Understanding Today’s Parents: Insights from the Other Side of the Principal’s Desk 

Article written by Grant Dusting, Director of Strategy, McCrindle 

A few weeks ago, my wife and I sat in a Principal’s office. We were enrolling our daughter in kindergarten. 

As a Gen Y (Millennial) parent, I brought a mental checklist. I wanted to ask about classroom screen time. I was impressed. The school is delaying its 1-to-1 iPad program until Year 5.  

They also have a clear AI strategy (my next question). No AI for students, but staff can use it for lesson prep and admin.  

I’m unsure exactly what I think about their policy but I respect them for having a reasoned approach while holding it loosely. 

The Principal spent most of our meeting pitching the school. He totally didn’t have to. As a proud Alumnus I loved hearing the vision. Still, I was hoping for more of a two-way chat about our family’s specific hopes and questions. 

We were already sold on the school. The staff iced the cake. Over the past year, we’ve met several teachers socially (this is Perth, after all!). They all genuinely love working at the school. Happy staff do your best marketing. It really is that simple. 

Sitting in that chair gave me a different perspective. As a social researcher I normally see parent engagement and decision-making from a birds-eye view.  

I can tell you that four in five parents (83%) believe it’s extremely or very important for them to be practically involved in their child’s schooling. Yet many Millennial parents feel rushed and overloaded. We want streamlined communication. 

We see this shift across Western Australia. It happens at Wesley College in South Perth. It happens at Kingsway in Darch and St Mary’s in Karrinyup. Parent expectations are changing everywhere. 

Working across different industries gives our McCrindle team a unique vantage point. Businesses moved away from the annual performance review as the sole employee feedback mechanism years ago. School communication is following a similar path, but not all schools have recognised this yet. 

Two-thirds of parents (66%) expect an email reply from a teacher within a day. For Independent school parents that rises to three in four parents (74%). And that’s for non-urgent queries!  

In addition, parents now value social-emotional updates on their child’s progress as much as academic results.  

App fatigue is real. One in four parents (26%) say this is a challenge with their school. When updates feel cold or late, parents can drift into a consumer mindset. 

Genuine belonging comes down to simple connections. Half of parents (51%) define belonging in a school community as teachers knowing their child well.  

Want to kickstart a discussion at your next Executive meeting? Here are three questions to get things going: 

• How are we sharing student progress outside end-of-term reports and parent-teacher interviews? 

• Does our communication invite two-way feedback, or it is all just a broadcast? 

• Are we measuring parents’ sense of belonging and partnership, or just satisfaction? 

I’ll be speaking at the upcoming educate+ International Conference in Brisbane. My session will be titled From consumers to co-creators: Redefining parent engagement for the decade ahead. Do come say g’day if you’re there! 

You can download our free report A school leader’s guide to engaging the next generation of parents here, and explore our latest parent engagement insights and much more on McCrindle+. 

As the Director of Strategy and WA office lead at McCrindle, Grant works directly with McCrindle’s clients across Australia and New Zealand to help them understand these changing times and respond strategically. He is a regular at our WA Chapter monthly coffee catchups and invites you to chat with him over a mocha or connect with him on LinkedIn.  

Grant Dusting
Director of Strategy
McCrindle