Parents often know Educa is the right place to stay connected with their child’s learning, but it may not always be obvious where to send a message when they have a question, update, or follow-up.
Conversations can give parents and teachers a clear place for one-to-one, child-specific communication in Educa. This can be especially useful when a message is not directly tied to a specific Learning Story or Message Board post.
One recommended approach is for a teacher to create a Conversation with each child’s parents and use the opening message to explain what it is for. Your centre may use a different approach - the important thing is that parents know where to message teachers in Educa.
Why use Conversations for parent communication?
Conversations help keep parent-teacher communication clear, focused, and easy to find.
They can help centres:
Give parents one clear place to ask questions and follow up
Keep child-specific communication in Educa
Reduce separate emails and informal messages
Support a consistent approach to parent-teacher communication
When to use Conversations, comments, or notes
Educa gives parents and teachers a few ways to communicate. Each option works best for a different type of message.
Use | Best for | Example |
Conversations | General discussion or questions about a child’s learning, development, routines, or centre experience. | A parent asks how their child is settling or follows up after a meeting. |
Comments | Replies linked to something specific in Educa, such as a Learning Story, Message Board post, or plan. | A parent comments on a Learning Story to say what they noticed at home. |
Notes | Information recorded on the child’s profile for future reference. | A teacher or parent adds a note about a learning interest, support strategy, or family update. |
Use Conversations when the message is not tied to one specific story, post, or plan, and is better kept as part of an ongoing one-to-one discussion.
Set expectations with families
When you introduce Conversations to parents, explain what they can use them for.
This may include:
Questions about their child’s learning or development
Follow-up after a meeting or informal chat
Updates about how their child is settling
General centre or routine questions related to their child
It can also help to explain what Conversations are not for. For example, for urgent matters, parents should follow your centre’s usual urgent contact process, such as calling the centre directly.
Note for Site Admins
Site Admins can support teachers and parents by setting a clear centre-wide approach for Conversations.
This could include:
Whether teachers should create a Conversation for each child
Who should be included
How urgent messages should be handled
Expectations around response times
Teachers and parents can only see Conversations they are part of. Site Admins can view all Conversations, which gives them the option to maintain oversight across the centre.
Suggested Conversation title
Use a clear title that includes the child’s name.
Examples:
[Child’s name] – Teacher and Parent Conversation
Questions about [child’s name]
Staying connected about [child’s name]
Example opening message
Hi,
I’ve created this Conversation so we have one easy place to stay in touch about [child’s name].
You can use this Conversation to ask questions about their learning, development, routines, or anything else you would like to check with me.
When a new message is added, everyone will receive an email notification, just like other Educa updates, so you can easily keep up to date.
Thanks,
[Teacher name]
How notifications work
When a new message is posted in a Conversation, parents receive an email notification and teachers are notified in Educa.
Parents can follow the email notification back to the Conversation to reply.