How to reduce missed parent communications

Why this matters for UK schools

School communication succeeds when every message has a clear purpose, reaches the right families through a channel they actually use, and makes the required action obvious. Below is our step-by-step implementation guide for school leaders and office teams.

Practical steps

1. 1Authenticate school email sending with SPF, DKIM and DMARC so messages reach the inbox.
2. 2Monitor hard bounces and suppression flags daily so outdated parent email addresses are fixed promptly.
3. 3Enable automatic SMS fallback for urgent notices when an email bounces.
4. 4Give families with children in multiple classes or schools a single unified inbox.
5. 5Review exception reports each Monday to spot unacknowledged urgent items.

Sources and further reading

• DfE — Data protection in schools
• DfE — Digital and technology standards