Mass mailing a school newsletter

[DaveA]

Morning All,
We are looking for a system that will let us send out HTML formatted e-mail newsletters to current and past pupils and I was just wondering what other people use to do this. We currently have a database of around 5000 people that the e-mail will be sent to.

Thanks Dave.

[Edu-IT]

Something like MailChimp might work well for you.

[laserblazer]

We use https://www.parentmail.co.uk/

[fiza]

we use Schoolcomms

[CyberNerd]

Google apps can do this - there are loads of email merge examples on the internet for google apps.
You can link you SIMS directly into google apps to export the addresses as live data then replace dear X with a name, them mass mail.
All for free.

[PaulHughes]

Yikes! Be EXTREMELY careful just exporting parent contact data our of SIMS to third parties! You may well fall foul of Data Protection Laws and the punishment can be severe!

You need specific permission from parents to export their data anywhere outside of school systems.

Paul.

[CyberNerd]

Yikes! Be EXTREMELY careful just exporting parent contact data our of SIMS to third parties! You may well fall foul of Data Protection Laws and the punishment can be severe!
Paul.

As long as you follow the ICO guidelines it's within the law

You need specific permission from parents to export their data anywhere outside of school systems.

Paul.

You don't need specific permission from parents, but you do need to inform them. This is usually done by telling the ICO about who you share data with.

[Jamman960]

I use phplist, didn't bother with a data export but instead asked everyone to subscribe to the list if they wanted the newsletters

James

[PaulHughes]

As long as you follow the ICO guidelines it's within the law

You don't need specific permission from parents, but you do need to inform them. This is usually done by telling the ICO about who you share data with.

I'm not so sure you are correct there CyberNerd. What if you inform parents and they object? It's a bit late then isn't it?

The general principle of telling people AFTER you've shared their data is not a good one!

Paul.

[glennda]

I'm not so sure you are correct there CyberNerd. What if you inform parents and they object? It's a bit late then isn't it?

The general principle of telling people AFTER you've shared their data is not a good one!

Paul.

As long as the external company you share the data with adheres to the DPA then he is correct AFAIK. Its the same with all the solutions we use from parental comms to online payment systems. We also need parental consent to take students Biometrics for cashless catering.

[GrumbleDook]

As long as the external company you share the data with adheres to the DPA then he is correct AFAIK. Its the same with all the solutions we use from parental comms to online payment systems. We also need parental consent to take students Biometrics for cashless catering.

If you hand the data over to a 3rd party then you include their details in the Privacy Notice (formerly known as the Fair Processing Notice) to parents and students aged over 12. You should also have this as a purpose in your entry with the ICO (normally under advertising, marketing and public relations). The debate about opt-in or opt-out but the parents should be informed (or provided access to the details) prior to the data being given to the school, and also informed of any changes to these practices.

Most of us have come across similar with banks or firms who change their terms of service / owners / partners and they give you advance warning of changes, with the choice to opt out or leave.