At my school, we’ve got a problem. The local birth rates have fallen over the past few years, and naturally, so have the numbers of five-year-olds in the villages and hamlets which surround our school. Of course, this means that our number of students on roll, too, is falling.
When these rates fall, we lose grants, and when we lose grants, we have to make cuts. Our staff are our main cost, so this means that we have to let valued colleagues go.
We are not a failing school: we are rated “good” by Ofsted, our staff are passionate and brilliant and our students are happy. And yet, instead of a cohort of 60 starting each year, we have around 40.
More:
Our school deserves more pupils. But we have to take responsibility - we don’t bend over backwards to advertise what we offer. Sure, we have a website and a prospectus, we run evenings for parents of prospective pupils. But is this enough? Does the local pool of parents know well enough and realise why our school is a little bit special?
Perhaps not.
So can we (dare I use the term) market our school better?
This isn’t just about selling the school to others - it’s also about helping our staff to understand better why our school is special, why we can be proud and, perhaps also, where we can improve. There are four steps to achieving this.
Step one: pinpoint what makes your school special
Even if your school is surrounded by other excellent schools, what makes you proud of (and want to work at) yours?
Are you proud of your teachers? Are parents especially engaged? Do you have a vibrant PTA? Maybe your teachers bring diverse experiences into the classroom and open the children’s eyes to that experience?
Perhaps you consistently deliver excellent results? Or your school is renowned for the way it deals with the wellbeing and welfare of its pupils? Maybe yours is the kind of school that has deep roots in the local community? Do you have wonderful outdoor facilities, a forest school, or top-quality sports fields? Or simply it’s a school that every parent and pupil can walk to.
Or do you have more subtle claims - a strong community ethos? Are you closely linked to the local church, or even funded by it? A diverse community or a wide range of languages spoken or offered? A track record for encouraging and supporting children with different levels of need?
Find three or four things that make you proud, make you different. Focus on them in everything you do.
Step two: organise the troops
You need a group of people to sell the school. Don’t leave it in the hands of one person - there’s too much to do and it depends too much on that individual’s personality and viewpoints.
Recruit a small group of diverse - different ages, different genders, different experiences - enthusiasts prepared to meet once a week. Give them specific roles, but make sure that they work as a team. Ensure that deadlines are met, especially those connected to the recruitment cycle.
Step three: get the message out
The key to this is consistency and clarity. Go back to what you believe to be special about your school. Write it down, review it and revise it to make it accurate and compelling. Repeat it to current parents, governors, teachers and pupils.
You can put out messages traditionally in flyers or posters and through your web presence. Make sure your website is up to date and meets the relevant statutory guidelines. After that, make it fun. Develop areas (perhaps behind separate logins) for specific groups or areas of interest. Your internal electronic tools - such as messaging, email, booking and payment systems - can also be crucial in maintaining impressive, professional communications.
In addition to these traditional tools, your use of your web presence and social media helps to define you. Establish a style and a purpose for each channel - Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have different profiles, audiences and purposes. Use them all, but use them appropriately. Their sum can be more than their parts.
Step four: engage your audience
Try to engage and involve your audience. For current parents, reports on school activities, with pictures and videos where appropriate, will make them feel part of your teaching and part of your school.
Engagement is more than just a few pictures or reports though, and there are lots of ways to get the message out. Why don’t you ask the headteacher to write an interesting blog that is bold with opinions and explanations of difficult concepts or concerns to parents? You could draw up pen portraits of your staff, or get teachers to write opinion pieces, biographical sketches or creative works to entertain and engage. Deliver calls to action on your website or social media, and don’t leave people just reading or looking, instead get them to fill in a form or enter a competition. Why not run a Twitter poll or post an Instagram story, or encourage Facebook comments and interactions with your events and activities.
Always, always, always take their details, and follow up with them. A casual interaction with your website or Twitter may turn into £4000 worth of student a year or two down the line.
And remember, you don’t have to break the bank: most of this can be low or zero cost. Don’t waste money on fancy advertising or too much gloss, just do the basics well. Your parents will appreciate you for it and will believe in you. Nurture and develop what makes you proud, and then be happy to talk and write about it.
Dr Rupert Loader is a primary teacher and former market research consultant
