Great Communications Continue

Our communications support to schools has been very different this year. We have seen some great practice in schools whilst they keep in touch with parents, pupils and prospective parents and pupils during Covid-19. It seems a long time ago since some clients contacted us for support and guidance when schools first closed! Our main advice to schools was ‘keep communicating’….. make sure you keep in regular contact, provide support and encouragement and you won’t go too wrong. We previously blogged about some of our ideas and at the time we were not sure how they would all work.

It can be hard knowing what to say, especially when nothing much has changed, but in reality stakeholders need to feel reassured and value your efforts. It is great now to reflect and remind ourselves of the great initiatives that we have supported and how these are likely to shape marketing plans in the future.

Videos

Videos do not have to always be professionally produced and pupils and parents love to see their teachers on video. You can say so much, share your emotions and videos get far more views on social media than a regular post. At its best is when all staff update their pupils by video and not just teachers. Many pupils have a great relationship with the receptionist or the cook - so when the whole school is involved that is great. We have seen school cooks share recipes and cook at home and even set challenges for pupils - fantastic! The caretaking staff showing off the flowers in bloom and the school field looking vibrant reminded pupils of their lovely school surroundings.

Online Events

Creating events for pupils so that they have been able to see their friends and showcase their skills (ok we accept that there are access issues and parental guidance required) and have fun. The choir, the dance club, the sports teams have also online activities and shows - some so incredible it is hard to believe that they have not rehearsed together.

Virtual Events

Virtual events have replaced physical events and they have been super impressive and well attended. Many providers have reported that they have had more visitors to virtual events and removing travel and time barriers has been helpful. We appreciate that we still want potential parents and pupils to visit us, but maybe there is a benefit to both. Showing people your open event online might tempt them to make a visit in person whereas before they might not have seen you at all! We have seen online photography and art exhibitions that we and most of the community wouldn’t have got to otherwise. Story telling has been a great hit with young children and a simple way to keep in touch.

New parent evenings have worked well in Zoom and breaking out into ‘forms’ in the Zoom rooms. We accept that not everyone would have been able and comfortable attending an online event, but it was great to have an option for families.

Revisiting the Past

Reminding pupils of past events such as celebrations, dress up days, sport days and plays are a great way to remember fun times and look forward to them coming back, this shows the importance of keeping lots of videos and photos and better still having a showcase ready to re-share.

Your Opportunity to Shine

Some schools have really shone through with their activities and communications. Many schools we work with feel that communication with parents has increased massively, that a better relationship has been formed and that their increased communication efforts will continue.

Challenges

There are challenges still - there always will be and these can be very different from one school to the next. Some schools are seeing low applications for their nursery provision, others have a reduced number of pupils starting in September 2021 and are loosing a larger group of pupils completing year 11.

Whatever your challenge, we are here to help, guide and support - contact us for a chat and we can talk through your challenges and our ideas.