This is the kind of subject that’s ideal for the pocketbook format. There’s a straightforward central idea - that it’s good to give out positive messages about your school - from which flows clear ideas, strategies, cautions and case studies, all of which invite nods of agreement and an instant, “We could do that!” feeling. The only thing the book doesn’t do is articulate an overall school vision. That bit’s down to you.

What it does do is provide an overall marketing strategy which you can shape to fit your own ethos. The starting point, in a section called “Audit”, is to find out how your school is perceived by the community. As the authors state, “If you’ve not done this exercise before, you may be surprised by the results!”

Then follow chapters on handling the media and developing promotional activities (prospectus, newsletter, website, open days). The chapter on the media is extremely useful - lots of headteachers worry about this - with plenty of good advice. So, on press releases, the advice is: “Keep your sentences and paragraphs short, factual and jargon-free, explaining any acronyms (HOD, AST etc).”

If you’re one of those schools where staff regularly say, “How come St Goody’s is always in the paper and not us?”, this book will give you the answer.