Permission Slips

Increase parent engagement

Engaging parents in decisions around their child's education is always a winning option. With this application every staff member can engage with the parents/guardians or students on questions about inclusion/exclusion of a lesson, or questions in regard to difficult topics.

Four types of permission

• SMS: Staff compose an SMS message as a question, the message is sent to parents. The message can optionally contain a link to an additional page of information about the request. Each parent can then reply with 'Y' or 'N' or some other textual response to the question.
• WEB: Staff compose a permission slip using information blocks and questions. The parents step through the information and at each question they can select an option or type a response, finally submitting their completed questionaire. The request can be sent to the parent via SMS or email.
• PRINT: As for the WEB permission slip above, but at the end of the question and answer section the parent is prompted to print the response document, sign it, and return it to the school.
• STUDENT: As for the permission slip above, but the questions are sent to the student rather than the parent. This requires the students to have an email or mobile number registered in their student details.

Features

• This application is available to all staff, so every teacher can compose questions for the parents of their class. If required the school can limit this option by requiring approval for a permission slip before it is sent.
• Staff can include scripted information, or compose their own questions to be presented to the parent/student. The staff member will define the type of response required, whether it is a simple Yes/No answer, a list of options the parent/student can select from, a typed responses, or just to Acknowledge they have read the information.
• Data Lists can be created by staff to manage longer lists of information such as optional subjects or sport options. The Data Lists include a longer description, an optional URL linking to a website with additional details, and an optional cost included for each option. Data Lists also provide limits on the number of students that can select an option. The Data Lists are easily re-usable each term or each year.
• Sending via email or mobile. With the WEB and PRINT slips we are generally sending a URL to the parent/student. In this instance we can send them via Email or SMS, depending upon the option selected by the staff member, and the contact options available for the parent. Where the parent has a preferred contact option this will be used, otherwise the option preferred by the staff member will be used where available. (If the staff member prefers the URL to be sent via Email, and the parent doesn't have a valid Email, then the application will automatically defer to the parent's mobile number and send an SMS).
• Handling non-responsive parents/students. After the initial set of messages are sent, the staff member can choose to resend the message to parents/students who have not yet responded. When they do this there are two options: (a) send to the same contact again, or (b) send using a contact medium that hasn't already been used - in this case if we sent to a mobile number the first time, then we might send to an email address the next time. At each resend we can continue to send to alternative contact mediums until they are all used up, at which point we send to the original contact medium again.
• With the PRINT permission slip the parent is prompted to print the completed responses on their printer at home. When the form prints it will have all of the responses included along with an area for the parent's signature, name and date. The parent can then put the signed form in their child's bag - the teacher can then collect these signed forms from the student. We have included a facility to record the returned forms - by either typing a code or using a barcode reader to scan the code printed on the bottom of the form - the staff member can quickly record that the signed form has been collected by the school.
• The ability for SOBS Administrators to setup standard templates that can be used by any staff member. Templates can be standard statements or standard questions that would often be included in a permission slip for the school. For example, a statement about privacy of information being collected, or a set of standard medical questions that school is required to ask prior to a day excursion - these can configured as templates and included by any staff member in their permission slip.