Choosing a family organiser app for school life: what to look for

1. Does it read the school's messages for you?

This is the biggest difference between apps. With a shared calendar or a to-do app, someone still has to read every email and type each date in. An app that reads emails, letters and screenshots for you saves that job every week.

2. Does it understand children and classes?

With two or three children at school, you need to see what's for whom. Look for an app that files each thing under the right child and lets you see one child at a time or everyone together.

3. Does it handle weekly routines?

PE day, swimming and clubs repeat every week. They shouldn't clutter your to-do list, but you do need to know about them the day before. And when a club is cancelled, the app should tell you when the next one is.

4. Can the whole family use it?

Partners, grandparents and childminders all help with the school run. They should all see the same plan, and when one person ticks something off, it should be ticked for everyone, without duplicate reminders.

5. Does it remind you at the right time?

A reminder at 8am is too late to wash the PE kit. One reminder the evening before, covering every child, is what most parents find useful.

6. Does it keep your family's data to a minimum?

An app for school life doesn't need your children's full names or dates of birth. Check what it asks for, who can see your plan, and how long it keeps the original messages.

Where SchoolDone fits

We built SchoolDone around these six points. It reads school emails, letters and class-chat screenshots, files everything by child, shows weekly days on the right day, is shared by everyone you invite, and sends one reminder the evening before. It only needs your children's first names, and it deletes the original messages after a week.