We are all familiar with the proven and undisputed benefits of digitising parental communication and payment.

Keeping parents updated with the cost of school meals and trips, and being able to collect and manage these payments, frees up a considerable amount of time for office administrators. It also gives the school and parents peace of mind that important information has reached its destination and that coins and notes are not lost on the way to school.

On top of this, we mustn’t forget the numerous studies that have shown the importance and impact of parental engagement on pupils’ achievement and progress.

However, more recently, we have noticed from our end users the additional benefits these systems bring to wider school activities. Let’s take St Martin’s Academy in Chester, as an example.

St Martin’s Academy is part of the Northwest Academies Trust and has been recognised by Ofsted as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas. And its Ofsted status is well deserved!

Over recent months the school has not only revolutionised its parental engagement and home-school payment communications  with the introduction of our eeZeeTrip App, St Martin’s have also streamlined the management of their extended school, enrichment curriculum.

The day at St Martin’s Academy runs from 8.30am to 4pm (8am to 6pm including extended day provision) and is open during school holidays, providing invaluable support for working families.

These extended hours offer greater flexibility for enriching the curriculum. Activities offered include inviting guests to lead learning sessions in school and a range of learning opportunities outside the classroom, within the community and beyond. eeZeeTrip is being used to manage any number of extended school activities such as sports fixtures, swimming galas and music lessons. The pupils at St Martin’s regularly visit museums, castles and galleries to bring their learning alive, as well as excursions to the theatre and residential trips.

Before the introduction of eeZeeTrip, organising these activities involved a time consuming paper-based exercise with many letters, permission slips and ad hoc payments flowing between school and home. This process was inefficient for the school, with teaching and administration staff spending unnecessary amounts of time on logistics and chasing busy parents.

One of the key challenges the Academy faced was allowing parents visibility of these enrichment activities to get everyone involved.

With the introduction of eeZeeTrip parents instantly saw the benefits of signing up and paying for activities. One parent told the school “I just wanted to say how fantastic the new payment system is and has made everything so much easier to manage. Thanks for setting it up!!”

The result has been a 100 per cent parent uptake, a decrease in text messaging costs by using the free in-App eeZeeTrip messaging, and efficient collection of money.

Sarah Leese, St Martin’s business manager, said, “The eeZeeTrip App allows for real time information exchange. Parents can see what they have to pay and no invoices are misplaced as they are held within the App until completed.”

So when you’re considering a parental communication and payment system, don’t forget to ensure that it will also help you implement these valuable extended school activities. The App has helped the school introduce so many additional activities and support services that would historically have made too many demands on the already busy staff.

For more information please email hello@eezeetrip.co.uk or visit www.eezeetrip.co.uk

We are also on Twitter @eezeetrip or telephone: 0844 822 8442