Facebook gets most likes from parents

FACEBOOK is the way parents want to link with schools, a trailblazing principal has told a Hobart conference.

Christine Cawsey AM, principal of western Sydney’s Rooty Hill High School, was a keynote speaker yesterday at the University of Tasmania Education Transformation symposium.

“What we know about this generation of parents, even the most disadvantaged, is that they are connected to social media,” she said.

“They find Facebook easy and want to link with the school in that way.

“Mostly posts are positive and, occasionally, we get the hard questions. But that gives the school an opportunity to respond and we’ve made a commitment to be totally transparent.”

Ms Cawsey said the advent of social media marked a shift in the way the school community communicated — it also had a Twitter and Instagram profile.

“We’ll put up everything, dealing with everything from everyday reminders to serious policy,” she said.

The death of a student had people wanting to post on Facebook regarding the circumstances.

“It gave me an opportunity as principal to write a short item on Facebook about protective behaviours, about keeping an eye out for your kids and your kids’ friends, to make sure they are OK.”

Ms Cawsey said the school had done a deal with parents this year. If they bought their child a Chromebook (laptop) the school would waive subject fees for the computer unit.

“We had a 90 per cent take-up in Year 7, and 80 per cent from Years 7 to 10 — much more than we thought,” she said.