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NEW AI Writing Assistant - July 2025

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We have an exciting new tool that has been added to our School Spider parents area, designed to help speed up and enhance your messages to parents and carers.

The new AI Writing Assistant works by giving it simple prompts for the context of your message and by using ChatGPT technology, we will give you message content suggestions. You can also use revisions for suggested improvements or proofread your content. 

To use the new AI Writing Assistant, it must be activated by an administrator in the School Spider portal settings. View a guide on how to do this here. 

Guide: Creating a message using the AI Writing Assistant 

Guide: Using the AI Writing Assistant to proofread your content 

Please ensure you read our use guidance below before you activate and start using the AI Writing Assistant. 

*The AI Writing Assistant cannot access any of your organisational data in School Spider or other software applications it is linked to, such as your Management Information System (MIS).

 

AI Writing Assistant Use Guidance

The administrator activating the AI Writing Assistant must agree on behalf of your organisation to the guidance that helps you keep your data safe when using the feature. It is their responsibility to make sure all staff members who send messages are aware of the use guidance.

We have added the guidance below to share with your staff members using the AI Writing Assistant, to make them aware not to enter any of the following types of information when entering the details of the message they want to create:

Type of Information Examples
Personal or sensitive data

  • Any names of students, staff members, parents and carers, or any other associated contacts.

  • Dates of birth.

  • Addresses.

  • Contact information, such as telephone numbers, email addresses.
Details that should not be publicly available

  • Dates and times of meeting or events.

  • Locations or address information for meetings or events that are for students, staff members, parents and carers or invited contacts.

  • Operating or business sensitive information about your organisation.
Any intellectual property

  • Copyrighted information.

  • Trademarks.

  • Logos.

  • Business sensitive information.

Get the most out of the AI Writing Assistance with our top tips! 

Overcome Writer's Block

If you don't know where to start with an email to parents and carers, just entering a few details is all the AI needs to generate an email you can edit to meet your needs.

👍 Example: 


Writing an email about a school trip? — Enter the destination, date, and time, and the AI Assistant will do the rest.

Provide Clear Instructions

To get the best out of the AI Writing Assistant, enter clear instructions about what you want it to do and include in messages.

👍 Example:

Write an email to parents and carers only using words that would be understood by recipients who do not use English as their first language about what they need to do to book their child a place for a school trip. Display the details in a numbered list.

Set Word Limits

To keep the details in emails clear and to the point, ask the AI Writing Assistant to use a set word limit.

👍 Example:

Write an email to parents and carers about the school being closed due to bad weather in less than 50 words.

Include Examples

If you are sending an email about a new system or service, ask the AI Writing Assistant to include examples of how the recipient can use it.

👍 Example:

Write an email about our new reading system and include examples to suggest how parents and carers can use it to help their children read at home.

Find the Right Tone

When sending emails about sensitive topics, provide the context to the AI Writing Assistant to have it create assertive and respectful or compassionate responses.

👍 Example:

Write an email to parents and carers about the poor behaviour of students during break times.

Use Balanced Views

If you need to send an email about a topic that could have mixed views, ask the AI Writing Assistant to consider different views recipients might have.

👍 Example:

Write an email to parents and carers about sex education classes considering the different views they might have about their child attending.

Get Help Editing Messages

If you prefer to create messages yourself, the AI Writing Assistant can also be used to:

  • Proofread your message for spelling and grammar.
  • Help you add more detail to your message.
  • Suggest ways to shorten your message.
  • Formalise the tone of your message.

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Examples of information to enter in the AI Writing Assistant

  • Write a short email about school being closed due to bad weather.
  • Write an email for a special assembly being held for a teacher who is retiring.
  • Write an email informing parents nuts are not allowed in packed lunches.
  • Write a message about clothing needed for sports day.