As long as they're correctly configured in your school's MIS, parent/carer email addresses will be automatically imported into Sparx Reader, to enable weekly homework update emails.
Our data shows that schools with parent emails enabled see 15% higher homework completion rates than those that don't.
Parents and carers receive a single weekly email from Sparx with information about Sparx Reader, Maths and Science, if Parent Emails are turned on in the school Maths site. More information on the content of these emails can be found on our article How we communicate with parents.
Configuring parent email addresses in your MIS
Configuring parent email addresses in your MIS
You may need to ask your school's MIS Administrator or technical contact to help you to check these settings.
By default, we only import parent contacts who meet both these criteria in your MIS:
(1) The parental responsibility flag set to "Yes"
(2) Marked as having the highest priority level
For example, if a student has four contacts:
Parent A: priority = 1, parental responsibility = "No"
Parent B: priority = 2, parental responsibility = "Yes"
Parent C: priority = 3, parental responsibility = "Yes"
Parent D: priority = 2, parental responsibility = "Yes"
We would import Parent B and Parent D's email addresses.
How do I import other priority levels
How do I import other priority levels
Go to School Settings > Parent Emails
Under 'Parent/carer contacts priorities in MIS/SIS', choose 'Import contacts with specific priorities'
Check the box next to the specific priority levels you want to include
Toggle 'email for future imports' to on
Click 'Save'
Changes will take effect at the next overnight sync or you can go to Class Manager > Import and Manage Classes, and preview and complete the import straight away
Please note this will affect all Sparx systems.
Preventing us from accessing parent data in your MIS
Preventing us from accessing parent data in your MIS
Turning parent/carer emails off in Sparx will not stop us from receiving them from your MIS if you have previously allowed us access to them, we just won't use them.
If your school does not intend to use parent emails longer term, it is better that we don't have data that we don't need.
You can also prevent us from receiving data about specific parents.
To do this, ask your school's MIS Administrator or technical contact to change the data-sharing permissions in Wonde (whilst written for Sparx Maths users, the same approach applies for Sparx Reader):
Common Tasks
Viewing individual imported parent emails
Viewing individual imported parent emails
Go to Student Manager
Click on a student's details
Scroll to the Parent/Carers section to view email addresses, by clicking on the eye to reveal it.
Managing individual parent email settings
Managing individual parent email settings
Enable/disable emails for individual students. by visiting Student Manager, clicking on the student's name and scrolling down to the parent email. Toggle this on, or off, and press save.
Enable/disable emails for all students via School Settings > Parent Emails. You can toggle this setting off or on, and press save.
Parents can unsubscribe via the link in the weekly emails they receive.
Frequently asked questions
When will changes to parent emails in our MIS appear in Sparx?
When will changes to parent emails in our MIS appear in Sparx?
Changes will sync overnight. For urgent changes, you can perform a manual sync from Class Manager > Import and Manage Classes.
Do I have to share parent emails?
Do I have to share parent emails?
No, sharing parent emails is optional. You can control what data is shared through your Wonde portal. Changing this will remove parent emails from all Sparx systems.
How do I turn parent emails on?
How do I turn parent emails on?
You can turn parent emails on or off for the school by going to More > School Settings > Parent Emails. Please note this will affect all Sparx systems you have.
What if I want to stop sharing parent emails?
What if I want to stop sharing parent emails?
Ask your Network Manager to change the data-sharing permissions in Wonde. Any subsequent homeworks won't have associated parent contacts. Changing this will remove parent emails from all Sparx systems.
Do I need to get permission from each parent?
Do I need to get permission from each parent?
No, you do not need to do this, parent emails are covered under a lawful basis other than consent. Parent emails are provided to Sparx (as data processor) by the school (the data controller). As such, the school is effectively the sender of the emails.
Can I turn parent emails off for one class?
Can I turn parent emails off for one class?
It is not currently possible to turn parent emails off for a class.
We have iSAMS as our MIS - how do we add parent priorities?
We have iSAMS as our MIS - how do we add parent priorities?
iSAMS works a little differently for parent priorities. When new contacts are added to iSAMS, there isn't a field where a school can set a "priority" value.
To assign a "priority" in iSAMS, you can complete the following action:
Go to the student record and select the "Contacts" tab
Select "Arrange Contacts"
Set the contact order
Save record (floppy disk icon)
Once saved, the contact records will be assigned a "Sort Order" value by iSAMS depending on their position in the list (1 /2 / 3 / 4 etc). When Wonde next receive the contact data from iSAMS, they receive the "Sort Order" values assigned, which they can then store as priority values in their data. This then allows the data to be read by Wonde and imported into Sparx.