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Braeburn Group Case Study
Braeburn Group Case Study - International Schools In Africa
The Braeburn Group Case Study in Kenya and Tanzania highlights how Piota’s app improved parent communication.
Braeburn Group of International Schools educates over 3,600 pupils across Kenya and Tanzania, offering British/International curricula. Each school has its own app, available for download on Apple and Android, with an additional alumni app.
Apps are easy to navigate
The key advantage an app brings is the ability to target specific information to parents, thereby creating a more personalised experience. Moreover, with instant availability on their phones, easy navigation, and real-time push notifications for Covid-19 updates and other urgent matters, the app quickly becomes the go-to hub for school information. For instance, “using the app is a fast way to access the latest Covid-19 advice, term dates, payments, and event calendars.”
Additionally, the schools have found sending forms via the app particularly beneficial, as it allows parents to self-serve by updating contact information or reporting absences without the need for a call. As a result, this approach saves time and captures information more efficiently.
A More Streamlined Method Of Communication
The schools needed a better way to communicate with their parents both locally and internationally. “We were looking for a more streamlined method to get in touch with parents”. Beforehand, parents were not engaging with emails and the website was not easy to navigate on mobile devices. Parental engagement had become a problem as exemplified by a recent school sports day; in the past, “only some parents had attended and many were unaware that the Sports Day was taking place”. Using its app to send out an alert and reminders to parents about the event resulted in most parents attending the following year.
Push notifications have been key
The Braeburn Schools’ apps are continuously improving, and future plans include offering even more personalised content. Recently, a new Registration feature with MIS integration was launched for parents, staff, and students. Furthermore, the updated app will allow parents and staff at differen
5 Star Reviews
We caught up with Andy Hill, Managing Director of Braeburn Schools Limited and Marcel Blackbeard, Group ICT Manager about their schools’ experiences of using their apps.
“The Headteachers are happy with the ability to send and receive instant push notifications” and teachers have been using the apps to share school news stories and publish trip updates. “Parents are happy too” – they feel more engaged and enjoy getting the updates from the schools. Group executives feel that Piota “really understood” their communication needs and service levels have been good.
The Braeburn Schools groups’ apps are still evolving and future plans include using the apps to communicate ever more personalised content. The group has recently rolled out the Registration feature with inbuilt MIS integration to parents, staff and students. And the new version of the app will allow parents with children at different campuses (as well as staff who work across multiple campuses) to receive alerts from both apps and view them interchangeably.
“The Headteachers are happy with the ability to send and receive instant push notifications”
— Andy Hill
Managing Director of Braeburn Schools
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