School Year Planner 2026-2027

A year-at-a-glance plan for when your school communicates with families, and about what

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How to use this template

• Fill it in during the week before Term 1 starts, while the year is still empty of urgent messages and everyone has time to agree on it.
• Revisit it at the start of each term — add real dates as they are confirmed and drop anything that no longer applies.
• One field, one channel: if a moment genuinely needs two channels (for example an app notification backed by SMS), write both in the same field rather than leaving the second one blank.
• Agree the “Owner” field with the actual person, not their job title in the abstract — a name that changes each term is a sign the plan is not being kept current.
• Print or share the finished plan with everyone who sends family communications, not just the person who filled it in — it only prevents reactive messaging if the whole team can see it.
• Keep this plan separate from your holiday or term-date calendar — it does not list dates for the school year, it lists when your organisation will communicate and through which channel.

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Before the year starts

Organisation name: [ORGANISATION NAME] School year: [SCHOOL YEAR, E.G. 2026-2027] Communication plan owner: [NAME AND ROLE OF PLAN OWNER]

Filled in once, before the rest of the plan — names who is accountable for keeping this document current across the year.

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Term 1

Term start and welcome message

Month: [MONTH OR DATE] Audience: [ALL FAMILIES / ONE CLASS / ONE YEAR GROUP / STAFF ONLY] Channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Owner: [NAME OR ROLE]

First parent evening or meeting

Month: [MONTH OR DATE] Audience: [ALL FAMILIES / ONE CLASS / ONE YEAR GROUP / STAFF ONLY] Channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Owner: [NAME OR ROLE]

Term 1 is where families form their first impression of how your organisation communicates — plan its two moments before the term begins, not during the first busy week.

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Term 2

Progress report

Month: [MONTH OR DATE] Audience: [ALL FAMILIES / ONE CLASS / ONE YEAR GROUP / STAFF ONLY] Channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Owner: [NAME OR ROLE]

School trip or offsite activity

Month: [MONTH OR DATE] Audience: [ALL FAMILIES / ONE CLASS / ONE YEAR GROUP / STAFF ONLY] Channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Owner: [NAME OR ROLE]

Mid-year is when most organisations discover a trip or activity was announced with less notice than families needed — decide the channel and owner now, before a date is confirmed.

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Term 3

End-of-year report

Month: [MONTH OR DATE] Audience: [ALL FAMILIES / ONE CLASS / ONE YEAR GROUP / STAFF ONLY] Channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Owner: [NAME OR ROLE]

Next year’s enrolment or re-enrolment window

Month: [MONTH OR DATE] Audience: [ALL FAMILIES / ONE CLASS / ONE YEAR GROUP / STAFF ONLY] Channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Owner: [NAME OR ROLE]

Re-enrolment notices sent too close to the deadline are one of the most common complaints families raise — plan the month now, well before the actual window opens.

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Moments that repeat every term

Reports — how often: [E.G. EVERY 6 WEEKS] Reports — channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Parent meetings — how often: [E.G. ONCE PER TERM] Parent meetings — channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Safety drills — how often: [E.G. ONCE PER TERM] Fee or enrolment notices — how often: [E.G. START OF EACH TERM]

These moments happen on a cycle rather than a single date — set the cycle once here so nobody has to decide the channel afresh each time it comes round.

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Unplanned closure communication

Who decides and sends the message: [NAME OR ROLE] Primary channel: [APP NOTIFICATION / SMS / EMAIL / PRINTED NOTE / PHONE CALL / NOTICEBOARD] Target time to notify families: [E.G. WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF THE DECISION]

Weather, illness, a utility failure — an unplanned closure is the one message families need fastest and forgive least when it is late. Agree this before the year starts, not on the morning it happens.

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Cover when the usual owner is absent

Backup owner (name and role): [NAME AND ROLE] How access or handover works: [SHARED INBOX / HANDOVER DOCUMENT / DEPUTY HAS STANDING ACCESS / OTHER] Review this plan: [E.G. AT THE START OF EACH TERM]

The usual owner’s holiday, illness or departure is the other moment plans quietly fail — name a backup with real access now, and set a date to review the whole plan together.