Detailed launch strategy: Part Three - School & PTA Buy In

Now you have thoroughly tested the site and your early pioneers are getting active: this is the time to show the Head and the PTA Committee that you need to launch the site to the whole school. Use the resources in our dedicated Data Protection mini-site if your Head or PTA need to know about GDPR compliance. Click here for a quick overview. 

In this section we will discuss how to:

1. Bring the PTA onboard
2. Create a welcome post in your Admin Group
3. Get the head teacher's support. 

You Will Need: 

• To contact your school's Head
• To download some resources from the Classlist site

1. Bring the PTA onboard. 

If your school has a PTA or Friends commiittee, getting them on board can be one of the most crucial steps in getting your school's Classlist site up and running. Classlist will be a digital extension of the PTA; making it easier to comunicate with parents and bringing them closer to the PTA's activity.

• Remember, every PTA is different. There is no one method to introducing Classlist to the PTA. You will know the parents at your school better than we ever could, so go with what you think will work best. 
• Inform them of the benefits for the PTA. The effortless whole school or class by class communication, the ability to create groups or contact individual parents, and features such as easy online payment for ticket transactions and community events are all practical ways Classlist can help your hard-working committee members. In addition Classlist can help strengthen and grow your school-parent community by getting more parents involved in the life of the school. 
• Use our resources. We have loads of resources from sample letters and videos featuring real users to a friendly info pack that your can download and show your PTA committee so that they can see all of the benefits themselves.
• Demonstrate. Don't be afraid to give a little demonstration of Classlist. There are automated tours and even a ready made powerpoint presentation in our resources section so you can just hit 'start' and let the screen do the talking. If you've downloaded the app you can even show people your PTA Classlist on your mobile. 

2. Create a welcome post in your Admin Group. 

Every Admin user gets automatically placed into the 'Ambassador and Class Admin' group. This is the perfect place for you to communicate with the other Admin users when you need to do so. Only members of this group can see the posts within it.

• To post in the group go to the Parent Board page. You can write a post and choose the group.
• You can rename this group if you like. If you would like to rename the group to something more appropriate for your school, go to 'Groups'. Simply click the group and select 'Edit Group Name'. You can also add/remove members from this page. 
• More info on groups can be found here.

3. Get the Head Teacher's support.

Whilst Classlist is a completely parent-led initiative it can be beneficial to have a head teacher's support when launching the site. There are even a number of ways that the school can benefit by getting on board with Classlist, such as improved parental engagement, which is an Ofsted measure. 

• Speak to your Head if you think it would help. Many Classlist sites operate successfully without a Head's input, so do not worry if you cannot or do not wish to contact your Head. 
• Demonstrate. As with getting the PTA on board, you can use our huge range of resources to give a demonstration of Classlist, or send the Head an email with links to video clips from other Headteachers and PTA chairs.
• Arrange a phone call with Classlist support. You are more than welcome to arrange a phone call to your Head with one of our staff or Super Ambassadors. To arrange this, please contact support@classlist.com.

Ready for Part Four - Launch to the whole school?