Brisbane Catholic Education Steps Up Its Parent Mobile Services With OneBlink

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In the last decade or so, technology has dramatically changed the way schools communicate with parents, and share and publish information. BCE hosts School websites, Parent Portals, and mobile apps to assist with this communication process and to more readily provide access to school forms, newsletters and student reports. This two-way communication also allows Parents to communicate more easily and readily with the school via the Parent Portal, to change personal details, advise of student absences etc. There’s an immediacy that did not exist previously which goes hand in hand with the expectation that there be less reliance on phone calls, paper forms and verbal advice. ParentSMSTM is a vital part of BCE’s communication strategy. BCE has worked with OneBlink for 6 years to provide an SMS service that directly links to the School and Student Administration System. BCE has continued this association in launching ParentSMSTM in 2016. It forms an integral part of BCE’s attendance policy to fulfil each school’s duty of care to students and parents.

Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) operates as part of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. It provides high quality teaching and learning for 72,000 students from Prep to Year 12 through a community of 139 schools and colleges. While each school is locally managed, BCE provides management, payroll and curriculum support including a wide range of IT resources. All BCE schools use an enterprise wide School and Student Administration System, which as well as providing student details and enrolment data, is also used to record student attendance.

ParentSMSTM immediately provides a school’s daily unexplained student absences and the mobile number of the parent, carer and/or legal guardian. Each school can quickly and easily create its own text messages and preview all messages prior to sending, saving time and resources. Parents expect to be advised as soon as possible if their child has an unexplained absence. Importantly, ParentSMSTM addresses a school’s obligation to notify parents as soon as practicable on the day of the student’s absence. BCE schools consistently report that the ability to use ParentSMSTM for other parent communications is extremely effective, from advising that an excursion bus is late, to school fee reminders, deadlines, and even school closures due to a natural disaster. Schools can also choose their target audience, making the sending of unwanted texts a non-issue. Even the ability to send texts to audiences other than parents is catered for. OneBlink meets our performance standards, including telephone support from “real people” and a 24/7 escalation. ParentSMSTM is a fully managed solution. School staff are permissioned to the service and access ParentSMSTM once logged on to the secure BCE network. As part of BCE’s Disaster Recovery Policy, OneBlink also provides BCE with an alternate access path to ParentSMSTM so that texts can be sent in an emergency.

• ParentSMSTM allows schools to know exactly who has sent the message, to track messages, and to be aware of undelivered messages so as to take alternative action.
• Working hand in hand with OneBlink to develop a solution specific to our schools’ needs was very important to us.
• All of our requirements were met within the project timeframe. ParentSMSTM was piloted in 3 of our schools and the feedback was immediately actioned. The launch met all expectations and at all times, OneBlink has provided timely and professional service.

• BCE provides high quality teaching and learning for 72,000 students.
• BCE operates a community of 139 schools and colleges.