Learn how social media can help you keep parents up-to-date.
Before you depart on your school ski trip, you will communicate with your students’ parents several times, whether it’s seeking parental permission or providing them with details of the trip at a parents’ evening.
However, there may be times when you want to remind parents of a payment deadline, or issue a small piece of information such as recommended clothes to pack. In these instances, many of our groups use X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook.
Social media also becomes a useful tool once you are on your trip.
Understandably, some parents may be nervous about their children going skiing without them. You can use X (Twitter), Facebook, or other social media to keep them updated on how the trip is going.
As you can also post photos, you can really make parents feel involved, which is a great way of reassuring them.
If your school has one, you could just use its general X (Twitter) or Facebook account for this.
Alternatively, many of our groups set up accounts specific to the trip itself, as it makes the information slightly easier to find, particularly if the person in charge of the general account is a prolific poster!
When setting up a separate X (Twitter) account for your trip, we recommend that you make your handle (name) something recognisable. For example, if your school is called Colwick High School, your X (Twitter) handle for your ski trip could be @colwickski, or similar. Many schools also use their badge as their picture, as this is easily recognisable for parents.
If you have never used X (Twitter), Facebook or other social media before, setting up an account could not be easier - just head to the appropriate website and follow the on-screen instructions!
If privacy is a concern, most social media allow you to change your privacy settings to allow your posts to be seen only by those that you have approved (usually by accepting a follow/friend request or similar).
If you do choose to do this, keep in mind that only the parents that have requested to follow you, and that you have approved, will be able to see your posts and so some may not be able to see the information you are posting.
Of course, if you do set up some form of social media for your trip, you will need to inform parents that you have done so, so that they can follow it if they so wish. Include this information in any literature sent to them and on any promotional materials, such as posters. You could also raise this at the parents’ evening.
Once this has all been done, all that’s left is to start posting! At Halsbury, we use social media on a regular basis, so please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
We always enjoy seeing how our groups are getting on, so please feel free to @ us or join us on Facebook!
Win a £30 Amazon voucher!
Our school ski experts often spend months helping you to plan your school ski trips and they absolutely love seeing your social media posts when you’re out on your trips.
So, each term, we’re offering a £30 Amazon voucher for the best social media post that tags us –@HalsburyTravel!