Small Heath School implements its own text contact number

I had a note from Richard Riley this morning letting me know about a new system his college, Small Heath School,
an 11-18 Technology College in Birmingham’s inner city.  Here’s what he had to say:

Small Heath School has joined forces with
FASTSMS, one of the country’s leading SMS providers, to introduce a text
messaging service as a new way of enabling parents and the school to keep in
contact.

The system allows
parents to contact the school directly on a unique reply number, for example
letting the school know their child is ill. Parents can be notified of school
closures, delayed trips or the failure of their child to register on a
particular day. The school’s admin time will literally be halved.

Prior to the introduction of the
service, the school was regularly inundated with calls, particularly in
inclement weather, asking if the school was open. This system will
change all of that.

Very, very smart.  Obviously every school should have this.  The critical point here is the unique reply number which gives parents the ability to reply to messages.  More details are
available from Richard Riley, at the school, on 0121 464
7997. Very cool!