1. Apps Central – a one-stop-shop for parent communication

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.75/5 from 61 reviews

Apps Central provides parental engagement apps to over 600 schools across the UK. It is a one-stop-shop for parent communication. In the app is the school calendar, the news, an information section that can link out to websites and attach in the important school policies, and a messages section where unlimited number of messages can be sent to all users who have downloaded the app.

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2. mySchoolApp – Keeping the ‘mobile generation’ of parents updated

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.9/5 from 19 reviews

Say goodbye to relying on scrunched up letters in school bags and say hello to mySchoolApp. Schools are using it to keep the mobile generation of parents updated on school news, events, payment requests and last-minute changes such as snow days and event cancellations. One tap or click will get through to all the parents you want.

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3. Carter’s Yard Phonics Flashcards – teach phonics at home

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.75/5 from 14 reviews

When learning happens at home with the support of parents and carers, outcomes can dramatically improve. Carter’s Yard Phonics Flashcards are a set of 64 interactive, augmented reality ‘talking’ flashcards that unlock the difficulties of teaching phonics at home. The flashcards support families as they progress from producing individual sounds to reading words and allow them to learn at their own pace, with or without input from an adult.

4. MarvellousMe – 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 from 1 review

Designed by a once disengaged dad, MarvellousMe engages parents in their children’s learning and character development. It boosts family conversations about school and makes it easy for parents to help their children’s education and say: ‘Well done!’. MarvellousMe is special because it encourages and helps teachers to focus parent communication on learning and positive behaviours, as well as giving leaders insight and tools to ensure it’s consistent and sustained in every class.

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5. School Spider – parent payment system, mobile app and more

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.75/5 from 14 reviews

School Spider has everything your school needs in order to succeed online with a website designed specifically for your school, a parent payment system, mobile app and loads of features for parents, pupils and teachers. The software is extremely easy to use and with everything all in one place it is one login and one place to go. Simple, easy to use and cost effective.

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6. Epraise – homework, messaging, parents’ evenings and activities

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.55/5 from 10 reviews

Epraise is designed to do three things: motivate students, engage parents and save teachers time. Although recognising achievement is at the heart of much that they do, they are far more than a replacement school rewards system. Epraise aids in the transformation of schools through features such as leaderboards, digital badges, certificates, clubs and activities, the shop, draws, charitable donations, marksheets, homework tools, parents’ evenings, messenger, interventions and seating plans. They work closely with their schools to develop features that will engage parents in the right way.

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7. Learning Ladders – formative assessment and parental engagement, connected at last

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.9/5 from 16 reviews

Learning Ladders is how outstanding schools accelerate learning, improve wellbeing, and save teacher time by connecting teaching in school and at home.

Forced to close their doors to such excursions in March, the conservation charity is pleased to be able to once again help children reconnect with nature in a safe and secure environment.

A survey conducted by the charity Young Minds revealed that 80% of children felt that the coronavirus pandemic had made their mental health worse. Young people across the UK have had their lives turned upside down by the pandemic, having had to adjust to dramatic changes in their education, routines and home life. The positive impact of time spent in natural environments is well documented and a visit to wetlands allows children the time and space to reap the benefits of the wild outdoors.

WWT’s national formal learning manager Mark Stead said:

“We’re so excited to be welcoming schools back to our wetland centres. It hasn’t been the same without them and many of our regular visitors have told us that they’ve missed seeing children learning about the importance of protecting wetlands and their wildlife.

“The last few months have been a challenging time for teachers and we’ve been working hard to ensure that they and their pupils can still have a fantastic time whilst remaining safe on site. It will be great to once again see children’s faces light up as they discover the wonder of wetlands and their wildlife.”

WWT’s curriculum-linked learning sessions make the most of the sprawling open-air environment at the wetland centres and are suitable for a range of ages and abilities. Led by experienced staff, sessions are hands-on, promoting learning through exploration and discovery.

Staff have been spending the last few months putting in place all of the steps necessary to keep school groups and other visitors safe and are now taking bookings. All of the wetland centres have been accredited with the “We’re Good to Go” UK-wide COVID-19 safety standard, which ensures WWT is operating within the relevant government and public health guidance in relation to Coronavirus.

As the current situation remains uncertain, WWT are also guaranteeing that schools can re-book or cancel free of charge should they be unable to visit due to coronavirus.

To find out more, visit WWT’s Learning Zone to find out what’s happening at each centre.

We’ve worked in close partnership with Adobe to make Spark free for teachers and learners in Wales, accessed using Hwb login details and supported by community, curriculum-ready resources and training, making it easy to embed creative and digital learning practices into lesson plans across all subjects.

Hwb users can use Adobe Spark for Education to easily turn ideas into beautiful graphics, web stories, and video presentations, through Spark ‘Post’, ‘Page’ and ‘Video’, developing the digital literacy skills of learners, helping to set them up for future success.

We marked the official launch of Adobe Spark through Hwb with an action-packed day of activity:

• ‘Spark’ creativity with the release of new, bilingual remix templates
• Launch of our brand new Adobe EdEx Cymru page http://edex.adobe.com/wales and http://edex.adobe.com/cymru
• Launch of ‘Adobe Creative Educator’ bilingual lesson plans and resources on Hwb
• Live webinar which took place on the 14th October – view on demand here

The 45-minute webinar is suitable for you if:

• you are brand new to using Adobe Spark ‘Post’, ‘Page’ or ‘Video’
• you want to see the latest features of the Spark tools
• you need a refresher of how to use the Spark tools
• you are looking for inspiration for using Spark

Adobe Spark was made available earlier in the year to help support teachers and learners during the period of school closures due to lockdown. The Hwb and Adobe team offered online training sessions which were attended live by over 1000 practitioners across Wales, and, to date, have been viewed over 4000 times on demand. You can watch all the sessions on-demand here.

Teachers across Wales can also join the Adobe Community Cymru team which has evolved into a self-sustaining support network of over 1000 educators. The Team is full of answers to questions and inspiration for using Spark in the classroom.

In addition, we supported a group of teachers in Wales to complete the Adobe Creative Educator Level 1 and Level 2 training – becoming the first teachers in the world to earn the badges. The teachers have created lesson plans and resources which we are making available bilingually on the Hwb platform and on the new Adobe EdEx page for Wales – http://edex.adobe.com/wales

The Adobe Edex page features carefully curated content relevant to the needs of teachers in Wales. The Adobe team have translated Adobe Spark for web into Welsh and we are continuing to work with Adobe to provide further bilingual resources.

For more information on using Adobe Spark please visit our Support Centre or join the Adobe Community Cymru team.