Using Classlist Groups to support School Trips

Setup Guidance for Schools

Trip Setup

• For each trip. the school Ambassador creates a new parent Interest Group. (note: at present Staff Admins do not have the ability to set up new groups, this has to be done by an Ambassador or by somebody with a Parent account). As described later, this Group and its contents can be deleted after the trip concludes. 
• The group can be set up in the app by scrolling to the bottom of the home page below My Groups; selecting “Browse interest groups”, and selecting “Set up a group”

• The Group type should be set as Closed  / Requires Approval. This means that although all parents will be able to see that this group exists on Classlist, only parents invited, or approved by the person setting up the group can join. 
• The Ambassador adds relevant parent members to this group. Only parents who have joined Classlist can be included in a Classlist Group, or receive Group Announcements. Parents can be invited individually, by class/year or by sending a link to the group for them to join.

• Parents can participate in the Group through the web interface, but they need to download the Classlist app if they wish to receive app notifications for new Announcements from staff.
• The School Trip Leader is invited (typically using their official school email) to join Classlist as Staff Admins using the “invite” button on the School Profile  page below. If the trip is led by several staff members they can all be invited as Staff Admins.
• All the Staff Admins on the trip (and indeed any other Staff Admin or Ambassador) can post Announcements to the Group by searching for the group name when they create an announcement.
• Staff Admins will not be part of the group and cannot be contacted directly by parents. 

• Having Staff Admin status will enable Trip Leaders to post Announcements to this Group. The name which they entered as they joined Classlist will be visible to parents as the person sending the Announcement. This can be changed at any time. Parents will not be able to contact the Trip Leader directly. 
• The Trip Leader can decide whether to switch the ability for parents to comment 'on' or 'off' for each Announcement which they make. We generally recommend leaving comments switched on.
• Trip Leaders can view and respond to any parent comments on the Announcements they have sent by looking in the announcements section of the app. Staff Admin will not be notified of new comments to avoid distraction during the trip.
• Please note that Trip Leaders who have Staff Admin status will not be able to see or respond to other posts and comments from parents in the Group feed which are not connected to a specific Announcements. This has the benefit that parents cannot distract the Trip Leader with random comments, and parents will not hear back from staff if they post a question. Parents should be made aware of this through an initial Announcement to the group. A draft is set out below. 
• It is recommended that the Trip Leader download the Classlist app. This will enable them to send Announcements including photos in a few seconds from their mobile.

Live Trip Reporting  

• Announcements about the trip can be made at any time by the Trip Leader. Announcements appear in the group’s feed (see below) and in the parent’s Announcements tab on Classlist. Members of  the group will be notified of new announcements  as normal through in-app notifications.
• To set parent expectations and highlight that they cannot contact Trip Leaders through the Group, you may wish to send a first Announcement on the following lines:
  • • “Welcome to this new group for parents and guardians of pupils on the [Paris Trip]. Trip leaders will use this Classlist group to post regular announcements with trip updates. These may, where we have your permission, include pictures of pupils. Please note that trip leaders are fully occupied managing the trip. They cannot see parent chat in the group, and will not respond to individual queries, which must be directed as normal [through the school office].” 
• If the Trip Leader wishes to include photos within their announcement, which parents really appreciate, these can be selected from the Trip Leader’s photo library, or perhaps better taken within the app using the “Take Photo” button (see below). This latter option has the advantage that no photo image is stored in the Trip Leader’s phone, but the photo remains accessible on Classlist. 
• Parents can comment on the Announcement, or comments can be “locked” after an Announcement has been sent - or if no more comments are desired. Simply go to the announcement on the admin side and scroll down. We recommend leaving comments on, as experience suggests parents like to share positive feedback about how the trip is progressing, and the Trip Leader has the opportunity to respond back just to comments on this specific Announcement.  

Post Trip Arrangements

• Once the trip is completed we recommend deleting the Group at the end of the academic year. This will also delete any images which have been uploaded, and any comments.