How to ensure online parentsâ evenings are effective Written by: Daniel Locke-Wheaton | Published: 11 May 2021 Image: Adobe Stock One of the most popular innovations during Covid has been the move to online parentsâ evenings, but principal Daniel Locke-Wheaton says they require careful handling if they are to prove an effective and permanent alternative Physical parentsâ evenings are set to become a thing of the past here at Aston University Engineering Academy (AUEA), a 13 to 19 university technical college with 600 students in central Birmingham. We have undergone a massive shift in the way we engage with our parent body and, given that no-one was an expert in online parental engagement before the pandemic, we have had to build the plane as we flew it.