Getting your school started on Parent Lite.

Kick start your Parent Lite journey

Whilst GDPR is nothing new, 50% of schools remain in breach. Along with other benefits, your Parent Lite app can help support data management demand.  Here’s some on advice on how to kick start parental engagement and obtain accurate student data.

Step One: Create a checklist.

Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail. Making an onboarding plan is key to Parent Lite success.  You’ll need to consider a few things relating to the technical setup of the app. Before reading the SIMS Parent Lite Installation Guide - a step-by-step instruction manual – be sure to double-check your access rights. Can you log onto SIMS Service Manager, the gateway between your SIMS database and the SIMS Parent Lite app? If not, contact your SIMS support unit for support and guidance.

Step Two: Start ticking things off the list

It’s time to start putting your plan into action. Use your Parent Lite promotional materials to inform parents of how to use the app. Go to the collateral section of your resources pack to print off posters, download presentation templates, and more. 

Step Three: Start with a group of active and engaged parents

It’s up to you what kind of approach you take when getting your parents involved – this could entail drip feeding access, or you could go for a ‘big bang’ approach and get everyone live at once.

We would recommend starting with an active segment of your parents to create a staggered roll out and promote a champion user base. This could be a particular group, such as parents involved in the PTA committee, or you could focus on an upcoming event, such as a parents’ evening.

Once you’ve identified the group, let them know that they’re going to receive an invitation to join SIMS Parent. This will encourage parent uptake from the outset and in turn lead to your champion group spreading the positives of the app. Don’t forget, you can use our comms template to help form the basis of your email/letter to parents. Find this here.

You can find out more about the SIMS Parent Lite app via our dedicated product page. If you’d like to go ahead and start using the app for your school, contact your SIMS support unit or request access to the app direct.