Good Push Notifications

Good Push Notifications

Push Notifications can be sent to you App users to help direct their attention when you want it! Maybe you've made a change to the school calendar, want your staff to complete a digital test, or your parents to see a resource about Safety Settings.

They appear just like a notification you might receive from other apps on your phone like Instagram or WhatsApp. But how do you make them, and how do you use them well?

IdeaUnsure? Find out how to create a Push Notification 👉🏻 here 👈🏻

Consistency

Your adult users will receive selected push notifications from the Safer Schools NI App containing safeguarding updates, alerts and blogs from us at Safer Schools NI. It can therefore be important to differentiate any push notifications sent out directly from the school. Try and keep your Title and body used consistent, with a similar structure and language to help differentiate. You could even use your school name at the beginning of the notifications.

Clear and Concise

Push notifications have a 200 character limit in the Body, and only 40 for the Title. It is important to make your push notification clear and concise. We suggest include what a post relates to in the title, for example if its the latest holidays at the start of term, titling it "School Holidays Update!" would be great! You could even include an emoji to make it eye catching.

Other Considerations

1. Is it timely? You can schedule a push notification for a specific time or date to ensure it has the best engagement. For example, PN's to busy parents first thing in the morning might get lost in the start of their day, but it might be ideal for an older pupil as they're heading into school.

2.  Is it actionable? The push notification should make it clear what the user should do next. For example, if you are wanting to inform staff of a Safeguarding Risk, include a link to a page within your Safer Schools NI App or a resource that would give them guidance on what action to take next.

IdeaRemember Push Notifications are NOT text messages, but a method to draw attention to something specific.

3. Is it Specific? You can send the notification to a specific user role. Ensure the contents of a notification is appropriate to the group you're engaging with. For example, informing staff that they need to return their child's school photo permission slips wouldn't be relevant to them!

Notifications that aren't relevant to users will cause them to disengage with notifications from the App and then they might miss important ones in the future.

IdeaNOTE Remember, your users must have notifications enabled on their device from the Safer Schools NI App.

Getting Started

With all of this in mind, we've developed a Push Notification Map to help you in getting started with Push Notifications in your Safer Schools NI App. Each notification is divided by audience group (parents or staff, primary or secondary), and you can filter by topic and time of year! There are then suggestions of in app content, or external content you can direct your users to. Feel free to download and use, or you can download it on our website, alongside many other launch materials: https://saferschoolsni.co.uk/launch-your-app/ 



Notes

Still need help?

Contact the Safer Schools NI support Service Desk using the contact details below.
📰 Check out our other support articles
📹 Take a look at our instructional videos
📞 Phone: 02896005777
💻 Website: Visit Safer Schools NI and use the Live Chat

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