A pupil’s drawing became an eye-catching advertisment for a primary’s new head in The TES after a governor working in the advertising industry decided the London school needed to be bold to stand out on the jobs pages.
Robert Senior works for London advertising agency Fallon, which made last year’s Sony advertisement in which thousands of coloured balls bounced down a San Francisco hill.
He decided that St Paul’s primary in Primrose Hill needed a slick campaign to compete with four other nearby schools which are also looking for heads.
“We just needed something to say these kids are bloody brilliant, and they love coming to this school, and now they need a new head,” he said.
“If that sparks an interest or curiosity, it’s likely to spark it with the right candidates. It gives us a competitive edge.”
He asked the school’s 205 pupils to write down and illustrate what they liked best about St Paul’s.
Then he picked one, by a pupil called Ellie, to feature on The TES’s jobs pages. The drawing, in black felt-tip, features smiling faces, a football pitch and the school crest. Ellie wrote: “We have lots of great things in our school - good teachers, good friends, not much bullying, fun lessons.
Now we want a good head.”
The picture is accompanied only by a contact phone number and the address of a website set up especially to inform candidates about the school and the job. The site also features more of the children’s pictures.
St Paul’s loses its head, John Wilkinson, in August when he retires after some 25 years in charge. Mr Senior said: “At first we thought we might get into trouble - Camden council weren’t so sure. People want conformity.”
A further half-page advert featuring the first names of every child in the school will appear next Friday.
