Use this guide when you need to share one update with a group of people instead of sending individual messages. News & updates is useful for term reminders, policy notices, service updates, holiday information, tutor announcements, and general operational communication.

Decide who needs to see the update and whether it belongs as an announcement or a direct message. Use announcements for broad information. Use messages for individual questions, account-specific issues, or private context.

Before writing, decide whether the audience is parents, students, tutors, employees, or everyone. The audience determines tone and detail. A parent-facing update should avoid internal shorthand. A tutor-facing update can include operational expectations and workflow reminders.

The title should tell readers what the update is about. Good titles include a time period or action where relevant, such as “Half-term lesson schedule” or “New invoice payment deadline”. Avoid vague titles like “Important update” unless the content is genuinely urgent and broad.

Start with the key message, then add detail. If readers need to do something, put the action clearly near the top. Include dates, deadlines, links, and contact routes where relevant. If no action is needed, say that clearly.

Preview the update for spelling, audience, tone, and accuracy. Confirm that the update does not reveal private information about a family, student, tutor, or incident. Announcements can reach more people than a direct message, so review carefully.

Sometimes you need both. For example, publish a general term-date announcement to all parents, then message one family directly about their specific timetable. Keeping broad and individual communication separate makes both easier to understand.

If someone cannot see an announcement, check their role, portal access, audience settings, and whether the announcement was published. If an update was sent to the wrong audience, publish a correction promptly and use direct messages where needed for affected users.

A good announcement should make broad information easy to find, reduce repeated admin messages, and give the right audience a clear action or understanding.