It’s a sad fact that teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep parents engaged with what’s going on at school. Parents’ ‘go-go’ lifestyles mean they don’t have time to visit the school’s website for the latest news and announcements. Hard copies of newsletters often get lost or thrown out.

What does this mean?

• Meetings are missed
• Permission slips never get signed
• Children are dropped off when school is shut for training

Fortunately, our new Jotter Mobile smartphone app is now bridging the gap between parents and schools. Free for parents to download via the App Store and Google Play, Jotter Mobile will transform how you communicate with parents.

The app features:

• Latest news and newsletters
• Push notifications for urgent messages such as snow days
• Calendar for semester dates, meetings and events
• Hot Link – browse an external URL without leaving the app
• Contacts – useful numbers at your fingertips
• Maps – locate a campus or sports field

With hundreds on order, we’ve already delivered over 100 Jotter Mobile apps – all beautifully designed to match a school’s brand and ethos. To date, our app has been used over 250,000 times.

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Here’s what schools are saying:

“I think it’s great! Easy to use, can be accessed from everywhere. I have it on my phone and tablet. We’ve very happy with it. St Joseph’s CPS Bradford
“Over a third of our parents use the app, and it is perfect for us because it’s so easy to use and manage.” Old Sarum Primary School

App reviews from end users:

Holy Family CPS (CV6 2GU)
Bridget Shanahan 8 Sep 2016 at 15:00 0 0
“Thank goodness About time we have an app for holy family.it will make my life so much easier.well done!!”😁
Carl Brennan 9 Sep 2016 at 15:54 0 0
“Nice and easy lay out, hopefully all key dates will be added to the calendar.”
Mrs bradley 15 Sep 2016 at 21:33 1 0
“Loving this . Its very clear …”
Grange Park PS (SR5 1EA)
Vasso Kontou-Watson 5 Dec 2016 at 19:36 0 0
“What a lovely app. Very informative and easy to navigate.”
Drighlington PS (BD11 1JY)
Emma Briggs 8 Jan 2017 at 10:26 0 0
“Great app.”
Even the so-called ‘hard-to-reach’ parent, who has low self-esteem and lacks the confidence to get involved, can at least know what’s going on. This may eventually entice some to become more involved with their children’s education and school life.

Research

Ofcom’s 2016 Communications Market Report states that in the US, the average amount of time browsing on smartphones is 87 hours per month (with only 34 hours for laptops or desktops). The UK comes in only slightly less at 66 hours per month – roughly two hours per day. Based on these findings, an app that can deliver updated information and push notifications from school should be effective and popular. Relying on parents to visit a school’s website for information is optimistic, as this can be time consuming and requires visiting several different pages, whereas with Jotter Mobile, everything can be accessed in moments.
Although Jotter Mobile is a stand-alone product, it works in synergy with our School Jotter website. Not only does the app refresh automatically when the website is updated, parents can access photo galleries.
As lives get busier, the need for schools to have an app to act as a communications hub is greater than ever. It’s a great way to foster support and keep parents willingly engaged.