> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://signalschools.co.uk/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Parent Emails

> Automatically notify parents when incidents are logged. Configure email templates with placeholders, include custom field values, and optionally require DSL review before sending.

The **Email Parents** action on a [workflow](/docs/workflows/overview) automatically creates parent notification emails when an incident matches the workflow's trigger criteria. This ensures parents are informed promptly and consistently, without staff needing to draft individual emails.

## How parent emails work

When an incident matches a workflow with an Email Parents action:

1. Signal identifies the main students on the incident
2. For each student, it finds the parent or guardian contacts on file
3. An email is created using the template you configured on the action
4. The email is either held as a **draft** for review, or moves straight to the sending queue — depending on your configuration

## Configuring the Email Parents action

When adding an Email Parents action to a workflow, you configure:

* **Email Subject** — the email subject line (supports placeholders)
* **Email Body** — the email content (supports placeholders and custom fields)
* **Require DSL review before sending** — a switch that controls whether notifications need DSL approval before sending
* **Included custom fields** — which custom field values to include in the email, added from the **Insert placeholder** bar

## Template placeholders

Use placeholders in your email subject and body to automatically insert details for each recipient. Signal replaces these when the email is generated.

| Placeholder            | Replaced with                       |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| `{{StudentFirstName}}` | The student's first name            |
| `{{StudentLastName}}`  | The student's last name             |
| `{{IncidentDate}}`     | The date of the incident            |
| `{{SchoolName}}`       | Your school's name                  |
| `{{ParentFirstName}}`  | The parent or guardian's first name |
| `{{ParentLastName}}`   | The parent or guardian's last name  |

## Custom fields in emails

If your school uses custom fields on incidents, you can choose which fields to include with the **Included custom fields** option. Included fields appear in the **Insert placeholder** bar in the email editor, so you can drop their values into the template.

This is useful for sharing specific structured information — such as the outcome of a meeting or a next step — without exposing the full incident record.

## Reviewing draft notifications

When **Require DSL review before sending** is enabled, parent notifications are created as **drafts** rather than being sent immediately. This gives senior staff the opportunity to check the content before it reaches parents.

Draft notifications appear on the **Dashboard** under **Parent Notifications**, grouped by incident. From there, you can:

* **View** each notification grouped by student, showing the recipient, subject, and email body
* **Edit** the email subject and body before sending
* **Send** individual notifications to move them to the sending queue
* **Delete** a notification if it should not be sent

<Tip>
  Enable **Require DSL review before sending** for sensitive categories to ensure a senior leader checks the communication before it reaches parents.
</Tip>

## Automatic sending

When **Require DSL review before sending** is disabled, notifications go straight to the sending queue and are delivered automatically within a few minutes. No manual intervention is needed.

<Info>
  Parent emails are only created for students who have parent or guardian contacts on file. If a student has no contacts, no notification is generated for that student.
</Info>