help you achieve all the aspects we have spoken about in this blog. By integrating all functionalities into a single, reliable platform, Edulink One simplifies processes for both schools and parents, ensuring a seamless and engaging summer club experience.